Help for a haying setup on a Kubota L3800 (or not)?

[rindeee]

First let me say that I've done a lot of searching in the forums in order to see if this has already been answered. While I've found a lot of general information, I don't feel confident that I can piece it together to comfortably go make some purchases. I have a 2012 Kubota L3800 (hydro, so about 30HP at the PTO shaft). I also have a nice, flat 9 acre hey field (grass/alfalfa mix) that I currently split the take on to get harvested. I'd really like to be able to cut/rake/square bale it myself so that I can keep it all (as I really need all I can cut) and assure that I can get square bales readily (most folks just want to round bale it). So my question is primarily whether or not my 3800 is beefy enough to power an older NH or similar square baler. I've been told by a few older fellows around me that it would readily run an old NH such as a 276 or 320. Others have told me not even to bother trying that it would just tear up my tractor. My hope is that someone on here has either successfully square baled with a 3800 or can definitively tell me not to waste my time/money and just keep having it done. Additionally I'm curious what size of sickle bar is best for my situation and if there's a particular type of hay rake I should focus on finding. There's no shortage of this type of equipment for sale around me on Craigslist, but I'm not sure what is viable for my situation. I've been around farming a good part of my life, but my only exposure to haying is putting up hay after it was baled.

I very much appreciate all feedback and opinions.

V/r
ER

[aczlan]

We bale up ~700 bales of first cutting and ~350 bales of 2nd cutting every year with our L3830GST.

Our equipment: NH 276 baler with kicker, 2 wagons that will hold 150-200 bales each, NH 489 (I think) mower-conditioner, NH rollbar rake, 18' 4 basket tedder.

All of our equipment could probbaly be run with a little less HP (the L3830GST has ~32 PTO HP) if you took it easy with your speed and didn't have the hills that we have to deal with. If you have a loader that would help, our L3830 doesn't have a loader and a little more weight in the nose would help sometimes.

Aaron Z

[rindeee]

I do indeed have a loader on my 3800. I don't intend to run a kicker. The bales just drop and I collect them after the fact with my F350 and a flat bed trailer. I very much appreciate your feedback.

[leonz]

First let me say that I've done a lot of searching in the forums in order to see if this has already been answered. While I've found a lot of general information, I don't feel confident that I can piece it together to comfortably go make some purchases. I have a 2012 Kubota L3800 (hydro, so about 30HP at the PTO shaft). I also have a nice, flat 9 acre hey field (grass/alfalfa mix) that I currently split the take on to get harvested. I'd really like to be able to cut/rake/square bale it myself so that I can keep it all (as I really need all I can cut) and assure that I can get square bales readily (most folks just want to round bale it). So my question is primarily whether or not my 3800 is beefy enough to power an older NH or similar square baler. I've been told by a few older fellows around me that it would readily run an old NH such as a 276 or 320. Others have told me not even to bother trying that it would just tear up my tractor. My hope is that someone on here has either successfully square baled with a 3800 or can definitively tell me not to waste my time/money and just keep having it done. Additionally I'm curious what size of sickle bar is best for my situation and if there's a particular type of hay rake I should focus on finding. There's no shortage of this type of equipment for sale around me on Craigslist, but I'm not sure what is viable for my situation. I've been around farming a good part of my life, but my only exposure to haying is putting up hay after it was baled.

I very much appreciate all feedback and opinions.

V/r
ER

The question is do you have livestock that can
benefit from 9 acres of hay crop annually.
This is the question you should be asking yourself.

Dont waste your your time with a square baler.

You only need fifteen horsepower at the PTO with
a Wolagri Mini Baler.

You should look at a Wolagri Mini Baler that can be equiped
with bale wrapper to wrap the bales as they are ejected out
of the round bale chamber. I hate heavy bales and a light
round bale that is wrapped in white plastic will protect the hay
quality. because it is sealed very well and the round mini bales
stack very well vertically and they stay tight.

You just have to decide if you have the time to
wack the hay a little bit at a time if your weather is iffy,
or you know that you can bale over a few days as the
mini baler used with the bale wrapper allows you to bale the hay
a little damp with no mold according to Wolagri and the USA distrbutor
which happens to be just a fewe miles from me over the New York State Border.
in PA.

I would check with ken sweet as he has hay tools for very small
acreages.

[rindeee]

While I'm familiar with mini round balers, they're outside of my price range. I should have mentioned in my original post that I'm trying to get setup for under $5K total (mower/rake/baler).

[Amelia Farms]

I hayed about 15 acres for the first time this year with a John Deere 990 (40 HP). Made about 1200 bales in 2 cuttings. I run a NH 7ft haybine, NH 56 rake, cheap 2 basket tedder from Agrisupply, NH 68 baler. I am not setting any speed records, but it all works fine. I have less than $3500 in all my equipment, not counting the tractor of course.

[zzvyb6]

You will have no trouble running a 9' sickle type mower/conditioner. You can pull a bar rake with a golf cart. You will have NO trouble running a square baler with a drop chute. I've done it for 20+ years. Started off using a 22 hp Yanmar WITHOUT LIVE power !

I've added a NH1012 Stack wagon to my inventory because its fun, its labor saving and its perfect for delivering hay to the neighbors right out of the field for their horse. I added some front suitcase weights to my tractor for this because the tongue load can become pretty heavy Find a buyer for your excess hay crop. Price it to keep them coming back every year. IMHO, horses just need baled weeds and grass, the same stuff they evolved on. I don't fertilize and I don't irrigate. Horse owners prefer square bales. Get equipment made by a brand that has the nearest dealer to you. A TSC store has most of the replacement parts you will ever need (sickle knives, rock guards, twine, rake teeth, tires/tubes, grease, etc).

[flusher]

You will have no trouble running a 9' sickle type mower/conditioner. You can pull a bar rake with a golf cart. You will have NO trouble running a square baler with a drop chute. I've done it for 20+ years. Started off using a 22 hp Yanmar WITHOUT LIVE power !

I've added a NH1012 Stack wagon to my inventory because its fun, its labor saving and its perfect for delivering hay to the neighbors right out of the field for their horse. I added some front suitcase weights to my tractor for this because the tongue load can become pretty heavy Find a buyer for your excess hay crop. Price it to keep them coming back every year. IMHO, horses just need baled weeds and grass, the same stuff they evolved on. I don't fertilize and I don't irrigate. Horse owners prefer square bales. Get equipment made by a brand that has the nearest dealer to you. A TSC store has most of the replacement parts you will ever need (sickle knives, rock guards, twine, rake teeth, tires/tubes, grease, etc).

You must have the nice type of weeds.

The seed bank in my 6-acre hayfield is loaded with yellow star thistle and fiddleneck seed. One or the other or both shows up every year (we plant in Oct-Nov and bale the following May, dryland). If it's only star thistle it's not so bad since that weed doesn't become a problem until the hot months (June-Sept). Fiddleneck gets an early start in Jan and has to be controlled. Dow Chemical Milestone is the herbicide of choice (handles both of these pests)--$120 per quart (32 oz), 4-7 oz of concentrate needed per acre applied with my 10-ft wide boom sprayer.

[slowzuki]

If you have hills I'd think the L3800 is a bit light. There is quite a big jump in tractor weight from the L3800 to the L30 series. I have bales 10's of thousands of square bales with my L5030HSTC now and its no problem except on hills.

I used to mow with an NH 489 9 ft mower conditioner but again, it was a load in the hills. On the flat no problems.

[sweettractors]

First let me say that I've done a lot of searching in the forums in order to see if this has already been answered. While I've found a lot of general information, I don't feel confident that I can piece it together to comfortably go make some purchases. I have a 2012 Kubota L3800 (hydro, so about 30HP at the PTO shaft). I also have a nice, flat 9 acre hey field (grass/alfalfa mix) that I currently split the take on to get harvested. I'd really like to be able to cut/rake/square bale it myself so that I can keep it all (as I really need all I can cut) and assure that I can get square bales readily (most folks just want to round bale it). So my question is primarily whether or not my 3800 is beefy enough to power an older NH or similar square baler. I've been told by a few older fellows around me that it would readily run an old NH such as a 276 or 320. Others have told me not even to bother trying that it would just tear up my tractor. My hope is that someone on here has either successfully square baled with a 3800 or can definitively tell me not to waste my time/money and just keep having it done. Additionally I'm curious what size of sickle bar is best for my situation and if there's a particular type of hay rake I should focus on finding. There's no shortage of this type of equipment for sale around me on Craigslist, but I'm not sure what is viable for my situation. I've been around farming a good part of my life, but my only exposure to haying is putting up hay after it was baled.

I very much appreciate all feedback and opinions.

V/r
ER

At this time, we can sell you a used NH 68 baler with fresh hay in the chamber, a New 4 wheel Rake, a rebuilt 501Ford or 39 JD sickle mower, a used Gehl 2 basket hay tedder (or a JD hay conditioner) $1295 for $5400 picked up here or $6000 delivered. Ken Sweet