Should I try to hay my land?

[ju2tin]

A lot of my land is covered with trees, a pond, our house, a front lawn, and outbuildings. Probably only about 6 or 7 acres are grassy fields, with individual trees here and there but not "wooded".

Those acres are uneven. There are flat areas, but also plenty of hills and swales. The grades are steep enough that I can't traverse them on my tractor or it would tip over. I have to hit them head-on.

My question is, does it make sense to try to hay this area? And if so, what kind of equipment would be best? Is there equipment made for haying small, uneven areas? Or do I just have to let the mowed grass clippings sit there looking ugly?

Thanks.

 

[flusher]

A lot of my land is covered with trees, a pond, our house, a front lawn, and outbuildings. Probably only about 6 or 7 acres are grassy fields, with individual trees here and there but not "wooded".

Those acres are uneven. There are flat areas, but also plenty of hills and swales. The grades are steep enough that I can't traverse them on my tractor or it would tip over. I have to hit them head-on.

My question is, does it make sense to try to hay this area? And if so, what kind of equipment would be best? Is there equipment made for haying small, uneven areas? Or do I just have to let the mowed grass clippings sit there looking ugly?

Thanks.

I grew oat hay on 7 acres (mostly flat with a gently swale on the South side of the field). No irrigation Didn't make anything on it (gave the hay away). It was just a hobby. Stopped planting in 2012 when the drought hit in CA.

My neighbor across the road grows hay (oats, forage mix) on 8 irrigated acres. He makes good money since he has years of experience and decent equipment. Gets about 400-450 bales (3 twine) per cut, one cut per season. He uses a Kubota L4630 tractor, 8-ft wide tandem disc and drag for tilling, a 10-ft wide/20 drop grain drill for planting, a Hesston swather with 12-ft wide head for mowing and windrowing, an New Holland 3-twine baler. One of his high school buddies has a self-propelled bale stacker and another buddy has a nice bale squeeze to gather up the stacks and load them on customers flatbed trailers.

He's eliminated all of the hard lifting using this equipment. Another neighbor used to do about 25 acres of alfalfa (3-twine bales). He just dropped the bales in the field and the customers did the loading.

Good luck

 

[LD1]

Dont sound like anything I would want to hay.

But, if you time things out right with a round baler, you will be all done and have all the bales nicely staged at the bottom of the hill all in a row, as opposed to laying all around the field.:laughing:

 

[mattv1]

I hay several fields that have hills and are steep -- some of the hills i'm not able to traverse. The smallest field with one such hill is 13 acres though.

The only reason i do those sections is because it's all-or-nothing from the people that i lease the ground from (for next to nothing). They want nice looking property. I've done it enough years that I'm comfortable with it and i can safely do it.

In your case, it would be tough for me to justify the risk and the headache for such a small patch. There is no 'small' baling stuff. Older stuff is smaller and lighter, but there isn't purpose-built baling equipment for hillsides generally available here in the USA. It could certainly be done, and if you -WANT- to do it, look for the right equipment and you will do fine.

I started baling with a kubota L3540, NH 273 baler, and a 9' IH sickle mower. It all worked good enough for me on hillsides.

 

[prichard]

If you want to do as a hobby or something, but I can't imagine it could pay for the equipment. Is a 3901 even big enough to work hay? A lot of hay production around here and it seems the smallest tractors used are 45HP+.
I was looking at hay equipment, not that I have the land for it just curious. It seemed the equipment was quite pricey even used.

 

[LD1]

IMO, no the 3901 is too small. Really it's too light, especially for the hills.

 

[leeave96]

You can bale hay on small acrage and make it pencil out if you are selling - but, you'll be buying old equipment, and be prepared for breakdowns, knuckle busting and turning a wrench. We bought a sickle mower, rake and baler for less than $1,600 and made about 1200 bales the first year, all of which sold. At that time, we mostly had weeds, rained on hay from bad weather luck and breakdowns - so the price per bale wasn't much. With some refurb dollars and wrench turning, we were in the blackthorn next year.

We've since made a few more upgrades as we are making much better hay and selling into the horse market - so more capital outlays now.

If you are just hobbying and are handy with a wrench - go for it.

Be aware, however, it is very dangerous going up and down a hill with baler's, etc, in tow as you can be pushed down a hill. I tell my kids, generally one learns from their mistakes. Some mistakes a farmer makes, you may never recover from - so why go there in the first place.

Good luck,
Bill

 

[roadhunter]

Easier to find someone with cows or horses to graze it down once a year IMO even if you have to put in some temporary fence.

 

[aczlan]

We hay with an L3830 and it works well for us (small squares through a NH 273 with a kicker and into a wagon).

IMO, your problem with that many hills and corners will be getting enough sunlight to get the hay dried before the next rain comes.

Aaron Z

 

[ronchp]

I am in a similar situation in growing hay on small hilly acreage. I think you could safely cut, Ted, and rake it. But baling it is the challenge. Older small square balers can't be turned very tightly, and require a lot of repair time. Your tractor isn't big enough for many newer square balers or round baler. I have a couple of hills that I safely pull a baler up but I won't go down because I know the baler weight would push me down the hill out of control. There are some small round balers at Mini Hay Balers and Compact Hay Balers | Small Farm Innovators and Tractor Tools Direct- Haymaking and pine straw baling equipment for compact tractors. Drum Mowers - Belt Rakes - Mini Round Balers that I am considering, but they are pricey and slower production than squares or large round balers. Are there any local farmers that would bale it for you? Good luck and be safe on those hills.