Robert_in_NY
Super Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2001
- Messages
- 8,588
- Location
- Silver Creek, NY
- Tractor
- Case-IH Farmall 45A, Kubota M8540 Narrow, New Holland TN 65, Bobcat 331, Ford 1920, 1952 John Deere M, Allis Chalmers B, Bombardier Traxter XT, Massey Harris 81RC and a John Deere 3300 combine, Cub Cadet GT1554
When I started haying I was fortunate enough to be able to help my then girlfriends family with their dairy farm. They couldn't do their own hay anymore since he had a brain tumor and suffered from seizures. I had my own tractors already but bought a baler and some kicker wagons. They were able to teach me and show me a lot that first year. I used their hay rake (NH 256)and mower conditoner (NH 489) which helped me save money. I bought a discbine that fall after demoing it because I could see the huge difference in speed and reliablity. The 489 needed new crimper rolls and was worth $500- $1k and I paid $9100 for a Gehl 2460 discbine (I think that is the model but keep forgetting).
I fought like heck the first two years dealing with our New York hay season without a tedder. I finally bought a decent Vicon RS-510T from Lamb and Websters auction for $1700 (17' tedding width). I was actually bidding against the guy who traded it in for a 6 basket unit. He told me it was a great tedder and he was going to buy it back as it was going so cheap. That sold me on my decision as there was a 6 basket 3pt unit there also but I didn't want to fight with that thing each time and it would have to be hooked to my TN all the time.
My first year haying I cut 250 acres and learned a lot that year. Now I only do around 100 acres and hope to upgrade my rake to a Kuhn twin rotary rake.
For your operation though try your best to volunteer your help and equipment to a local farmer and have them show you the ropes. They should be more then happy to have your help and you can get use to using your equipment and they should be able to help you fine tune your equipment on their fields as you help them. They win by gaining a helper when most farms desperately need help (hay season) and you win by being able to learn from others and if you can use your own equipment you will win big time by having someone help you learn how to use your own equipment and make adjustments.
I have $28k tied up in just my hay equipment (not counting any of my tractors). I bought everything used (rather new used but not super new used
) except for one kicker wagon that I bought to put on a running gear I had. I have 4 metal kicker wagons to help get hay off the ground and want to buy a couple more now if I can find a deal on some eventually. I lucked out and found the guys I use to trim my vineyards are able to help unload wagons for me as long as I have the wagons loaded the night before as they want to work at 6am to unload them. So I just fill the wagons, park them inside and they empty them and move the wagons outside for me to take back to the field. I pay them $10/hour and don't have to worry anymore about updating my hay handling system.
Good luck to you and to find decent used equipment start talking to your farmer neighbors and see who you can tie up with to learn from and they should be able to tell you about any equipment they know about in the area. Also talk to the local dealers and tell them to keep an eye out for what your looking for and the price range. The salesman at Lamb and Websters would call me about once a week if they had something new come in when I was looking for a baler. I missed out on a great NH 326 because I dragged my feet, it was a very well taken care of baler (looked new in every aspect) and was extremely cheap for its condition. I ended up with a NH 575 with model 72 thrower and got a decent price on it compared to everything else I could find locally.
One piece of advice, buy a baler locally if possible, they are a hassle to try and transport any long distance and there are plenty of balers availble around New York with all the small dairy farms going out of business
I fought like heck the first two years dealing with our New York hay season without a tedder. I finally bought a decent Vicon RS-510T from Lamb and Websters auction for $1700 (17' tedding width). I was actually bidding against the guy who traded it in for a 6 basket unit. He told me it was a great tedder and he was going to buy it back as it was going so cheap. That sold me on my decision as there was a 6 basket 3pt unit there also but I didn't want to fight with that thing each time and it would have to be hooked to my TN all the time.
My first year haying I cut 250 acres and learned a lot that year. Now I only do around 100 acres and hope to upgrade my rake to a Kuhn twin rotary rake.
For your operation though try your best to volunteer your help and equipment to a local farmer and have them show you the ropes. They should be more then happy to have your help and you can get use to using your equipment and they should be able to help you fine tune your equipment on their fields as you help them. They win by gaining a helper when most farms desperately need help (hay season) and you win by being able to learn from others and if you can use your own equipment you will win big time by having someone help you learn how to use your own equipment and make adjustments.
I have $28k tied up in just my hay equipment (not counting any of my tractors). I bought everything used (rather new used but not super new used
) except for one kicker wagon that I bought to put on a running gear I had. I have 4 metal kicker wagons to help get hay off the ground and want to buy a couple more now if I can find a deal on some eventually. I lucked out and found the guys I use to trim my vineyards are able to help unload wagons for me as long as I have the wagons loaded the night before as they want to work at 6am to unload them. So I just fill the wagons, park them inside and they empty them and move the wagons outside for me to take back to the field. I pay them $10/hour and don't have to worry anymore about updating my hay handling system.Good luck to you and to find decent used equipment start talking to your farmer neighbors and see who you can tie up with to learn from and they should be able to tell you about any equipment they know about in the area. Also talk to the local dealers and tell them to keep an eye out for what your looking for and the price range. The salesman at Lamb and Websters would call me about once a week if they had something new come in when I was looking for a baler. I missed out on a great NH 326 because I dragged my feet, it was a very well taken care of baler (looked new in every aspect) and was extremely cheap for its condition. I ended up with a NH 575 with model 72 thrower and got a decent price on it compared to everything else I could find locally.
One piece of advice, buy a baler locally if possible, they are a hassle to try and transport any long distance and there are plenty of balers availble around New York with all the small dairy farms going out of business
