I have looked high and low, far and wide for an answer to my question. I have read thru forums, websites and anywhere else I thought might help.
Does anyone know if you can make hay with a 30hp tractor? Some people say yes, some people say no. Here is my situation and please feel free to offer any advice necessary.
I'm currently raising beef cows anywhere from 5-10 that I buy in March/April and sell usually in October. I make a little bit of money but realize if I had a hay supply(preferably my own) then I could play the beef market better to my advantage both by being able to buy earlier and sell later, plus I could sell the extra hay as well as have more cows.
So I have 15 acres of flat hayfield that I'd like to hay myself. Problem is I only have a 30hp tractor, a 1980 Ford 1900. If my 1900 could make hay then I could get away pretty cheap both on equipment as well as having hay for myself.
I was thinking of using a sickle bar, a rake and a smaller square baler(like a new holland 68). I'm not looking to pull a hay wagon too, just bale up the windrows and let the bales drop on the ground, then pick up with a wagon later.
I know many people say I won't be able to bale, but I've seen 8n's run at 3/4 throttle bale under the same exact conditions i'm looking at.
I do realize they have 1 extra PTO hp than I do but I have better gear range options and can run full throttle for hours on end.
If I can hay with my 1900 then i'm looking at about $2000 to buy all the equipment I need to hay the 15 acres. If I can make this work a couple years then I could upgrade to another tractor down the road. I'd like to put up 600 bales for myself and then sell the rest and near me at a price of $3.50-$4.00, I could make out well.
I understand newer and bigger may be fun, but i'm all about simple, always have been, so if it takes me the whole month of july to hay the 15 acres, i'm fine with that. I realize with better/bigger equipment I could hay it all in 3 days.
Thanks to anyone that responds.
Does anyone know if you can make hay with a 30hp tractor? Some people say yes, some people say no. Here is my situation and please feel free to offer any advice necessary.
I'm currently raising beef cows anywhere from 5-10 that I buy in March/April and sell usually in October. I make a little bit of money but realize if I had a hay supply(preferably my own) then I could play the beef market better to my advantage both by being able to buy earlier and sell later, plus I could sell the extra hay as well as have more cows.
So I have 15 acres of flat hayfield that I'd like to hay myself. Problem is I only have a 30hp tractor, a 1980 Ford 1900. If my 1900 could make hay then I could get away pretty cheap both on equipment as well as having hay for myself.
I was thinking of using a sickle bar, a rake and a smaller square baler(like a new holland 68). I'm not looking to pull a hay wagon too, just bale up the windrows and let the bales drop on the ground, then pick up with a wagon later.
I know many people say I won't be able to bale, but I've seen 8n's run at 3/4 throttle bale under the same exact conditions i'm looking at.
I do realize they have 1 extra PTO hp than I do but I have better gear range options and can run full throttle for hours on end.
If I can hay with my 1900 then i'm looking at about $2000 to buy all the equipment I need to hay the 15 acres. If I can make this work a couple years then I could upgrade to another tractor down the road. I'd like to put up 600 bales for myself and then sell the rest and near me at a price of $3.50-$4.00, I could make out well.
I understand newer and bigger may be fun, but i'm all about simple, always have been, so if it takes me the whole month of july to hay the 15 acres, i'm fine with that. I realize with better/bigger equipment I could hay it all in 3 days.
Thanks to anyone that responds.