Low Acreage Haying

[farmboy12]

Made it to the auction this weekend. Not too much in the ways of hay equipment. Kind of disheartening. I'm figuring theres no way id be able to make hay work this year so that give us time to find some good deals and plan this out some more. Either way, I do appreciate all the help you all have given me and am getting rather excited about the fact the farm is getting back to moving some more.



Kyle

 

[SwingOak]

We just bought our farm last year, we have 7-1/2 acres of hay fields. When we were doing the home inspection last September, they were round baling and had dropped 9 bales on the first 1-1/2 acres. I have a new tractor, a Kioti DK50 SE HST, and have picked up a NH 467 Haybine for $1500, a NH Super Hayliner 68 for $1200, and a NH 256 rake for $700.

We only need 300 bales per year for our horses, and the going rate for small squares is $5. I figure I can make enough on selling the extra hay this year to cover the cost of the equipment.

 

[schmism]

Ive been watching craigslist for the past 5 years looking for small hay equipment.

Bailers can be had for as little as $500 (be ready to do some work) to an avg of $1500-2K. They run the gamit of small NH, ford, mcCormic, JD etc
9' sickle mowers are only a couple hundred $ as no one wants to use them anymore. Be ready to learn how to service them. A small 7 or 8' haybine/conditioner will likely run 2-3K
Small NH rakes are 500-1000 depending on condition and whether or not they are ground driven or PTO.

In my neck of the woods (central IL) there are many many small 3-5-10 acre plots that are going under utilized. Most have owners that would be willing to let you cut the orchard grass off them in exchange for not having to mow it. At most they want shares 50/50 but then are willing to sell the bales back to ya for $2-3 when small squares go for $5.

This year im closer to jumping in after learning some hay lessons from the guy that cuts my 3 acers on shares. For the past 4 years we have gotten 200 bales first cut, 100 second and sometimes 75 on a third. If the second is late (because of weather) then there is no third but second is usually 125-150. Its mostly orchard grass and some clover (both red and white) my lllama/apaca/goats love it.

 

[RPW]

-powerscol- I did look for some square balers but none to be found in the area at the time the Vermeer came available. Also my back wouldn't hold up to bucking hay so there's more equipment to purchase. I also like the round bales because I can put one out for the critters and not have to worry about them for about a week for forage. One person operation. Wouldn't be so bad if we lived on the property but that's still a few years away. With the round baler I figure I'll make smaller bales until I can get a larger tractor.

 

[powerscol]

No worries. I just cut about 12 acres today and will rake Tuesday. I did a bit of bartering over a brush hog I had and now have a Ford 593 side delivery rake My Bobcat CT 235 handles the Hesston 4550 very well. slight rock, but so far plenty of power, so it can be done with a compact tractor.

 

[5030]

My sage advice is simply, if it's less than 5 acres, grow a garden and buy a riding lawnmower. It's not worth the aggrivation. Used hay tools are just that, used and probably with issues. I certainly don't off my hay tools until they start having issues, then trade in/sell outright and buy new (always new, never second hand). I'm not teying to insult anyone, every operator has to start somewhere. I started with some ancient equpment (NH Hayliner 66, Ancient JD side delivery roper rake, Ancient NH side mount sickle bar mower) because I wanted to 'try' to see if it was for me with the intent of loosing the old stuff asap, which I did, but then I own a very modern machine,.welding and fabrication shop so fixing ancient junk wasn't an issue. All the junk went down the road, long ago (probably to someone who thought they could run hay on a budget.....)

Nothing more aggrivating and stressful than having a few acres ready to bale and the baler won't cooperate because somthing isn't working right and there is a thunderstorm due in, in 3 hours. Why play that. Garden and mow and buy your hay if you need some. Life is too short for that stress level.

There are more people (on here) running what I consider to be junk, with underpowered compact tractors that are marginally acceptable. Unless you are extremely fortunate and nothing breaks, you might actually get some dry, green bales in your barn, but the odds of that aren't good and rained on wet, molding hay isn't worth anything and it stinks and more importantly, it's a fire hazard.

I won't even consider any tractor with less than 50 pto to be acceptable for powering hay tools, preferrably 85 pto or better. Conservatively, I have around 250 grand in haying equipment (all I do is hay), my 5 acre at home ground gets mowed and gardened.....:thumbsup:

It's all a business expense, we are an LLC engaged in crop production (forage). Equipment gets bought, used and sold.

So yes, it's fun so long as everything included the weather cooperates but when something don't go right it becomes a nightmare real quick.

Do yourself a favor, plant a garden and mow the rest with a nice lawn mower. Your stress level will remain sane.

 

[powerscol]

Actually my stress level goes down when working with my compact unit. Like getting on my horse - the world goes away for a while. So far it is fun and by watching the weather I can get a good small crop in. I averaged 175 bales and hour baling the 12 acres and got 225 bales off the property. Some horse quality and some cow hay depending on where the weeds grew. I separated it as I raked and baled.

Its also fun helping neighbors keep their places green as it gets very expensive to mow 3 acres every week or so. I cut and take for free as long as they keep the place weed free and remove any foxtail they have. Yes I do need a hay grapple to move it quicker and I have found several on the market, but if you know of a good brand, please let me know. I can handle one of the 5-6 bale models. I also plan to find a good used equipment trailer to load on to, or even haul my rig.

I also understand about buying new or very good equipment - that is why I invested in a good in-line baler. Got it for $8K while new is 22K. It was a trade in sold in working condition, and when I did find an issue dealer fixed it right away. I got suckered on the IH 1300 sickle mower, as it took $$$ to get it running. The ford 503 hay raked needed two stripper bearings $25 and its fine. It was shed stored most of its life..Your also correct on HP, but it can be done with less, but you need to be careful. I go slow and don.t rush. I also shut everything down if I get out of the seat.

 

[rankrank1]

My sage advice is simply, if it's less than 5 acres, grow a garden and buy a riding lawnmower. It's not worth the aggrivation. Used hay tools are just that, used and probably with issues. I certainly don't off my hay tools until they start having issues, then trade in/sell outright and buy new (always new, never second hand). I'm not teying to insult anyone, every operator has to start somewhere. I started with some ancient equpment (NH Hayliner 66, Ancient JD side delivery roper rake, Ancient NH side mount sickle bar mower) because I wanted to 'try' to see if it was for me with the intent of loosing the old stuff asap, which I did, but then I own a very modern machine,.welding and fabrication shop so fixing ancient junk wasn't an issue. All the junk went down the road, long ago (probably to someone who thought they could run hay on a budget.....)

Nothing more aggrivating and stressful than having a few acres ready to bale and the baler won't cooperate because somthing isn't working right and there is a thunderstorm due in, in 3 hours. Why play that. Garden and mow and buy your hay if you need some. Life is too short for that stress level.

There are more people (on here) running what I consider to be junk, with underpowered compact tractors that are marginally acceptable. Unless you are extremely fortunate and nothing breaks, you might actually get some dry, green bales in your barn, but the odds of that aren't good and rained on wet, molding hay isn't worth anything and it stinks and more importantly, it's a fire hazard.

I won't even consider any tractor with less than 50 pto to be acceptable for powering hay tools, preferrably 85 pto or better. Conservatively, I have around 250 grand in haying equipment (all I do is hay), my 5 acre at home ground gets mowed and gardened.....:thumbsup:

It's all a business expense, we are an LLC engaged in crop production (forage). Equipment gets bought, used and sold.

So yes, it's fun so long as everything included the weather cooperates but when something don't go right it becomes a nightmare real quick.

Do yourself a favor, plant a garden and mow the rest with a nice lawn mower. Your stress level will remain sane.

Good post. Not many of us low acreage piddle patch operators can justify a $250K budget for hay tools.

I will admit I am a junk operator. Piddle on about 5.5 acre. I have less than scrap iron value in all my hay tools so no money to be lost on depreciation that way and my investment is miniscule. In 7 years I have lost less than 30 bales to a broke a baler (and even that was my fault). That said, I have yet to make a profit, but I will at least freely admit that point too. That said, I have not lost a penny either. I am likely masochistic as I do enjoy tinkering on junk (welding, repairing, refurbing, etc.). Haying in general is very masochistic whether hobby or business IMOP.

The ones that crack me up are the guys with their brand new $25k tractor (whether big or little in hp) and their $10k balers and putting up 200 bales on a few acres. Those fellas think they are making/saving money. Heck even if they work for free, somehow get their fuel for free, somehow get their twine for free, never break a part, get all their oil changes and maintenance on the tractor for free, get fertilizer for free to replace what they harvesting. They are simply not doing enough acreage to outpace the market depreciation losses on their equipment even if it sat in the barn unused. Next year that tractor may be worth $22k and the baler $9k. There is at least 1000 bales of hay and sell for $4.00 a bale if you lucky to get that $ amount just to cover depreciation (will not even factor the interest they are likely paying on their loan). Just gotta laugh and shake my head at those number crunchers. Sad part is most of them have kids and the money they are pissing away would be much better spent in an investment college fund for their kids.

 

[SwingOak]

I'm making my own hay because 99% of everything where I live is large squares or rounds. This is cow country, and I've had people more than 100 miles away call on my hay. Small squares are hard to find, and when you do find them I've seen it as high as $9 a bale (price mostly depending on quality). I'm making hay for myself, and selling what I don't need. I've run the numbers and my hay equipment will be paid for by the end of next season just with the acreage I have now.

 

[Bigfoot62]

. . . I am likely masochistic as I do enjoy tinkering on junk (welding, repairing, refurbing, etc.). Haying in general is very masochistic whether hobby or business IMOP. . .

Now THAT'S funny!!! :laughing: (also somewhat sad and true, but really funny)