flusher
Super Member
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2005
- Messages
- 7,538
- Location
- Sacramento
- Tractor
- Getting old. Sold the ranch. Sold the tractors. Moved back to the city.
If I got into making hay on a small scale, maybe 8 or so acres, how much power would I need? Cutting, raking and baling. I don't expect this to be a profitable venture, just something to play with.
I have a 6 acre hayfield and use a Massey Ferguson 124 baler (square bales, 2-twine, 30-60 lb adjustable via bale length setting). Recommended pto power is 35 hp. But balers this size have been run via much smaller tractors with success. Here's a video showing a baler like my 124 being run by a 1950s vintage Farmall Super A tractor with about 16 hp (pto). The baler segment is about 6 minutes into the video.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvz8-Sw1ntA]FARMALL Super A - YouTube[/ame]
Balers like these sometimes were outfitted with on-board gas engines like the 4-cylinder air-cooled Wisconsin TFD engine (around 20 hp engine). The baler flywheel is belt-driven by the TFD. This setup is also used by Amish hay farmers with two horsepower provided by a team of 4-legged hay-burners .
Cutting with a 7-ft sicklebar would require maybe 20 hp (pto) depending on the crop and how heavy it is. And raking with a 5-bar side delivery rake or a wheel rake (both ground driven) could be done with 15-20 hp (engine).
My sicklebar is a 7-ft MF31 and my rake is a pto-driven JD 350 5-bar side delivery unit.
Since you don't mention tillage or planting implements, I assume you're just baling native grasses.
Good luck.