Egon
Epic Contributor
Might be the least labour involved if done properly!:thumbsup:
Only when the bales get to big to manhandle is there less labour required.
What equipment for small scale hay?
- Thread starter avc8130
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Might be the least labour involved if done properly!:thumbsup:
Only when the bales get to big to manhandle is there less labour required.
Egon
Epic Contributor
YouTube - Keeping ancient hay making tradition alive
A site showing someAlpine Haying. Can lead off to smaller mechanical equipment.:thumbsup:
A site showing someAlpine Haying. Can lead off to smaller mechanical equipment.:thumbsup:
ultrarunner
Epic Contributor
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I have all the required equipment... It belonged to my Grandfather and I grew up seeing him use it on my visits to the farm.
Well, I need to do something. I have too much hay for the goats to eat at a reasonable pace in my climate. SOME form of equipment needs to be bought to at least cut the fields.
I want/need a brush hog for other areas of the property.
A sickle bar mower could also be useful as I have some inclines that could use cutting along my driveway. What size growth can a sickle bar handle? Grass only or can they handle pricker bushes and small brush (not saplings)?
When you guys mention "shocking" the hay, what do you mean?
This is all completely new to me.
I don't think loose hay would be a problem for me at this point. I have a decent spot in the barn to pile as the goats actually have their own separate shed. I am not adverse to loose hay (maybe I don't know better?).
ac
I want/need a brush hog for other areas of the property.
A sickle bar mower could also be useful as I have some inclines that could use cutting along my driveway. What size growth can a sickle bar handle? Grass only or can they handle pricker bushes and small brush (not saplings)?
When you guys mention "shocking" the hay, what do you mean?
This is all completely new to me.
I don't think loose hay would be a problem for me at this point. I have a decent spot in the barn to pile as the goats actually have their own separate shed. I am not adverse to loose hay (maybe I don't know better?).
ac
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
Might be the least labour involved if done properly!:thumbsup:
Only when the bales get to big to manhandle is there less labour required.
Mine are round and large these days.... Never get out of the tractor...
Oh...Uh....When I was a youngin', we did loose hay. Under the best of conditions, it's WAY TOO SLOW per ton compared to baled hay. If there's any sort of time constraints, which there ALWAYS is with hay, the ONLY way to overcome the time is with ADDITIONAL LABOR....
So pick your poison.
Haying practices vary greatly from region to regionand from application to application. More so in the "old days". Much (most?) of our loose hay ended up in a barn (where it was finally fed to dairy cows). WAY too much of that involved a pitch fork and a LOT of long hard hours.
And I'm sure beyond sure someone will come along shortly to tell us how "grampa" could pitch more loose hay in a day than 2 tractors and 2 balers could do in a day......
rankrank1
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Mine are round and large these days.... Never get out of the tractor...
Oh...Uh....When I was a youngin', we did loose hay. Under the best of conditions, it's WAY TOO SLOW per ton compared to baled hay. If there's any sort of time constraints, which there ALWAYS is with hay, the ONLY way to overcome the time is with ADDITIONAL LABOR....
So pick your poison.
Haying practices vary greatly from region to regionand from application to application. More so in the "old days". Much (most?) of our loose hay ended up in a barn (where it was finally fed to dairy cows). WAY too much of that involved a pitch fork and a LOT of long hard hours.
And I'm sure beyond sure someone will come along shortly to tell us how "grampa" could pitch more loose hay in a day than 2 tractors and 2 balers could do in a day......
I would not necessarily want to do loose hay either, even though I am the one who posted some of the links on how to do it. That said the original poster only has 2 acres maybe 3 total. Of that total some of the acres will need to be kept pasture so really only looking at haying maybe an acre at a time and he plans to use the hay - so no selling involved.
I am middleaged and slightly overweight and I think I could hay 1 acre faster with hand tools than I could with my equipment especially after you factor in my stuff has to sit outside so even when I am done using it I have to spend time to clean it up. I could darn near have 1 acre cut with a hand scythe before I could get an implement hooked up to the tractor, greased, unhooked from the tractor, and cleaned off. Anything over an acre to maybe 1.5 acres and I do not think I could physically handle it with hand tools or even want to handle it with hand tools though.
I do slightly agree and yet disagree with you in regards to a bushog (aka rotary cutter) for cutting. I agree that a bushog would totally be the wrong tool for leafy crops like alfalfa as leaf loss will be extremely high. However, for grassy fescues it can work fine although there will be some yield loss, but who cares as he is getting zero percent of his hay now. With a bushog he will probably get at least 66% of his hay - maybe even more and he can use this tool to maintain his pastures as well. Maintenance on a rotary cutter is nearly zero and again we are only talking a couple of acres here. If you have lots of stemy grasses (NOT weeds) then the bushog actually improves stemy grasses taste to an animal (even horses). I had a field that I cut and baled with a bushog that was full of stemy grasses (not weeds). Border field was cut with a sickle and it contained the same stemy grasses. Animals preferred my bushog cut hay to the sickle cut hay as it was softer and I assume more palatable to them. I know the bushog hay felt much better and softer to my touch.
If I was the OP and money was tight, then a small investment in a hand scythe, a hand rake, a hand pitchfork, and a small tarp to sled it would allow you to put up enough hay to winter a few goats without buying hay. For goats: storing the hay outside would even save labor over getting it in the barn loft.
That said, since the OP already has a tractor. Here is what I would do:
a) I would get rotary cutter that has a removable side (King Kutter used to offer their hayside rotary cutter which has a side that unbolts for the same price as their standard rotary cutter although you will have to order it as most farm stores will not stock it). Use the rotary cutter to maintain pasture so weeds are choked out. When haying use the rotarty cutter to cut with for now.
b) Pick up an old vintage bar rake (I hate wheel rakes too) for like $100 to $150. Even one on steel wheels is fine if in decent shape.
c) I would build a set of simple hay loader forks for the tractor loader to collect windrowed hay from the hay rake.
d) Use the tractor loader and Hay loader forks to pile it so that it can be Shocked outside or use a rope and pulley with a tarp to transfer it to the barn loft to store loosely indoors.
Egon
Epic Contributor
Instead should have said " Least labour using certain equipment."
Farmhand, stack mover and vertical barred gates for winter feeding. The pitch fork is only used for doing the finishing touches to the top of the stack. :thumbsup:
Farmwithjunk
Super Member
ALL the hay I raise is sold. None gets fed here short of a few bales for a 4H project steer (grandson) If it's not spoken for (sold directly from the field as it falls off the baler) I roll it. After my first 63 years of tossing "idiot cubes", I've relented and bought a round baler (in partners with son) Most of what is sold goes to "horse people". They're VERY particular about looks, smell, color, and size/shape of the bales. If I tried to sell them hay that had been shredded and pulverized with a bush hog, they'd run over me when they left the field!
Headed out the door in just a few minutes to start laying down a few acres in my best field! New Holland Moco is hooked to the 2440 Deere, fueled and ready to go! Hope is to get it baled and off the field in 3 days. Humidity is off the charts here, so that may be wishful thinking.
Mowing with a hand scythe.....I bet I do THAT.................LOL!
Headed out the door in just a few minutes to start laying down a few acres in my best field! New Holland Moco is hooked to the 2440 Deere, fueled and ready to go! Hope is to get it baled and off the field in 3 days. Humidity is off the charts here, so that may be wishful thinking.
Mowing with a hand scythe.....I bet I do THAT.................LOL!
When I first started out, I used all in FarmsWJ's equipment list and did hay with a 22hp Yanmar. Made some money on the little bit of leftover hay and then bought a new 35 hp tractor with live power.
NH 479 mower (parts from TSC: chains, teeth, tines, tires).
NH 55 rake (parts from TSC: teeth, tire).
JD 14T baler (parts from TSC and 3 local JD dealers: twine).
The money to be made is from the tax write-offs I file with my federal and state returns. Its substantial. Customers will search you out for your baled weeds if you keep it 'organic': no manure, roundup, proprionic acid, fence wire, kids toys, snakes, or ex-wives.
Make sure you have an air compressor for tools, and a welder and know how to use them.
NH 479 mower (parts from TSC: chains, teeth, tines, tires).
NH 55 rake (parts from TSC: teeth, tire).
JD 14T baler (parts from TSC and 3 local JD dealers: twine).
The money to be made is from the tax write-offs I file with my federal and state returns. Its substantial. Customers will search you out for your baled weeds if you keep it 'organic': no manure, roundup, proprionic acid, fence wire, kids toys, snakes, or ex-wives.
Make sure you have an air compressor for tools, and a welder and know how to use them.