Tiny tractor hay.

[Lena]

An older gentleman used to come bale our hay. He had a Farmall superC and new holland sq baler (hayliner 67) I believe. He never had any problems on hillsides or flat ground.

 

[sandytrail]

Around here all you do is call a guy that bales hay. He charges a fee per bale, round or squqre, he does it when you need it and all you have to do is put it in the barn. For 10 acres, I would not go to that expense and also have to worry about the maintenance and storage for that equipment. Good luck.

 

[tecnicoman]

A couple of points. For every person who is telling you YOUR tractor is too small to do any real work, there is someone with a bigger tractor than theirs telling them THEIR tractor isn't big enough. So just ignore those people. You just use the tractor that is the right size for you and your farm. Second, lots of suggestions about calling the guy down the road to bale your hay for you. If you want to know the best day to have your hay baled, just watch what day he is doing HIS field. And then, see how long it takes him to get to yours. As long as you don't care about hay quality, that's fine. But here in the Midwest, hay that isn't baled until July or later is practically worthless from an animal nutrition standpoint. The only way to get quality hay in your own relatively small hayfield is to do it yourself.

 

[Egon]

If you want inexpensive and not too labour intensive look up horse drawn haying equipment. There should be lots of “Hay Sweep” illustrations that could be utilized for gathering hay and stacking it.
I have spent many a day on a horse drawn rake. Also look at my avatar. Shows a “Buck Pole”, as we called it, stacking loose hay.
( sickle bar mower, hay rake, buckpole we’re all the equipment needed). Later Farm Hands and stack movers came along. And then, the labour intensive small square/round baler was introduced.

 

[Mudfarmer]

I hayed 7 acres with a geared 25hp Ford 1700 for years in the 1990s. I had a Taarup four disk mower (don't even consider a sicklebar), a generic PTO-powered side delivery rake, and a Massey Ferguson [small] square baler. The only problem I had was when a windrow got a bit heavy. Unfortunately, those old Ford CUTs did not have a live PTO. Without a two-stage clutch I had to shift down from midrange-first to low-range-3rd slowing the ground speed to keep the baler from picking up so much it would jam. I got real fast at clutching, moving two shift levers real fast (almost simultaneously), keeping the flywheel on the baler going, and not grinding gears (much). Should be much easier with a hydrostatic transmission. It's not as fast as using a big tractor; plan on designating a week of long days to get it done, and a few nights worrying about whether it's going to rain.

 

[ultrarunner]

15 hp tractor to keep 36 milk cows happy and fed…

This how we did it and point often overlooked is the heavier the tractor the more the soil is compacted.

 

[Hay Dude]

15 hp tractor to keep 36 milk cows happy and fed…

This how we did it and point often overlooked is the heavier the tractor the more the soil is compacted.
View attachment 766014

Love that picture man.
That should be framed and in the family room-next to the trophies and the kid pictures.

 

[Jstpssng]

If you want to talk REALLY small production... I use about 8-10 bales/year for various purposes. I've gone online and found plans to build a "Bale press". I didn't really like any of them though so will be building my own this winter, using angle for the frame, a ratchet tie down for the press and standard baling twine to tie it together. I'm sure that I saw a partial roll of twine in my father's barn.

 

[ultrarunner]

Love that picture man.
That should be framed and in the family room-next to the trophies and the kid pictures.

It is my best all time childhood memory…

Being 4 years old and driving up and down the windrows… just creeping in low gear while wood hay forks used to load the wagon…

I don’t have the tractor but I have the hayfork in the picture…

Tractor is a crank start diesel single cylinder and I was able to crank start it when warm on a summer afternoon… it was a challenge from my uncle who said if I wanted to drive I first had to start it… great motivator for me!

Only home grown manure used to fertilize and no chemicals…

The takeaway haying is there are many ways to get it done from hand cutting, turning, gathering… to full mechanization for a price… of course.

I know a few retired that just break even on hay but they mow to maintain the fields…

Fallow fields can quickly become brush and trees.

 

[Jstpssng]

I know a few retired that just break even but they mow to maintain the fields… I seen fields go fallow and it doesn’t take long for the brush and trees to take hold…

That's what a lot of people don't understand. It isn't just about the money, maintaining the land also has a value.

 

[JWR]

I have no pictures unfortunately but back in the 1950s my family had a 1954 Massey Harris Pacer (which I still have) and had what was called a "buck rake" for it which was a misnomer because it was not a rake but rather what looked like a "steel bed headboard" with a frame at the bottom that had slots to accept sharpened 2x4 forks. It hinged on brackets welded to the front axle and was raised by cables between the frame and the hydraulic arms on the Pacer. The rig was about 10 feet wide with about 6 or 7 forks pointing forward.

Using it involved running the forks under a hay shock or winrow and scooping up a load of hay to be lifted on the rig and then transported to where the hay was being stacked or stored.

 

[Hay Dude]

15 hp tractor to keep 36 milk cows happy and fed…

This how we did it and point often overlooked is the heavier the tractor the more the soil is compacted.
View attachment 766014

Was that in Europe (Austria)?

 

[Jstpssng]

I have no pictures unfortunately

my family had a 1954 Massey Harris Pacer (which I still have)

You could post pictures of THAT for our viewing pleasure.

What can I say, I like looking at old tractors and trucks!

 

[ultrarunner]

Was that in Europe (Austria)?

Yes... keen eye.

Small 20-40 acre Dairy farms, often fields sloped to the extreme, cows happy to be out in Spring/Summer, farms passed down through the family for generations and Grandpa's farmhouse from 1700's...

In Austria it's not the size of the farm but what you do with it or being able to live the simple farm life where others come to vacation

Steyr the Tractor division specialized in small haying with simple rugged tractors and equipment... kind of like the Model T of European Tractors with every farm having one, standard crank start diesel and pto belt drive used often as in powering the blower to move hay to the loft and running the buzz saw or thresher...

It's amazing what a 15 hp diesel tractor can do with many having 40+ years in daily use...

Being in remote mountains without electricity the tractors had to be reliable in any weather and hand crank...

Here is how I started in winter with a REAL glow plug

 

[JWR]

You could post pictures of THAT for our viewing pleasure.

What can I say, I like looking at old tractors and trucks!

You said the magic words... (it is also the star of my avatar...)

 

[Bentrim]

Back in the 40's & 50's dad had a JD A that pulled around a 12A combine and a New Holland 76 baler. JD A 24 hp and 3783 lb. NH 76 baler about 4800 lb. 12A jd combine about 3500 lb. The farm and other he worked on were NOT flat! He farmed some very steep land. Never had a problem although there were times you had to think how you were going to go on the hill.
Advertising literature even had an N series Ford pulling a New Holland. Ferguson had a mounted baler. Most balers from that era were huge and often weighed as much as or more than available tractors, so those that operated them had to be careful and most of all think before they got in a bad situation.
Enjoy the videos

 

[minnesotaredleg]

Is this to be a hobby or a profit making adventure? Or are you interested in something altogether different - like comparing types of grasses, or the various ways to store hay .....or if in bales - the types of balers?

Knowing where you are headed will help you to get there. "Hobby Farm" covers a lot of territory. Do you have a use for the hay yourself?

TBNers are kind of oriented towards opinions on cost and profitabiliy rather than say a discussion on haying equipment, curing, or grasses.

rScotty

It will be an adventure in general. Grew up in Alaska (Fairbanks) and ran off to join the Marine Corps in 1987. Joined the National guard in 2005 after I got sick of watching everything on the tube. Will be retiring from the military and my civilian job within a couple of years of each other.
When we bought this place the “Green Acres” folks who sold it left all of their animals (goats, chickens, geese) which got me thinking about goat cheese. Actually I think about cheese a lot in general. I want to grow the herd and start producing artisan cheeses. My wife wants to open a boutique as well (they are very popular in this part of the country). The hay will be to feed my animals and sell the surplus. My fields are currently plowed under in anticipation of putting in beans next spring. Won’t put hay back in until 2024. Who knows where it will all end up, maybe just a weed covered pile of rust but hopefully something fun.

 

[minnesotaredleg]

You said the magic words... (it is also the star of my avatar...)

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Beauty.