25 Acres worth buying hay equipment?

[Farmer495]

"here" you'd be 15k CDN minimum just for a serviceable discbine and round baler and old rolabar rake....and that stuff would break down so you'd need to work on it yourself.

Disc-moco are cheap used here compared to straight mower.

100k CDN would get you all new basic round baler (70k), 8 foot disc mower (15k) and rotary rake (15k). Yes I have been pricing.

 

[sea2summit]

Thanks, I will get some tests for sure. Should I take samples from different areas such as where there is different types of grass? It's family property that I'm buying, so familiar that a small area has Johnson (at least what I call it), bahia, and then there is a section that has some really thick grass that doesn't grow as fast vertically. I've never paid attention to exactly what's in the thicker section, but do remember that it would bog down the bushhog even though it wasn't tall.

Johnson grass can be toxic in hay, I wouldn’t feel comfortable selling it in feed. A lot of the hay I do is Bahia so very familiar with that, not good horse feed though.

If you go into the extension office they’ll have the test “kits”, aka paper bags, and describe how they want samples. Here typically we run a sample ever ~5 acres but it has multiple core samples in a single sample. They can do more and even have mapping software to see it very precisely on where the drainage is slumping nutrients and stuff. But for us average folks who are just gonna drag a spreader wagon through the field without GPS and fairly standard spread rate one sample in ~5 acres works “good enough”.

The extension office can also help you identify those grasses if you bring in a sample or pictures.

 

[zzvyb6]

I just went thru this passed Summer with a young woman with too may horses. John Deere baler as junk, New knotter frame, shimmed a twine disk. junk rake, and a NH1477 mower. Has less that $1500 in it (had the JD4400 35? h.p. tractor. Baled a couple of acres late in the year. Around here in mid-Michigan, hay is selling in groups of 20 at the local auction for $6 - 12.50 per small square bale. EVERY Saturday. Now she needs a good accountant to loose money in the hay business every year. And, she has a barn full of good horse hay for herself and to sell a few hundred extra. You don't need expensive equipment for 20+ acres. You don't need 65 horsepower.. You need some tools and a source of parts (ebay, TSC, Rural King, Farm & Ranch) and a close by dealer of your equipment brand. It's a LOT of fun, too, especially for me at my own ranch. I also have a NH automatic pickup wagon that holds 56 - 64 bales and single bale unloads. When a load is ready, there are several horse owners waiting in the driveway.

 

[Hay Dude]

Not going for looks for sure, would likely do as you said and worry more about the baler than anything because I feel like that is what I'd be least experienced at repairing.
There is some cow operations around, but not an extremely high amount. Mostly older individuals, who have downsized over the years.
I don't have a place to store at the moment, but may look at in the future as I learn a little more about haying.

Round bales (net wrapped) will store outside the longest. I suggest that baler if you can’t store hay bales inside. There is nothing worse than 25 acres of hay baled up with no place to go.

Thanks, I will get some tests for sure. Should I take samples from different areas such as where there is different types of grass? It's family property that I'm buying, so familiar that a small area has Johnson (at least what I call it), bahia, and then there is a section that has some really thick grass that doesn't grow as fast vertically. I've never paid attention to exactly what's in the thicker section, but do remember that it would bog down the bushhog even though it wasn't tall.

Take maybe 6-10 samples and your local ag extension, or ag university will get you results and suggested courses of action to improve. Might be good soil if it hasn’t been hayed. Mowing makes for good compost and healthy stands.

 

[SethWilliams]

I would recommend shopping your local Craigslist and FB marketplace and find deals. You already have an adequate tractor for most mowers and balers, so if you find deals on equipment that has been taken care of, I would jump on it and start building your equipment up.

That is exactly what I did. Bought a 12 wheel rake for $1,200, 4 basket Tedder for $600, 8’ vicon mower for $2000, and a John Deere 435 baler for $4000. Had to put about $500 into the baler, but all in I’m at $7,800, and I can get parts and work on all of my equipment myself.

Took me about two years to get those deals, but it allowed me to learn a lot about the haying process too. Good luck.

 

[Hay Dude]

Careful! haying, and the associated losing of money, CAN be addictive.

 

[kenmac]

Just be prepared to lose money and decide how much you want to lose.
For good hay, you going to have to fertilize, spray for weeds, and add lime. Consider what all that will cost you.
Then, the equipment. Hay cutter, hay rake, and bailer, sq, or round.
a new bar type cutter is going to run around !5 K. Round bailer ( net wrap) close to 40K rake around 8 K depending on style.
You can buy used but , you going to spending more down time making repairs on cheap worn out equipment

 

[two_bit_score]

The smart guys down at Texas A&M say that a hay barn is the only building on a farm that will pay for itself. Hay lasts a lot longer under a roof than outside. So they say.

 

[big bubba]

Let someone else do it on shares and sell yours along with theirs.

my suggestion too. i've got about the same acreage in hay fields & have them leased out, have an M8540, but would never consider the equip investment given that amount of acreage. add the uncertainty of climate change w/drought & flooding & temp extremes, etc, & you have even bigger challenges to reap your investment.

some may say well go into the hay business & cut elsewhere as well to retrieve your investment. but is that why you bought your newfound land?
regards,

 

[redman135]

Does the OP recognise when hay is ready to bale? ie right moisture content. Moldy hay is easy to make and it cost the same as the high quality hay to make.