47hp tractor ...

[TSO]

And 38hp at the pto...

If I was ever to get hay equipment (preferably used and cheap as possible) ... what would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bigbull338]

with that hp of a tractor you would want a square baler an a 5ft disc mower an a wheel rake.an it should do just fine.

 

[rdbigfarmboy]

I would go with 4 by 4 roller and drum mower.

 

[mattv1]

I have a 35-horse kubota. Bought a 9-foot sickle and a new holland 273 baler this spring, baled something close to 1000 bales with no issues.

 

[rtimgray]

I've got a couple of threads on here detailing my experiences with a similar situation. I've got a Kioti DK45 (about the same gross/pto HP as yours), and I picked up a New Idea 464 roller (makes a 4' x 5' wide roll) and it handles it even on hills with no problem. I also got an older Kuhn GMD 500 mower and it seems to be the right size for the tractor. I lucked into a New Holland 256 rake with a dolly wheel and we do most of the raking with my Yanmar F16D (about 15 hp). Finally, I got a John Deere 24T square baler, and other than just having to go slow because of the capacity of baler, it makes bales great.

I would search for a small roller (4x4 or 4x5) and work from there. You can probably use a sickle, drum or disc mower without much trouble.

Good luck and take care.

 

[High Brook Hills]

I have a 60HP/52HP PTO set-up. I used a JD 350 9ft sickle bar, a NH 56? rake (could be towed by almost anything as it is ground driven and does not weigh that much!), then borrowed a NH 310.

I have been looking at AGCO (MF/Challenger/Hesston etal) 1700 series round balers and Hesston/MF 1800/Challenger SB3X and SB4X small square balers. These appear to provide good options for smaller units.

We are not huge fans of the JD 350 but REALLY like the ground driven rake! And we got our rake for less than a grand and only had to put tires on it and grease her up. Did wonders in the field!

 

[TSO]

Thanks for the replies fellas, I really appreciate it. It seems like the used round Balers around Michigan sell for a lot more money than the square balers. There are several NH 269 or 273, and a couple JD 14t or 24t for $600 to $2000. Are these older square balers easy to learn and maintain? I still see parts available for them...

Also, I don't see many hay mowers other than sickle style for sale on Craigslist... And the older sickle mowers I'm finding are in the $350 - 800 range. What is a good price for those, and are those easy to maintain as well?

It seems like the most common hay that I see for sale around here is orchard, Timothy, and/or alfalfa mix. IF I stick with that mix, will a sickle mower work okay for that?

Thanks again.

 

[tessiers]

I would lean towards either a drum/disc mower, or at least a haybine (sickle with feed tines and conditioner rolls). I mowed with a plain sickle for years and did it at 2 mph, haybine doubled my speed. You could handle a 9' easy enough. a 5' or 6' disc/drum would also be good, faster than the haybine but not as wide so a wash there in my opinion. Sickle, weather it has the rolls or not is pretty finicky to get adjusted properly, once you get it they are great. Disc/drum is almost foolproof. Also out there in my area are a few flail mower conditioners, great mowers but they like there HP.

Small square balers are cheaper because most farmers don't use them for production haying anymore, most have gone to big bales round or square. A baler requires a lot of care and maintenance both round and square, lots of moving parts. If it works well, keep it lubricated, store it under cover and clean it out when not in use and it will last a long time. If you are handy they are not too complicated, just a lot of parts timed to work together. Rounds are more subject to wear mostly because they are production balers, most of them have seen a lot of hay. The bales are heavy, belts stretch and wear, bearings fail, a lot of the older ones were not designed for silage and people used them anyway, even for a season or two this is hard on them. Either way I would ask to see the baler working before I spent too much money on it, even if you have to bring a bunch of hay and spread it out by hand to bale it., worth the effort in my opinion.

Just my 2 cents, probably worth a penny.

 

[Texasmark]

Opinion: If you ever go to a disc/drum you will never go back to a sickle and probably go to a disc MOCO rather than a sickle MOCO if that is your implement of choice. I got a 6' drum from Small Farm Innovations in Central Texas new for $3750. I took the drum over a disc due to 1/2 the price, simplicity of and fewer parts. Had it 2 seasons now and love it. No more problems with crawdad mounds, aunt hills, irregular field cutting, if I want to cut hay wet in the early morning I can, my 57 pto tractor doesn't know it's back there, can cut as fast as you can drive the tractor and stay in the seat....seatbelt helps. Grin

With the grasses you mentioned you have no need for a crimper which the drum doesn't have. I choose stemmy crops and require a crimper.....yea verily a second trip around the field but I am retired and have the time. Besides it's worth it to not have to fool with a sickle bar and the size of MOCO's is more than I want to handle.

On balers, rollers have become popular as they are a 1 person operation and you can put 15-25 squares in 1 roll, leave it in the field if rain catches you baling, transport it by yourself, and store out of doors. Anything missing? Grin.

Numbers you gave for JD square balers are inline with prices here. The last two rollers I bought were JD and went for $5k. Minimum repairs were required.

If your tractor is of low HP then get a small roller. My current roller is a JD 375, was just talking with TX. Jim on this forum about it and my 57 pto hp tractor handles it with ease. It rolls a 4' diameter x 5' long roll weighing roughly 800#. If your tractor is smaller you could look at a 4x4 or a 4x5 or 4x6 that you could neck down to 4x4. Probably throw a 6-700# roll from a 45 or so hp tractor if you are on level ground. Or SFI sells a small roller; 3' dia. as I recall. Phil has a www.

HTH,
Mark

 

[king1]

We threw a small haying operation togather in a short time (2000 bales) on a budget. We have some decent stuff that needed a little tlc. We used a Ford 2810 (40 hp 32 pto hp) to do everything. We ran a NH 469 MOCO ,a 273 kicker baler, our lely tedder and new idea rake all with this tractor and no problem. I will say this though, that traction was close to an issue mowing and baling but last yr was wet for us. I did opt for a bigger tractor because i am going to get kicker wagons, wanted another tractor, and i don't want to beat the 2810 to death. It has been a good tractor and i want to keep it around for many yrs. (it only has 800 hrs on it). I will still probably cut with the 2810 and i have a drum mower on my wish list which will go on that tractor. All in all not too many people make small squares around here but there are alot of horse people around and we raise dairy goats so i opted for small squares. I am a decent mechanic and the older stuff does require a bit more maintenance and an increased likelyhood of breakdowns so be ready if you go that route. I did have a bit of a trying first yr but i think i've got alot of the repairs taken care of. I knew most of what needed repaired before the season but I only had enough time to get some of it done. Pick machinery with a dealer nearby and have some extra nuts, bolts, belts, chains, etc. ready to go and good luck. Oh a welder is handy too, almost a must. I do love to make hay though, it's all woth it.