Custom Hay Baling

[ddivinia]

What are people paying for cut, rake and round bale? I am in the Dallas, Texas area and i am paying $20 a bale. We rolled up 133 bales this year. We sprigged 100 acres this year - pretty happy to get anything. Who knows how many we will get next year.

Thanks,
D.

 

[JESSE1]

What size rolls did they make? With the price of fuel and equipment $20 is probably the going rate. Seems like 4x6 is the most common since it's easier to haul. I have a JD 535 that makes a 5x6 roll. I usually just bale my own land but since the hay shortage I've gone in halves on some other pastures and have to haul it back to my place.

 

[Bird]

Time sure passes fast as you get older. It's been about 10 years now since I was working for a neighbor doing custom hay baling. He had an old Oliver tractor, a couple of old Farmalls, an old side delivery hay rake, and a brand new Gehl 9' haybine and new Gehl round baler. Most of our baling was 5 x 5 bales, although we did just a few 5 x 6 (too heavy to suit most folks). Back in the late '90s, he was charging $12.50 a bale for 5 x 5; a dollar a bale more for 5 x 6, and another dollar a bale if we moved the bales and lined them up at the edge of the field instead of leaving them where they fell. And I think he lost money at that. We were 60 miles south of Dallas. So I'd guess $20 now isn't bad.

 

[FL4400]

We have a guy buying up all the the round rolls we can get up, he is paying $10 per foot. He mostly wants 4 x 4 for $40.00 a roll if we keep them in the barn before pick up he will pay $50.00.

 

[ddivinia]

4 * 5 bales -> $20 They are easier to manage. Some of those bales get pretty big and heavy in a hurry.

 

[ddivinia]

I am trying to determine at what point do I buy my own equipment. Time of course is a factor. Is it 500 bales? $10K for baling expenses adds up in a hurry. With a cab tractor, the work isn't too bad. I might be getting 500+ bales off my pastures. Any advice?

D.

 

[hudr]

We paid 17 per 5x6 bale this year. ddvinia, that is a hard call on when to buy your own equipment. Dad and I tried several years ago and we eventually went back to hiring it out. There are just not enough hours in the day. Also, think about this; we had plenty of H2O this year and lots of hay. But think about going through the last several years of drought, not having much hay to cut, and still making the payments on all that high dollar equipment w/ no income to offset. Not to mention in a good year you will end up spending a lot of time and $$ chasing parts. I have yet to see a baler that didn't need a lot of bearings thrown at it from time to time.

 

[JESSE1]

If you buy new equipment, roughly expect to pay around $25-30,000 for a John Deere baler. A Kuhn disc mower will run around $7000, a good rake will run close to that. A cab tractor is almost a must for running a round baler. Naturally the more hay you can bale the more you can justify your own equipment. At the very least you have the tax write-off. Even if you don't bale a lot you can decide when you want to bale and not have to get in line for a custom operator. The equipment lasts a long time if properly cared for.

 

[ddivinia]

All good info guys. I have a 5525 cab now and a 4720 open station on the tractor front. I wil have to keep running the numbers, but it seems like I am on the hook or $40K or so in a cutter, rake, and baler. The gear would last forever. I would probably buy new or like new just to limit the headaches. Until I am paying a lot of money out for custom baling, I am going to hold off.

Not sure how big a baler I would buy. 468? 458?

D.

 

[HayDR]

What are people paying for cut, rake and round bale? I am in the Dallas, Texas area and i am paying $20 a bale. We rolled up 133 bales this year. We sprigged 100 acres this year - pretty happy to get anything. Who knows how many we will get next year.

Thanks,
D.

You can purchase a new rake, mower and round baler all for $20,000 or less. A good quality used round baler can be purchased for $4,000 and up.

This stuff about having to have $50k-60k invested to make hay is a joke. We harvest 800 acres of hay twice a year with 3000 Ford- raking and tedding, JD2355 & 2755- mowing, tedding, raking and baling, JD2940-mowing & baling, McCormick C70 mowing, raking, and baling. All you need is a 50 PTO HP tractor and you can do everything. It can be done with a 40 HP tractor but the 50 PTO HP tractor works a little faster.