Delivering hay pics & stories

[hosspuller]

Senecak19 ... I grow hay and harvest tax benefits. Most of my hay is for my animals. I store the hay and sell the surplus in January when the supply is tight. Square bales of Orchard grass to horse people. Break-even is the goal. (how to make a small fortune farming ?? Start with a large one) Never had any palatability issues, horses gobble the stuff up where they leave fescue to rot. I get enough hay from the first cutting so I let the grass grow all season, mowing to control weeds. It's a labor of love. As Haydude said, weather is the determiner. A reliable tractor is important. For machinery that is 50 years old, spare parts (mostly chains) is good to have. As for that labor part, can't get help with square bales when it's ready, so got an accumulator & grapple.

 

[Hay Dude]

If you want to make a million baling hay,,,,,start with 2 million. :laughing:

 

[senecak19]

Love the feedback. I'm more or less retirement planning. Goal is to retire from the day job and do something else somewhere in my 50's. Not sure that will happen, but I've been planning for it for a long time and it's wishful thinking. Amongst the other plans I have to investigate, this was just one of them. What got me thinking about this is a farm down the street from where I live. Gentlemen owns what looks to be under 100 acres. Uses it for hay. Unfortunately, time is not on his side and over the years I see him getting less and less mobile. He's always out there by himself, which is why I don't see someone coming in to take his place. Considering the pattern in my area, his farm is most likely going to go up for auction when he passes and his property will likely be sold off to a contractor that will come in and develop the **** thing. I saw him on the side of the road one day and offered to mill up lumber for his hay wagons, but the gentlemen could only mumble and just smiled and went on his way. As of late, I noticed most of his equipment is parked and only the hay equipment remains in use. IE: payloader, backhoe, etc... are just sitting. I'd love to go work with the guy to learn! I've even heard of folks renting fields allowing the owners to make a small amount of money and do nothing. This is just me blabbing and wishful thinking. That's all.

 

[Hay Dude]

Love the feedback. I'm more or less retirement planning. Goal is to retire from the day job and do something else somewhere in my 50's. Not sure that will happen, but I've been planning for it for a long time and it's wishful thinking. Amongst the other plans I have to investigate, this was just one of them. What got me thinking about this is a farm down the street from where I live. Gentlemen owns what looks to be under 100 acres. Uses it for hay. Unfortunately, time is not on his side and over the years I see him getting less and less mobile. He's always out there by himself, which is why I don't see someone coming in to take his place. Considering the pattern in my area, his farm is most likely going to go up for auction when he passes and his property will likely be sold off to a contractor that will come in and develop the **** thing. I saw him on the side of the road one day and offered to mill up lumber for his hay wagons, but the gentlemen could only mumble and just smiled and went on his way. As of late, I noticed most of his equipment is parked and only the hay equipment remains in use. IE: payloader, backhoe, etc... are just sitting. I'd love to go work with the guy to learn! I've even heard of folks renting fields allowing the owners to make a small amount of money and do nothing. This is just me blabbing and wishful thinking. That's all.

Do whats in bold type FIRST, before you buy anything. Really get you hands dirty. Offer to do his work for him in exchange for training.
Then youll get a feel for what it’s like.
Im not tryin to scold you mind you, Im trying to save you from what youre thinking about getting into.

 

[Hay Dude]

Its the first ~5 years that kills most beginners. I was one once too. **** near quit a few times in that period. Usually it’s the equipment repairs on junk or a big accident (crashed tractor, burned down barn, etc) that gets ya.
IF you can make it through about 5 years of disciplined work and smart money management, you might be ok.

Seen many guys put damp hay in barns and burn them down. Looks like a **** atomic bomb went off. Others will make a mistake from inexperience and forget to check transmission oil level and burn up a $10,000 powershift. You might get sued by a horse owner for a bale that has botulism in it.

Like I said, it’s not for the faint of heart.

 

[senecak19]

Do whats in bold type FIRST, before you buy anything. Really get you hands dirty. Offer to do his work for him in exchange for training.
Then youll get a feel for what it’s like.
Im not tryin to scold you mind you, Im trying to save you from what youre thinking about getting into.

100% on board with your feedback. I'm a finance guy by day and it drives me a bit bonkers. Growing up as a mason tender in the family, we could never hire outside. Nobody was ever up to the task. As you said, it's a labor of love. I miss those days to be honest, but also realistic that laboring at that level doesn't go hand in hand with the word retirement. If I ever got the opportunity to learn about the hay business, I'd be all over it with a smile on my face Where am I at today? I do most everything myself. On my second house flip, I've done quite a bit of welding. I do all of my own car work. Even have my own 10,000lb lift. Seems I'm just happier doing real work than crunching numbers, but also accepting reality that crunching numbers pays the bills and some.

 

[senecak19]

I should note, my town does virtually no plowing. It's all contracted out. This is the other thing I'm contemplating. Someone has it figured out. This was just now. Contractor with a simple dually setup, concrete weight, newer plow and likely billing out at some outrageous rate. However, I'm not really interested in plowing the roads as much as say all the sidewalks their installing along main roads and these fortune neighborhoods that are filled with tenants owning nothing more than a lawnmower. Give me an excuse to buy another machine....

 

[Hay Dude]

100% on board with your feedback. I'm a finance guy by day and it drives me a bit bonkers. Growing up as a mason tender in the family, we could never hire outside. Nobody was ever up to the task. As you said, it's a labor of love. I miss those days to be honest, but also realistic that laboring at that level doesn't go hand in hand with the word retirement. If I ever got the opportunity to learn about the hay business, I'd be all over it with a smile on my face Where am I at today? I do most everything myself. On my second house flip, I've done quite a bit of welding. I do all of my own car work. Even have my own 10,000lb lift. Seems I'm just happier doing real work than crunching numbers, but also accepting reality that crunching numbers pays the bills and some.

I hear ya. Went to college and have a bachelors of science from a very good university....
I soon learned I liked working with my hands better than office politics and was on my own by 22-23 years old.
If you learn from someone, it will test you and save you money.
If you just want to jump in the fire, you can always sell the equipment and get out, but if you make bad buying decisions, you might end up losing thousands.
Its really all about what your threshold of financial pain is,,,,,right?

 

[senecak19]

I hear ya. Went to college and have a bachelors of science from a very good university....
I soon learned I liked working with my hands better than office politics and was on my own by 22-23 years old.
If you learn from someone, it will test you and save you money.
If you just want to jump in the fire, you can always sell the equipment and get out, but if you make bad buying decisions, you might end up losing thousands.
Its really all about what your threshold of financial pain is,,,,,right?

Well put! Not subjecting myself to said pain just yet! But will keep my eyes open for an opportunity to learn!

 

[Hay Dude]

I should note, my town does virtually no plowing. It's all contracted out. This is the other thing I'm contemplating. Someone has it figured out. This was just now. Contractor with a simple dually setup, concrete weight, newer plow and likely billing out at some outrageous rate. However, I'm not really interested in plowing the roads as much as say all the sidewalks their installing along main roads and these fortune neighborhoods that are filled with tenants owning nothing more than a lawnmower. Give me an excuse to buy another machine....

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Meh, maybe not so much. :laughing:
As luck would have it, I also plow snow, clear land and do construction....to supplement my low hay farming income :laughing:
Snowplowing seems like a goldmine, but consider this: My main everyday snowplow truck is a 2008 Ford Superduty I purchased about 6 years ago for $11,000. That was a very good price as it was in great conditions. I added a used plow for $3,500-again found a used plow in excellent condition for 1/2 price of new. The truck costs $600/year in registration. Insurance and snow plowing insurance is another $1000. Repairs, mostly done myself, average another $1,000/year. The truck is always depreciating in value and requires a garage to store it.
Add all that up, and even at an outrageous billing rate, Ive never made a fortune plowing snow.
Im on my 35th year of plowing.