Hay equipment

[Robert_in_NY]

Haying only 35 acres does not justify the purchase on all the necessary equipment for an independent operation. You have a tractor and can mow. Get a pardner to rake and bale and share the harvest.

If I remember correctly he has horses and will be using his hay to feed to his own horses as well as sell some. While 35 acres isn't a lot he has his uncles land as well (I think another 30 or so). 65 acres of hay ground will be more then enough for him to justify owning the equipment if he wants to. Even if he only baled his own hay for his animals it would be worth it over the long haul. I don't know exactly how many animals he has but most of my customers buy 150-200 bales of hay per horse, in this area that is $375-$500 each year per horse and the hay prices here are cheap according to everyone else who posts on here what they sell hay for. One year of using his own hay would almost pay for the baler he is looking at, sell off the rest and it will help pay off the rest of the equipment.

I still think he should tie up with a local that is currently haying to learn from but if his uncle has any experience at all then its better then nothing.

 

[riptides]

I have got two horse full time taking 10 to 15 acres on a 60 acre lot.
That leaves 45 acres for tractor operations.
Take 10 out for lawn and recreational purposes.
That leaves 35 acres for tractor operations.
I use between 200-300 bales of hay for the horses a year.
Our best year was over 4000 bales of hay from the 35 acres. That was over 5 years ago.
Since that time it has been a steady downhill spiral.
My 300 bales just harvested a month ago, sucked due to drought. I got one decent cutting this year. And the quality, like I said sucked.

So, over this five year period, I can recall one year when I might have made money, but then gave it right back in equipment costs.

It is working out based on time, fuel costs and equipment that I'd be better off buying hay from someone else.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have got two horse full time taking 10 to 15 acres on a 60 acre lot.
That leaves 45 acres for tractor operations.
Take 10 out for lawn and recreational purposes.
That leaves 35 acres for tractor operations.
I use between 200-300 bales of hay for the horses a year.
Our best year was over 4000 bales of hay from the 35 acres. That was over 5 years ago.
Since that time it has been a steady downhill spiral.
My 300 bales just harvested a month ago, sucked due to drought. I got one decent cutting this year. And the quality, like I said sucked.

So, over this five year period, I can recall one year when I might have made money, but then gave it right back in equipment costs.

It is working out based on time, fuel costs and equipment that I'd be better off buying hay from someone else.

Nice setup. The difference between your operation and the OP is that he is going small to start with. He may find he has all he can do to just harvest his own fields and hay with rather inexpensive equipment.

In my own operation I either lost money or broke even the first few years but that is because I had to buy everything and I didn't go cheap but I didn't go all new either. The last two years I did make money and now all my equipment is paid for as well. So next year baring any major breakdown I will make a good profit finally. I have made enough money over the 5 years to be able to say I have broke even on the hay side. I am going to look at buying one or possibly two more wagons this year but hope to find a good used set to save money again. I really do enjoy haying and worked hard to get to this point. I don't need to make enough money on haying to live off for the rest of the year but I do love those couple months during the summer where I am outside in the fields 24/7

 

[newbee83]

Robert thats correct I will be baling a total of approx 65 acres , I did drive down and picked up that 14T baler the guy there kinda showed me how to use it and how to thread it as well, it has a total of three needles bent slightly on it he said he did when he tried loading it.other than that it seemed like everything was in tact. (Then again I may not knwo what to look for) He said I should sharpen the knives to cut the hay better and grease the **** out of it before I use it.Wish me luck now I need to get a rake and a cutter and ill be set I think??? Or is there more?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert thats correct I will be baling a total of approx 65 acres , I did drive down and picked up that 14T baler the guy there kinda showed me how to use it and how to thread it as well, it has a total of three needles bent slightly on it he said he did when he tried loading it.other than that it seemed like everything was in tact. (Then again I may not knwo what to look for) He said I should sharpen the knives to cut the hay better and grease the **** out of it before I use it.Wish me luck now I need to get a rake and a cutter and ill be set I think??? Or is there more?

A tedder would be a good investment.

How are you planning to get the hay out of the field? I would think either an accumulator or a pan mounted to the baler to slide the bales up to a wagon behind you and a guy on the wagon stacking them.

There is also a bale basket if you can take each load of 100 bales or so and dump them at the elevator. A lot of your hay handling options depend on how and where your storing your hay. Can you give us some more details as to where your storing the hay?

 

[newbee83]

I have a pole barn I will be putting alot of the hay but also I just put up a 24x36 barn for the horses and I put in a hay loft on each side of the asle (above the stalls, this measures approx. 10x26x6 on each side for hay.These lofts are about 9 ft in the air.Thanks for the help once again

 

[riptides]

How do you plan on putting the hay up in the lofts?

Lifting hay gets old. I use an old grain elevator. Got it as a gift. It blew a sprocket and I have posted some history of it here on TBN.

The less you physically touch the hay, the better off you will be IMHO.

 

[newbee83]

Also I have two people who emailed me on a haybine, both are NH one is a 479 he says is field ready and one is a 114 that only needs a hydraulic hose, which is better? is there pros to one and not the other? Thanks for the help


They are both asking under 1000. If this helps

 

[manitouofthehatchie]

Any advice on the Kubota M7040 for moving round bales? Is it enough tractor?

 

[D7E]

The 114 is a centre drawbar and will work either side of the tractor and is hyd drive..Nice machine but more problems if wore out....When buying machines at this price and if your not "savvy" i'd go for the mechanical one..