Haying Equipment

CWP37 · May 4, 2006

Can anybody give me an approximate start-up cost for getting equipped to bale hay? I'm guessing the following equipment would be needed:

1)Tractor
2)Sickle Mower
3)Rake/Tedder
4)Baler

I'm sure that there is a wide variance depending on the quality of equipment, so I'm just looking for a rough estimate and/or any advice from someone who has tried to start baling from scratch.

dubba · May 5, 2006

Costs vary wildy because you do not give an amount of acreage to hay, or tell if you are looking for horse quality hay or mulch /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Kyle_in_Tex · May 5, 2006

How much acreage do you want to hay? Do you want to custom bale? Square or round?

On the cheap:
Used 2wd 60 HP tractor 30 years old = $5k to $10K
Used sickle bar example JD 350 9' = $1K
Used rake = $500-1000
Used sq baler = $2500-8500
Used round baler = $8K-20K

crazymike · May 7, 2006

When doing your own hay for personal use, unless you need quite a bit, it's almost always better to partner with a farmer.

You can work something out where he will cut and bale and take X many bails. Or you cut and he bales. Etc...

Hay is very tricky to do right, especially if you want good hay. An experienced farmers still needs a lot of luck to get a nice cut. Between weather, moisture, time of day, etc... it can get very compicated in a hurry.

Aside from all that, the equipment costs are rediculous. Even at $10 a bail, Florida prices, you will have to bail well over 6000 bales before you start to break even. Realisticaly, hay is around $3.50-$5.00 a bale. So like $12,000 bales.

You need a reliable tractor and bailer. In most locations your window for haying is narrow. You don't want to be fiddling with your baler or tractor when a storm is rolling in.

You also will need atleast one wagon.

I'm not saying don't do it. Hay is the only crop worth growing right now. Atleast here in Canada, the $44 it costs to plant an acre of corn, is close to what you will get for it. It costs more to plant/harvest and dry than you can sell it for.

With hay prices climbing past $17 a bale in places like Florida, good hay is well worth selling.

But for doing your own little bit of hay, the cost of equipment takes a long, long time to cover itself. But I suppose to some it could be a fun hobby.

texasjohn · May 7, 2006

I can only agree completely with Kyle_in_Tex and CrazyMike. To do haying you need to want to work a lot, pay a lot for equipment, and cover lots and lots of acres to make your investment back. Of course, this allows you time to enjoy your AC cab and sunglasses! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

DaveNay · May 7, 2006

( I can only agree completely with Kyle_in_Tex and CrazyMike. To do haying you need to want to work a lot, pay a lot for equipment, and cover lots and lots of acres to make your investment back. Of course, this allows you time to enjoy your AC cab and sunglasses! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif )

Hmmmm.....

For the last three years, I have paid someone to cut, rake and bale my hay. I ended up paying about $3K for the 3000 bales off my property every year.

In the end, finding someone else to do my hay three times a year became too unreliable (they are full time farmers, and have their own land to care for), and I decided to buy my own equipment.

Cutter, rake, baler, two wagons, a 16' elevator and the tractor all total was less than $9,000. Is it new equipment? Of course not. Add another zero on there if you want all new. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Personally, I don't believe it is beyond anyones capability to grow and harvest hay. Average people with average skills (and without the extensive resources available on the Internet) have been planting, growing and harvesting crops of all kinds for a long, long time.

I am estimating that my annual cost per bale will be around $0.20 (fuel, maintenance, baling twine, beer, pizza). With the average price of horse quality hay in my area being $3.50 - $4.00, I am saving between $3.30 and $3.80 per bale. To purchase openly the same 3000 bales I can grow, costs $10,500 - $12,000. I am saving $9,900 - $11,400 each year by doing it myself vs. buying it. I am saving $2,400 each year vs. paying someone. A four year payback doesn't seem all that long to me. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Cliff_Johns · May 7, 2006

And when the four years are done, the used equipment you bought will probably be worth about the same as you paid for it. At some point such equipment doesn't loose much value year to year if maintained well.

Cliff

stump54 · May 7, 2006

After, or before, you buy the equipment; how do you learn how to hay?
I have 6 acres of costal bermuda that I cut and leave 3 times a year. I'd also like to stop paying others for something I already have.
I've tried to work out deals with local farmers but they're all busy with their own crops.
I'm looking for some way to educate myself.

Gary

BloomingtonMike · May 7, 2006

So my situation is I now have about 2 acres in hay (I don't even know what kind) that has been growing on my property for a long time. A local farmer mows and bales it and keeps it for himself. I really do not have a need for it myself. I would love to sell it however. Previous owner let this farmer just keep it. So far I have done the same.

I only have a JD 3320 32.5hp tractor - is that large enough to take care of hay with????

Sorry to thread leech but does Anyone have an opionion on what I should do in my hay situation?

DaveNay · May 7, 2006

( I only have a JD 3320 32.5hp tractor - is that large enough to take care of hay with????)

No.

( Sorry to thread leech but does Anyone have an opionion on what I should do in my hay situation? )

Nothing...Not worth it to change anything.

Dave

Egon · May 8, 2006

Do some math:

Cost of haying machinery verus sales income. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Thank the farmer for comming over and baling your two acres and maybe even provide him with beverages on a hot day! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

crazymike · May 8, 2006

Depending on your area, you should have no problem trading for the farmers services.

Any farmer around here would be more than happy to cut and bale for you in exchange for some the hay. This also will get you better 'service' because they now want the hay to be better quality.

Farmwithjunk · May 8, 2006

( Average people with average skills (and without the extensive resources available on the Internet) have been planting, growing and harvesting crops of all kinds for a long, long time. )

And some of those "average people with average skills" have been a part of haying for generations. They learned the "skills" over time, and with the benifit of someone elses mistakes. Anyone "new" to haying is going to have to deal with the learning curve. You can research it to death, and there will still be unforeseen circumstances that make you scratch your head in disbelief. (weather mostly)

Anyone can do hay under ideal conditions. Nothing more than a LOT of hard work. Dealing with the unexpected takes years of experience to know which way to turn next.

And then there's an issue of hay quality. If "average" hay does the trick, average Joe can usually deal with it. High grade hay doesn't come with asking a few questions and buying some equipment. You're talking experience PLUS above average skills and abilities. (with plenty of $$$$$$ mixed in)

BloomingtonMike · May 8, 2006

(
Do some math:

Cost of haying machinery verus sales income. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Thank the farmer for comming over and baling your two acres and maybe even provide him with beverages on a hot day! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

But you see I could always till it under and plant wildlife restoration grasses as well and get just as much use out of that. I still keep feeling a bit used here in that this farmer gets the goods for free. I know he does the work but my land and taxes are still paid for by my dime and not his. Seems very odd. On the opne hand he says he uses the hay himself and does not sell it - But on the other hand I really do not know. Also what about if he gets hurt on my land doing this work - Pretty sure I am liable.

crazymike · May 8, 2006

( (
Do some math:

Cost of haying machinery verus sales income. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Thank the farmer for comming over and baling your two acres and maybe even provide him with beverages on a hot day! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

But you see I could always till it under and plant wildlife restoration grasses as well and get just as much use out of that. I still keep feeling a bit used here in that this farmer gets the goods for free. I know he does the work but my land and taxes are still paid for by my dime and not his. Seems very odd. On the opne hand he says he uses the hay himself and does not sell it - But on the other hand I really do not know. Also what about if he gets hurt on my land doing this work - Pretty sure I am liable. )

Farmers have insurance like any other contractor. If he gets hurt, he's covered. If he doens't it's not your problem, that's why we have contracts and lawyers.

The farmer is not doing it for free. It's his machinary, etc... He could suck up a bicycle chain or something in his equipment and wreck it. He could slip into a gopher hole and wreck his equipment, snag a rock, etc... This is all stuff he's risking by cutting your hay.

npaden · May 8, 2006

Here is a good Haying FAQ that covers most of your questions.

http://www.sheepscreek.com/rural/hay.html

rvaitor · May 8, 2006

( (
Do some math:

Cost of haying machinery verus sales income. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Thank the farmer for comming over and baling your two acres and maybe even provide him with beverages on a hot day! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif )

But you see I could always till it under and plant wildlife restoration grasses as well and get just as much use out of that. I still keep feeling a bit used here in that this farmer gets the goods for free. I know he does the work but my land and taxes are still paid for by my dime and not his. Seems very odd. On the opne hand he says he uses the hay himself and does not sell it - But on the other hand I really do not know. Also what about if he gets hurt on my land doing this work - Pretty sure I am liable. )

Taxes -- we have had someone doing hay on our pastures(22-28 acres) for the last several years. That's a fair amount of hay. We don't have the equipment, nor the time, he does do whatever that amount of acreage will produce - primarily for his own cattle, but maybe he sells some we don't know. We put most of the property in forest management and horticultural use a few years ago. Both depend on the property being used for that. You can't lease it, so we get a report annually for what he produces - has to be $1000 in value. In exchange our taxes were reduced by 2/3rds. Our fields don't go fallow, and they look great after being raked and baled.

I've recently purchased a tractor so am reclaiming more fields and some he's let go. I've also been looking at some other arrangement but frankly I don't see any better way to go for now.

You've got a couple of acres, you could cut that with a lawn mower if you wanted. Or let him keep doing it. I don't see any way you're not coming out okay with the present arrangement.

HillbillyFarmer · May 8, 2006

Around these parts, if you cut someone else's hay field, they get 1/3.

buckeyefarmer · May 8, 2006

(

I only have a JD 3320 32.5hp tractor - is that large enough to take care of hay with????

)

Yes, absolutely it is big enough, with square baler.
I figure my dad has made over 120,000 bales with his old 8n and his old NH baler.

Just get out there and do it, you'll learn quick enough.

Toolguy · May 9, 2006

I hope the farmer that is cutting the 2 acres of hay lives close by. I have a feeling that he is just breaking even for his time and machinery use. He is not getting rich on it, that is certain.

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