Haying with 26 HP or less.

[quicksandfarmer]

Here’s a start:

Hay Tools 3 - Yanmar YMRB32 Compact Round Hay Baler for Hay Harvest - Yanmar Tractor - YouTube

I've been looking at small round balers. I'd really like to like them, but I just can't. My Deere 24t takes up an entire bay in my garage, a small round baler would take a fraction of the space. But every video I've seen of a small round baler has the same three issues: the field looks nothing like my hayfields, what they're baling looks nothing like my hay, and they never, ever show a bale being made from start to finish. In the videos it looks like they're baling what I would call long lawn clippings. Around here it's normal to hay once a year, the grass might be chest high when I get to it. I think the reason that they never show a bale from start to finish is that it takes an embarrassingly long amount of time. Just from the clips in the video I can't believe they're turning out a bale in under a minute and I wouldn't be surprised if it was closer to two minutes. My 24t can pump out a bale every 15 seconds and it still feels like baling takes forever. And that's nothing compared to a big-boy round baler.

Then there's the cost. MSRP for that Yanmar is over $11k. I just don't see it as justified.

 

[sixdogs]

Having put up a lot of hay over the years, I've occasionally hooked something to smaller equipment to move it and then tried to mow or bale with it. While a smaller tractor may have the hp to run a sickle bar mower in ideal conditions, the shaking action of the mower is more than a light tractor can handle. The same with baling in that you might be able to make a bale with a NH 273 and it's large flywheel in perfect conditions, you won't other times or when conditions aren't ideal.

To effectively bale with small equip, you'll need lots of $$ worth of specialized things not likely to found used. That will make those bales of hay expensive. So much, in fact, that it would be less expensive to buy a used larger tractor (35? hp) and then used conventional equipment. For the money it takes to bale with new equipment or the time, repairs and money it takes to bale used, those are considerations.

That didn't discourage me either and we did it both ways; everything used, tired and expensive as well as everything new and expensive. We all need to try these things but that's just my experience.

 

[spoofrider]

Having put up a lot of hay over the years, I've occasionally hooked something to smaller equipment to move it and then tried to mow or bale with it. While a smaller tractor may have the hp to run a sickle bar mower in ideal conditions, the shaking action of the mower is more than a light tractor can handle. The same with baling in that you might be able to make a bale with a NH 273 and it's large flywheel in perfect conditions, you won't other times or when conditions aren't ideal.

To effectively bale with small equip, you'll need lots of $$ worth of specialized things not likely to found used. That will make those bales of hay expensive. So much, in fact, that it would be less expensive to buy a used larger tractor (35? hp) and then used conventional equipment. For the money it takes to bale with new equipment or the time, repairs and money it takes to bale used, those are considerations.

That didn't discourage me either and we did it both ways; everything used, tired and expensive as well as everything new and expensive. We all need to try these things but that's just my experience.

So in your opinion what's the better way new or used.

 

[Gator6x4]

So in your opinion what's the better way new or used.

Unless you are an experienced wrench turner on agriculture equipment and I gathered from your first post you are not, you had better stay with new which has a warranty.

 

[prof fate]

I've been doing the math/research on this as well. We have 20 acres and the horses don't eat it all..so why not turn 10 in a hay field instead of just mowing it all to keep the weeds down?

Low end - can get a (broken) baler, $300. Saw a haybine (rollers shot,but will cut) for $600. Tedder and rake...$1000? So say 2500 gets the equipment.
We spend about $4k a year on hay, so this looks pretty good so far, right?

Well...I mow 5 times a year, say 7 hours, $20/fuel each time - $100 and 35 hours.
To hay it I'll have to cut, ted, rake, bale, pick up the bales - three times a year. so 45 trips thru the fields instead of 5. More fuel, more time by far. Maybe what, $300 in fuel? 100 hours total? 200? If my time has a dollar value of $15 say, that's 1500-3000 dollars in labor....plus fuel, equipment capital...and keep reading as the work continues.

Currently we do no pasture maintenance...if we want good quality hay we'll have to kill weeds, add fertilizer, perhaps over seed. Cost? Didn't figure this yet - and I have no equipment for any of these tasks.

Biggest drawback - currently we get good horse hay at $3.75/bale, delivered and stacked. We get about 100 bales per delivery. Without haying our 10 acres I can't say for sure how much hay we'll harvest, but if we buy 1000 bales a year (plus some rounds in the winter) I think we can get 1000 off our 10 acres. BUT that is mixed cuttings...the wife prefers first cutting to feed the horses. So we MAY still have to buy hay..or sell some.

the issues is STORAGE - if we bale we'll get perhaps 400 bales from the first cutting. We can store MAYBE 200 in the barn...and we'll add to those on the second cutting...and maybe some for the third - we could need to store 800-1000 bales of hay. So we need to invest in some sort of building/hoop house for storage. More costs there.

And I'll have to stack all that hay.

So..the math isn't working out so well on doing our own hay.

Oh, the baler for $300? Out of time is all. Our farrier does his own hay and it broke during harvest - he's a busy guy, spent a day and a half working on it, but had to get the hay in so he bought a new baler and the old one is just sitting. Why fix it if the new one works great, right?

So there is a 'hidden' cost to used equipment - it can break, and of course it only breaks when you're using it, and you're only using it cause you must get the job done.

Seems easier to buy our hay...

 

[leeave96]

The tractor you have is 18-19 PTO hp and that is where it counts. As far as equipment, new or old, it depends. If you are wanting to bale up top quality horse hay, you need good dependable equipment. If for your self, you can have a ragtag fleet of junk. I'd be buying 2 of each item, i.e. cutter, rake, tedder and baler - all identical for spare parts in a pinch. I would move to a 35ish PTO hp tractor - MF 135 or Ford 3000 come to mind. You want live or independent PTO on the tractor, which means you can stop the forward travel of the tractor and the PTO keeps going. For a mower, I'd go with a New Holland haybine or if you can find one a Hesston 1110 or 1120. Rake - New Holland rollabar 56 or 256. If you can find one with a dolly wheel, that's a plus. For a tedder, any two basket will do - but avoid the combo New Holland tedder/rakes - I forget their model numbers. For a baler, John Deere 24t, maybe a 14t if in good shape, 336 or newer. New Holland baler, look for a 273, 268, 311 - those are very good balers too. If you have help, you can pull a wagon behind the baler while baling (make sure the baler has a hitch).

Good luck!

 

[leeave96]

I've been doing the math/research on this as well. We have 20 acres and the horses don't eat it all..so why not turn 10 in a hay field instead of just mowing it all to keep the weeds down?

Low end - can get a (broken) baler, $300. Saw a haybine (rollers shot,but will cut) for $600. Tedder and rake...$1000? So say 2500 gets the equipment.
We spend about $4k a year on hay, so this looks pretty good so far, right?

Well...I mow 5 times a year, say 7 hours, $20/fuel each time - $100 and 35 hours.
To hay it I'll have to cut, ted, rake, bale, pick up the bales - three times a year. so 45 trips thru the fields instead of 5. More fuel, more time by far. Maybe what, $300 in fuel? 100 hours total? 200? If my time has a dollar value of $15 say, that's 1500-3000 dollars in labor....plus fuel, equipment capital...and keep reading as the work continues.

Currently we do no pasture maintenance...if we want good quality hay we'll have to kill weeds, add fertilizer, perhaps over seed. Cost? Didn't figure this yet - and I have no equipment for any of these tasks.

Biggest drawback - currently we get good horse hay at $3.75/bale, delivered and stacked. We get about 100 bales per delivery. Without haying our 10 acres I can't say for sure how much hay we'll harvest, but if we buy 1000 bales a year (plus some rounds in the winter) I think we can get 1000 off our 10 acres. BUT that is mixed cuttings...the wife prefers first cutting to feed the horses. So we MAY still have to buy hay..or sell some.

the issues is STORAGE - if we bale we'll get perhaps 400 bales from the first cutting. We can store MAYBE 200 in the barn...and we'll add to those on the second cutting...and maybe some for the third - we could need to store 800-1000 bales of hay. So we need to invest in some sort of building/hoop house for storage. More costs there.

And I'll have to stack all that hay.

So..the math isn't working out so well on doing our own hay.

Oh, the baler for $300? Out of time is all. Our farrier does his own hay and it broke during harvest - he's a busy guy, spent a day and a half working on it, but had to get the hay in so he bought a new baler and the old one is just sitting. Why fix it if the new one works great, right?

So there is a 'hidden' cost to used equipment - it can break, and of course it only breaks when you're using it, and you're only using it cause you must get the job done.

Seems easier to buy our hay...

Trust me on this one - you DO NOT want a haybine with bad rollers. You'll be doing the math on how much down time you have unclogging the machine!

Timing the baler, if it is a New Holland, that ought to be a 15 minute job easy - unless you are replacing parts.

 

[spoofrider]

A Square bale is $10 each and they're awfully light. In order to get it delivered you'd have to buy a really large quantitee. I already have a hay shed that will store all the hay that I need. I don't plan on spraying it for any weeds or fertilizing it With any chemicals. I fertilize my pastures with maneuver. I raise goats and their not too picky they will eat it if it has some weeds in it.

 

[Hiptfarms]

I started putting up my own hay about 4 years ago. I use my Kubota m6800 (ok way bigger than your tractor) and I cut using a NH 451 sickle mower, a Ford roller bar rake, and a MF 3 baler. I only cut once a year and put up around 500 bales. That's all I need and extra for the neighbor down the road. I had never baled before and I have learned to repair the equipment myself. Its possible to do using older equipment and I get a sense of satisfaction doing the job. Also feels good not having to fork out $7/bale for hay all winter long.

I encourage you to try to put together a collection of equipment and give it a shot. You may need a bigger tractor but you wont really know til you try. That's my 2 cent's worth.

 

[spoofrider]

I started putting up my own hay about 4 years ago. I use my Kubota m6800 (ok way bigger than your tractor) and I cut using a NH 451 sickle mower, a Ford roller bar rake, and a MF 3 baler. I only cut once a year and put up around 500 bales. That's all I need and extra for the neighbor down the road. I had never baled before and I have learned to repair the equipment myself. Its possible to do using older equipment and I get a sense of satisfaction doing the job. Also feels good not having to fork out $7/bale for hay all winter long.

I encourage you to try to put together a collection of equipment and give it a shot. You may need a bigger tractor but you wont really know til you try. That's my 2 cent's worth.

I don't mind repairing and do the general maintenance. However with that being said. My kids all grown up and gone. It's just a one man operation now. Working a full time job and keeping up with all this stuff can be overwhelming. So that's why I'm kind of leaning towards purchasing something new.