The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[two_bit_score]

Wonder if it had any “squatters” lol

Probably would today.

 

[EddieWalker]

I saw this in town today and had to take a quick picture. I've never seen the large square bales before. It looks like the guy was delivering just one, and he needed to bring his tractor along to do so.

 

[D&D]

I saw this in town today and had to take a quick picture. I've never seen the large square bales before. It looks like the guy was delivering just one, and he needed to bring his tractor along to do so.

Hadn’t given that a lot of thought but yeah, at 800ish pounds how else would you? It won’t roll. Put a strap around it and drag it off would work.

 

[Hay Dude]

Hard to believe, but here we go again, another year. Fields to be mowed and hay to be baled.
Lately I have been trying to get ready. Oil changes, blades, belts, gear boxes, you name it..

Here’s a few pictures from the last few days of maintenance.

I have about 10 fields to mow for the first time since last year. The goal is to get them all cut before the last week of May. Sounds easy, but we have a lot of rain coming for the next 15 days. First thing I did was drain all the gearboxes for their annual oil change.

The smaller Challenger is the primary field mowing tractor. Sharpening blades while mounted is my preferred method with a Makita mini.

Draining gearboxes by using vacuum pump

Also need to get the Pottinger disc mower on the Massey 7495.

Pulling up to the hay mower with the Massey.

Now it’s mounted. Just need to change out all the blades & grease.

Forgot I need to change the engine oil on the Massey, too.

My first time with the “box o’ oil”. Much cheaper than plastic jugs.

All done with the Massey and the Pottinger.

I’m ready to bush hog fields and mow hay. Couple more weeks and it’s go time.

 

[scootr]

Looking good! We've been mowing since January. One of fields has been mowed 4 times this yr.

 

[LHF2019]

What is your reason buying oil by oil change as opposed to by the drum? I think I went through a phase where I bought it by 5 gallon jug as needed and that did not last long. Always had drums of oil on this farm. Hydraulic and engine.

 

[LouNY]

I don't know about Hay Dude but on the farm we never found the pricing of 55 gallon drums to offset the difficulty of keeping the oil clean. Too much dust and dirt around our buildings and shops to maintain the proper cleanliness for oils. Even with maintaining over a dozen tractors it just didn't work for us. Most of the farms equipment storage is just 3 sided building with just a small shop building.

 

[Hay Dude]

I tried that, but now I just buy as needed at the best price I can. Too messy, heavy and as Lou said, the transfer of oil from a drum to a tractor (especially in the shop I have) has a pretty high risk of contamination.
Having an oil delivery company was nice, but the savings on bulk oil was less than the delivery charge. I had bulk fuel delivered for years, too. It became too clumsy and so I have 80G on my truck now.

 

[LHF2019]

I guess we never had that or thought of that as an issue. Growing up it was always stored in 3 sided shed with an old oil pump. Filled glass quart mason jars with poor spouts that were kept covered. After I took over used a garden hose to pump directly into tractors but was no fun in cold weather. Now they are stored in shop with hand pumps and fill an antique 1 gallon oil container with flexible spout. Still use the mason jars to top off as needed between oil changes. Everything kept covered to prevent contamination. After 40 years of my life and 10,000’s of hours over many tractors with only 2 engine rebuilds growing up I would say risk is minimal if done correctly. As for delivery, I’m already there getting other parts and gives me barrels to put used in to return to same place. I once worked it out but don’t recall the price difference between 5 and 55 gallons some but correct not much.

 

[Hay Dude]

The other thing I worry about is vandalism. Someone putting crap in tanks to ruin your fuel or lubricants. Just not worth the risk.

I will be improving the condition and security of our location soon and may consider another look at large quantity fuel storage again. Possibly to be paired-up with a diesel stand by generator for SHTF situations that are coming.