Tiny tractor hay.
- Thread starter minnesotaredleg
- Start date
sandytrail
Member
Around here all you do is call a guy that bales hay. He charges a fee per bale, round or squqre, he does it when you need it and all you have to do is put it in the barn. For 10 acres, I would not go to that expense and also have to worry about the maintenance and storage for that equipment. Good luck.
tecnicoman
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A couple of points. For every person who is telling you YOUR tractor is too small to do any real work, there is someone with a bigger tractor than theirs telling them THEIR tractor isn't big enough. So just ignore those people. You just use the tractor that is the right size for you and your farm. Second, lots of suggestions about calling the guy down the road to bale your hay for you. If you want to know the best day to have your hay baled, just watch what day he is doing HIS field. And then, see how long it takes him to get to yours. As long as you don't care about hay quality, that's fine. But here in the Midwest, hay that isn't baled until July or later is practically worthless from an animal nutrition standpoint. The only way to get quality hay in your own relatively small hayfield is to do it yourself.
Egon
Epic Contributor
If you want inexpensive and not too labour intensive look up horse drawn haying equipment. There should be lots of “Hay Sweep” illustrations that could be utilized for gathering hay and stacking it.
I have spent many a day on a horse drawn rake. Also look at my avatar. Shows a “Buck Pole”, as we called it, stacking loose hay.
( sickle bar mower, hay rake, buckpole we’re all the equipment needed). Later Farm Hands and stack movers came along. And then, the labour intensive small square/round baler was introduced.
I have spent many a day on a horse drawn rake. Also look at my avatar. Shows a “Buck Pole”, as we called it, stacking loose hay.
( sickle bar mower, hay rake, buckpole we’re all the equipment needed). Later Farm Hands and stack movers came along. And then, the labour intensive small square/round baler was introduced.
Mudfarmer
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I hayed 7 acres with a geared 25hp Ford 1700 for years in the 1990s. I had a Taarup four disk mower (don't even consider a sicklebar), a generic PTO-powered side delivery rake, and a Massey Ferguson [small] square baler. The only problem I had was when a windrow got a bit heavy. Unfortunately, those old Ford CUTs did not have a live PTO. Without a two-stage clutch I had to shift down from midrange-first to low-range-3rd slowing the ground speed to keep the baler from picking up so much it would jam. I got real fast at clutching, moving two shift levers real fast (almost simultaneously), keeping the flywheel on the baler going, and not grinding gears (much). Should be much easier with a hydrostatic transmission. It's not as fast as using a big tractor; plan on designating a week of long days to get it done, and a few nights worrying about whether it's going to rain.
ultrarunner
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15 hp tractor to keep 36 milk cows happy and fed…
This how we did it and point often overlooked is the heavier the tractor the more the soil is compacted.
This how we did it and point often overlooked is the heavier the tractor the more the soil is compacted.
Hay Dude
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Love that picture man.
That should be framed and in the family room-next to the trophies and the kid pictures.
If you want to talk REALLY small production... I use about 8-10 bales/year for various purposes. I've gone online and found plans to build a "Bale press". I didn't really like any of them though so will be building my own this winter, using angle for the frame, a ratchet tie down for the press and standard baling twine to tie it together. I'm sure that I saw a partial roll of twine in my father's barn. 
ultrarunner
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- Cat D3, Deere 110 TLB, Kubota BX23 and L3800 and RTV900 with restored 1948 Deere M, 1949 Farmall Cub, 1953 Ford Jubliee and 1957 Ford 740 Row Crop, Craftsman Mower, Deere 350C Dozer 50 assorted vehicles from 1905 to 2006
It is my best all time childhood memory…
Being 4 years old and driving up and down the windrows… just creeping in low gear while wood hay forks used to load the wagon…
I don’t have the tractor but I have the hayfork in the picture…
Tractor is a crank start diesel single cylinder and I was able to crank start it when warm on a summer afternoon… it was a challenge from my uncle who said if I wanted to drive I first had to start it… great motivator for me!
Only home grown manure used to fertilize and no chemicals…
The takeaway haying is there are many ways to get it done from hand cutting, turning, gathering… to full mechanization for a price… of course.
I know a few retired that just break even on hay but they mow to maintain the fields…
Fallow fields can quickly become brush and trees.
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That's what a lot of people don't understand. It isn't just about the money, maintaining the land also has a value.