Tractor advice for a new farmer

bruceki · Mar 19, 2009

Check the price of small square bales vs the larger bales you guys are talking about. on the west coast, 900# wrapped bales sell for $50, and 60lb small square bales sell for $10. So you can sell 600lbs of hay for $100, or 900lbs of hay for $50.

If you're baling it mostly for resale (at least in the near future) might as well make whatever bale the market will pay the most for.

yes, small square bales can be more work, but every dollar counts these days, and the 40% better price might be worth it.

I know a guy in kansas who sells small square bales for $100 a ton that get shipped to the east coast and sold for $250 a ton after trucking costs.

piller · Mar 19, 2009

I bought a new tractor last year and wanted one that was capable of making round bales. I went with the Kubota M8540HD, 4wd, loader, hydraulic shuttle. Previously my neighbor made round bales on our place using his JD 5425. A local guy does custom hay making with a pair of New Holland 115 HP cab tractors.

I recently completed the Tennessee Master Beef Producer certification program, in it we learned a lot about forages, hay, etc. Things could be different in your neck of the woods, however ....

it does not pay to make your own hay. Sell your hay equipment and buy your hay. Purchase hay that has been forage tested so you know what you are getting.
it pays to build a good hay shelter. My state has a cost share program to help with this. You will lose about 5% of hay stored in a shelter. Other storage methods will lose 15 - 35 %. The shelter will pay for itself in just a few years.
there are several methods used to feed hay. The cone type feeder wasted less hay in tests than other methods and paid for itself quickly.
rotational grazing/stockpiling strategies can be very beneficial also

firemen122 · Mar 20, 2009

Instead of renting the guy your pasture for 2,000.00 tell him to cut hay on halves. He can leave yours in the field. You can get a much smaller tractor uses less fuel not all upfront costs in hay equipment. If he does not like that hire him to bale it all for 15-20.00 per bale. still no upfront costs. Put a pencil to it figure out which way treats you best. No labor for you, Hay to feed your herd.....

chh · Mar 20, 2009

The tractor you mention will run a 4' wide x 5' tall round baler. It is also adequate to run most brands of disc hay mowers in the 8' to 9' bar length. 120 acres can be done with one tractor using it to mow, rake and bale with, cutting about 20 acres at a time. It can get into work that way.

Haying is somewhat more complicated than many people realize as mentioned and the advice of partnering with someone on shares is a good idea. Especially if you help on part of it. Getting a tractor or volunteering to rake or mow with his so you can be there will teach you more than anything else could. I have used several methods for doing hay over the years including hiring it done, selling it standing, partnerships and now baling it myself to sell and doing custom baling. I have been around hay and equipment all my life and it is a constant learning experience with customers, new products, weather ect.ect. It is not rocket science, but experience is a great teacher.

As shipping rules get tighter 4' wide bales have become far more popular. Many haulers will not/can not takes loads over 8' wide. I went to a 4x6 round baler this last year with net wrap for this reason. Some states will still allow farm tagged trucks to carry hay at 10' (2 5' bales)but that is changing regularly.

Defintely get ready to spend some serious money of you decide to get new/nearly new equipment. Also be prepared to learn how to work on said equipment

.

For my operation, I use 3 tractors( the biggest a 5455 MF 105 engine hp, 85 pto hp) a 4x6 MF round baler, 2 disc mowers, rake, and a tedder. We covered quite a few acres with this setup with just my wife and I for labor.

The type of hay demand in your area needs to be the detemining factor in the type of baler you use. Round balers and small square bales are a doable setup, large squares balers require such a large hp tractor and cost so much that doing it yourself would be very hard to justify.

BTW: I have seen a study out of Oklahoma State University that basically puts the break point having it custom done/doing it yourself in the 700 round bales per year range.(Custom rate of approx $20 a bale with hay selling in the $30 range if I remember correctly, which I will not guarantee.

) You will have to put a pencil to the costs/expected returns to see how it would work out in your situation