Used hay equipment

[Anonymous Poster]

Sorry - southern Minnesota.

My point was not that my stuff never breaks - I guess around here most everyone has a shop & does their own repairs. Round balers are much simpler that square balers - for specialized parts anyhow, round balers are mostly off-the-shelf - Vermeer especially; the farm supply store has lacing & belts & chain & is open until 9:00pm, the Napa store has bearings & (some) sprockets & is open until 8:30, and 'everybody' has a welder in the shop for the cracked bigger items. Most folks stock up on the reglar consumables & breakables at the begining-of-year dealer sales, and we go from there.

It's not that we don't need the dealer, & I didn't mean to imply that. It's just that most folks around me can fix or improvise faster than running into the house to call the dealer & wait for him to come & pay the extra expenses. We'll make it work, fix it right when it's raining.

When the breakdown is serious, you go borrow the neighbor's machine to finish up - much quicker than waiting for a dealer, and your neighbor will be needing help someday soon as payback.

That's how things are done here. No right or wrong, just how it is for 'here'. When writing on the internet, it's easy to forget that things can be quite different 'there' than it is 'here'. That applies to me as much as it does to you. But I'm happy with 'here' - I don't like depending on the dealer - I'd go broke - those service calls are aweful. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif That bearing I repaired myself at ~4:30pm & was back in the field in less than an hour involved a trip to town, new large roller bearing & flanges. I got change back from a $20 and lost less than an hour of time. Could a dealer match that in either time or $$$? Neither Yellow or Green would 'here'.

--->Paul

 

[5030]

I've got to stick my 2 cents in here.

We have a what I consider to be excellently equipped shop. We have complete fabrication facilities as well as a complete machine shop and my partner is a certified welder with tank certification. When we are in the field, haying and this year will be no different, something always seems to break. No matter how good your maintenance program is, it always happens and when it does, we borrow a neighbor farmer's implement

Mother nature isn't cooperating this year. I got one field of nice orchard grass off last week, cut, crimpred, tedded, raked and rounded in 3 days. I knew the "window" was tight and cut high, higher than normal to allow the wind to get under the hay. I worked and I baled at 12-15. I checked the bales in the barn this evening and they have climbed a little. The are averaging about 18 now. I'm hoping next week we have about 5 or 6 days straight of no rain and good "degree" days for dryoff. Our alfalfa is starting to blossom and I like to cut it with a few blossoms. If I let it get too mature, it will get tough and dairymen don't like it tough. We sell the bulk of our rounds for dry cows. The balance goes to horse people who have learned the value of a round bale versus kickers and who have the equipment to handle them.

I baled the orchard grass in the evening as it was windy enough that there was no dew. Bailing orchard grass is hard on a rounder and I'm gald I had extra shear pins, 'cuase I went through about 6.

Next week, weather permitting, I won't be on TBYNet much at all, I'll be working on our 335+ acres that are left to harvest, but I promise that I'll take my digital camera with me and shoot a pile of pictures and when something breaks as I'm sure it will, i'll take pictures of that too.

 

[hayden]

Great note - thanks fro all the great info and insight.

How's the 5030 for haying? There's been great debate over how large/heavy a tractor one needs for haying, adn I've been wondering if the 5030 is "big enough".

What's good and what's not so good from your perspective. When do you find it too small?

 

[40Kchicks]

What an informative thread. I am learning lots. Sounds like most you like the round balers. I imagine that I will wait a year or two to start buying equipment. It will most likely be decent equipment. In the mean time I found some neighbors that I think can help me out with this years hay.

I went and picked up a 17Ton feed bin yesterday. The farmer I bought it from was cutting hay. He had an old MF 124 baler there so I asked him about it. He said that he had parked it there a few years ago after getting so frustrated that he went in a bought a new JD round baler. “I haven’t regretted that quick decision one bit”, was what he told me. The trip gave me a chance to look at his equipment and more importantly educate the wife a little and possibly get here into it. I think she would go for the big bales because last year she helped putting up hay. Just 3 tons but still after loading it up, transporting it and then unloading it again I don’t think it was very high on the fun things to do on the farm list. I have found labor saving purchases get higher priority.

Thanks for all the input and keep it coming. It’s great to hear from the larger HP group.
Eric

 

[5030]

Using a 5030 Kubota for running hay, especially a commercial operation is about unheard of around here. Around here, we are used to using at the very least a 4050 JD.

I've been a Kubota fan for about 20 years now and in the past, I never considered using one for any farm work other than mowing the grass (we have about 7 acres to mow), stacking and feeding rounds (we raise Percheron draft horses, or should I say my wife does), cleaning out the barns, loading the spreader and miscellaneous chores.

Anyway, last year during our 3rd., cut, Our old reliable 4020 blew a head gasket and our 4050 was split for a clutch. We have much larger row crop articulated Deeres in the 150 hp. pto range, but you can't run haying implements with them because of their size, wheel track, visibility and turning radius. Besides, with that much power on tap there is no feel for the mower let alone a baler. So....

I, at the time had an L3710, no cab, turf tires with a 72 mid mount that I mowed with. In desperation, we dismounted the mower and pressed the 3710 into service. We bailed about 45 acres with it in front of our 335 JD square baler with a flat rack hooked behind. I ran it in 4wd and other than the shake from the plunger, it did a fantistic job. We also used it in front of our JD 225 Kicker with a bale wangon behind and other than no hydraulic remotes on the 3710 to hook to the 225 to control the angle of throw, it worked fine at that task too. I used the 4050 on the rounder as we only round 1st. cut. Anyway...

Around Christmas time I got the urge to go tractor shopping. I've bought all my Kubota's from Dans farm Supply in Adrain, Michigan. I trust Dan and his staff and they have never steered either me or my partner wrong. As I am getting along in years, I wanted a cab tractor, but the M series was a little to tall to fit in my at home shop overhead door. I looked at pictures and poured over the specs on the new GrandL's and settled on the 5030. My utmost concern was that the 5030 could handle not only the toungue weight of our 13 foot JD MoCo without being horsed around but that it had the pto power to run it in heavy haying conditions. I was also concerned about the 5030 being able to handle the rounder. I discussed these concerns with the Kubota Regional Sales Representative as well as the sales staff at Dans'. Kubota assured me that the 5030 was capable of handling the mower and rounder. Iwas also told by Dans' that if the 5030 was not capable, they would take back the tractor and refund my full purchase price. Needless to say, last week I set the MoCo on the back and mowed a field of extremely thick, tall orchard grass and the 5030 took it in stride while I sat in the cab with the AC on with a Travis Tritt c.d. in the player. The MoCo will horse the 5030 in a tight corner if I don't lift the head but the tractor dosen't feel at all light in the front and I have no suitcase weights on the front bar either. I run the drawbar as close to the hitch mount as practical and still allow the drive shaft and shields not to hit the lift arms on a tight corner. The tongue weight of the MoCo is around 1,000 pounds and it dosen't affect the balance of the tractor at all.

The rounder also does fine on the 5030 and I broke 6 shear bolts while baling the orchard grass due to the fact that I had to get it up quick and could'nt roller crimp it. The Kubota engine must have really good torque rise as the baler never seemed to strain the engine. I ran the rounder at about 425 indicated pto rpm and the MoCo at 525. My mowing speed was 5.5 mph in mid range, 4wd of course.

My partner and I spent some time this winter at various forage and hay growers seminars in Michigan and Ohio. One thing that farmers like to do is overpower and overweight their tractors. Michigan State University did a study of hay fields using infrared cameras. The study concluded that increases in forage productivity increase up to 20 percent if you make the least amount of trips across the field and use the lightest tractors possible. Hay is money for us and to increase production by having less damage to the plants warrants the use of lighter tractors. The 5030 fills that bill for us.

As far as limitations go, the only problem I have is the fact that the loader will not lift rounds high enough to stack 2 rows high on a semi trailer. Of course we have our "utility vehicle" for that job.

Another problem with the 5030 is that the R4 tires stick way out from the rear fenders. When travelling from field to field on dirt and gravel roads, they tend to hurl missles and if I run through a puddle, the side galss doors are immediately covered in mud. I had dan's check with Kubota and Kubota has designed a rubber fender extension for the cab model Grand L's. I requested a prototype set if my dealer can get them. They are most certainly a necessity.

A problem that I have is keeping all these different model designations in order. I have a 5030, a 4020, a 4050 and a 3020. My partner has about 5 more. That's why I had to change my sign in name here on TBYNet from 3050 to 5030 sort of Deere to Kubota /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[hayden]

Thanks - If I can now sort our a good backhoe for the 5030, I'll have my perfect tractor.

 

[5030]

We are working on that too. When I had my 3710, I had a Kubota hoe that mounted on the rear 3 point. I hardly used it as my partner had a John Deere 2wd extenda hoe and when I needed to dig something, I borrowed it. It was a lot faster and bigger so my little hoe sat under a tarp. 2 years ago, we bought 2 new GSI bulk bins. The salesman came up to the farm and took the order and saw the hoe. He asked if i wanted to sell it and I did. I got as much as I paid for it new. So, "no hoe" (no pun intended).

The 5030HSTC and the other Grand L cab models, will not accept a conventional implement type hoe. We could fab a mount to rearset a hoe like a woods or Kubota but I really like the Bradco hoe's. They are well made and very stout. I have been in contact, through my dealer, with the area representative for ATI, Inc., the makers of Bradco hoe's and I am told they are designing an attachment hoe especially for the Cab model Grand L's. My personal preference is that the hoe have it's own pump and tank as using tractor hydraulics will slow response time. I suspect that in the near future, Bradco will introduce a hoe designed especially for the new cab Grand L's

 

[40Kchicks]

My M9000DTL is the orchard model. It came with extended fenders. Have your dealer look at these and see if they would work. They screw on the other fenders. They take just a little visibility away.
Eric

 

[5030]

I'll do that tomorrow morning. I have to go to Dan's for some cutter knives. Our mower runs sch knives and guards and Dan's is the area distributor for sch. How convenient. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[5030]

I criused over to Dan's this morning for a box of pro-cuts, 4 extra rock guards and 50 6mm spline bolts and nuts and of course to ask Steve B., about the m series fender extensions. Steve told me that he didn't think they'd fit my fenders as the curvature is different. I countered that if they are rubber, they should conform to the curve. He said that he'd call Kubota on Monday morning and see what they say. If they will fit, I told him to get me a set a.s.a.p.

I had a conversation this morning with a fellow hay grower in Ohio, just southwest of Toledo. He related to me a story about something that's never happened to me and I hope it never does.

He was running his Mower/Conditioner in a mature alfalfa field when all of a sudden he spied a fawn laying in the alfalfa right in front of the mower. Note--It's hard to see anything in front of the mower, especially in tall uncut hay, visibility more than 3 feet in front of the cutter bar is about nil. Anyway, he kicked the pto out and stopped as fast as he could but the fawn went through the pickup fingers and got stuck in the crimp rolls. He had to dis-assemble the rollers and remove the fawn and then pressure wash the mower. You can't reverse a mower when it's jammed, kinda like an old style combine. You plug it and you take it apart. I've sucked in rabbits and an ocassional wood chuck, but they go right on through. Funny thing is, when I go back to ted or rake, they are never there.