Want to get into haying - need some advice.

[ddivinia]

I sure like the power reverser and 4wd...I can't get either on the 03 series. I seriously considered a 03 until I drove both back to back - had to step up to the 5525 cab.

D.

 

[Wannafish]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( "I usually start at $15 an hour and every time the boy in question is there when I need them after that it's a dollar an hour raise up to $25...."

Wow!!! Fifteen dollars an hour to haul square bales! I never got more than $6-7/hr and I thought I was doing okay....even after getting heat-stroke on one occasion /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif ****, if you can't find kids willing to work a little for that kind of money, jeez.... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif )</font>

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I guess I'm getting old. I got $2.00/hr and all the rotten potatoes I could stand to shovel in the winter. Come to think of it, I started out at $1.25/hr.

Now I have helpers of my own - they get $10.00/hr and for that price are there when I need them.

 

[sflranchok]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I sure like the power reverser and 4wd...I can't get either on the 03 series. I seriously considered a 03 until I drove both back to back - had to step up to the 5525 cab.

D.
)</font>

I had a 6200 cab/FEL with 1480 hours and decided it was time to upgrade due to some recent neck/back surgery that requires a smoother ride. The JD dealer suggested a 5525. While it did have MFWD which increased the size of ground contact, it also weighed 1600 lbs less than my 6200. So I would have lost weight (neg) to gain MFWD (pos). The most realistic option was the 6420. However I was blown away on the price. I put up about 600 round bales/year and could not justify the huge gap. Dejected and without no real solution to my jarring problem, I stopped at a new McCormick dealer: thanks but no thanks, I bleed green nor was this a value alternative.

As I got back in the car, I decided to try one other choice in town, Payne County Implement. Their line of product does well under 60 horsepower but to me untested in the larger sizes. OK, no more suspense: they had just received a M105X. I got up in that cab, test drove it, talked to several other folks that use it for their haying operations, and I was SOLD on this Kubota. Yes, I did net out about $9K less than the JD 6420. But I believe it is a better built tractor than JD (I never thought I'd ever say that!). If you haven't written a check to JD yet, check out the Kubota line, it is very impressive.

 

[Trail_Time]

One other thing to consider. If you have the time, you may want to partner with someone who already has an existing hay operation. You could work for them for free for one season or cutting to learn the ropes and try out the equipment.

I know a guy who has 125ac planted and wants all the help he can get. So I am going to help cut and bale. Its a lot to learn, so this will give me the opportunity to see if haying is something I am interested in doing myself... before I buy all the attachments. I have about 35 acres planted in hay I intend to work next year(07).

 

[sandman2234]

I am probably crazy for even considering this, but figured you guys might set me straight.
It is a hundred miles to the 26 acres, owned by the family, currently a field with Lord knows what growing on it. A nearby river has been known to flood, covering about a third of the property.
Daddy(age 76) lives in S.W. Arkansas, and can't find anyone to bale his hay, with a square baler. One guy that he uses just isn't dependable so Daddy looses a cut a year. He raises cows, because he enjoys it, and it keeps him active. However, without his own hay, or a cheap source nearby, he gets in a bind, and has started thinking about selling out (of cow business)
His old Massey might pull the smaller/older style equipment, but it is only around 35 or so horses.
Should I comtemplate putting the unused acres in south Georgia into hay, or just let Daddy retire and start spending all that money he has stashed away?
Daddy can come after the hay, and haul it back, and save money (if I give it to him).
Are there any laws against hauling hay over state lines (agriculture restrictions?)
Sure wish one of you haygrowers lived near him...
David from jax

 

[HayDR]

In most years with normal rainfall you could purchase hay from local producers for only 10-20% more than if you put up your own hay. You dad at 76 doesn't need to be putting up square bales. He could plant small grains in the fal, no till,l and stock pile grass to help lessen the hay needed over the winter. I am thinking you father has a cow-calf operation.

His Massey will pull a square baler but at 76 that would not be a good idea for him to get involved in that hard work like that. You can move hay around all you want but also realize fuel costs and not favorable to long hauls.

 

[sandman2234]

Believe it or not, I think Daddy is in better physical shape than I am. He works, and I just sit behind a steering wheel, but I know what you mean.
He currently hauls all his own hay, right from the field to the barn, and stacks it in (the loft mind you) the barn. He isn't as fast as he used to be, but he still gets around nicely.
I am going to keep an eye out, and if I can find the equipment, I think it would be a smart move. That way he could make a cut if the regular guy won't come do it. I don't think either of us has ever worked on a baler, but Daddy worked on airplanes to dozers for a living, so ought to be able to keep one running.
Hauling it from South Georgia would only be an excuse to get him down here. (I would buy the durn hay if I thought he would come get it!!)
David from jax

 

[5030]

Plumboy:

You have 2 people who feed rounds to horses right here in this thread. Myself (I feed rounds to our Percheron Brood Mares), and our other horses too. I believe CowBoyDoc feeds rounds too. Both CBD and myself make our own hay and sell it too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[plumboy]

I see that.I still dont know anyone personally who would do that.Horses I grew up around are born on a diet and stall fed.I guess it makes sense when horses become livestock.If I go ahead and do the standard breds they'll never see a round.How do you control weight?

 

[riptides]

Exercise controls weight.

Of course if the horse is a lawn ornament, I have no idea.

I know many people around here that feed round bales. Seems easier for everyone involved.

To me, horses = square bales.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif