Want to get into haying - need some advice.

[redlevel]

If it was me, and labor is an issue, I would forget the small bales and horse hay. Fertilize and lime that bermuda (is it Coastal, common, or mixed?) One man with one good tractor and good equipment can handle 20 acres of bermuda in round bales without any hired labor. I use New Holland equipment (6640 tractor, 650 baler, 616 cutter) a cheap rake, wish I had a better one, and a good tedder. If you put cows on the 160 acres, you are going to have to feed a good bit of hay, and round bales are much more convenient.

If you have barns, keep the rolls under them. It is better if you can stack them 3 deep, but even if you can only stack them 2 deep, you can get a lot of rolls under a barn. When it comes time to sell, you don't need anything but the tractor and FEL to load out the customer. I have a 30 acre field of coastal, and I can cut, rake, bale, and stack the 120 or so 1000+ lb bales in 4-5 days of good weather. The barn is in the field, so that makes hauling in and stacking more convenient.

Something I don't think I've seen mentioned here is a mower caddy. Hooking and unhooking a disc mower to a 3 pt. hitch, and getting it properly adjusted is a major deal. I bought a KMC caddy for the 616 disc cutter last year, and it makes it much more convenient. Of course, if you have a separate tractor just for mowing, it isn't that big a deal. You can also use a smaller, lower hp tractor for the same size cutter with the caddy.
http://www.kelleymfg.com/Hay_Equp/Disc_Mower_Caddy.htm

Not many people around here put up small bales, labor being the main reason. I have two horse customers who buy my hay for their horses, and they seem to be pleased. Horse customers tend to be very picky about their hay (rightfully so), but my coastal field is very clean. They both saw the hay before it was cut, so they know what is in the roll.
The way I keep the field clean is by fertilizing it. Bermuda will eventually choke out everything else if it has plenty of rain and fertilizer. I generally put cows on it around the middle of April, and they pretty well clean up any winter weeds and grasses. I pulled them off last week, and fertilized with 70N 20P 50K on Monday. We got about 2 inches of rain the last couple of days, so I should cut hay around the 4th of July. I will get one more good cutting, and probably a third cutting, depending on the rain. Of course I fertilize after each cutting.

If you put up good hay, you will eventually be able to develop a market for it. A lot of people around here make hay, but not many put up a good quality product. I haven't really tried to sell any hay, but people keep calling wanting to buy from me.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Indydirtfarmer,
Yes the 5003 series JD tractors are rugged but their transmissions are not the optimum choice for harvesting hay. IE: running a baler and a disc mower. You can do it but the transmissions of the more upscale JD series make it much easier. Dirt-working tasks are different than operating hay tools. )</font>

I'm not exactly new at all of this myself.... (I farm around 1400 acres presently. We were a dairy operation until recently, and have baled thousands, if not millions of bales.) The 5003 series transmissions might not be "The Ideal" set-up, but they are more than able to do what is needed. Sometimes cost is a major consideration, and living in a perfect world has to take a back seat....

 

[cowboydoc]

I've got the 5303 and it's the EXACT same tractor as the more expensive 5000 series with regards to the drivetrain. The difference is in the options, there aren't many, and the cosmetics. Mechanically it's the same. I do agree with CCI that the non synchro transmission would be a pain for haying but certainly not out of line for just a 20 acre operation. We've got almost a 1000 trouble free hours on the 03 we bought last year and it's been a good tractor. No bells and whistles mind you but it's a nice basic tractor.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

Exactly my point....And the makings of a successful haying operation may just as well be keeping it under budget, as any other single factor. That could well be achieved by using a tractor that doesn't have all the latest gadgetry, but is a good,solid, basic machine. In fact, that would make it a practical choice for most any operation, in my book.

Granted, some of the newer transmission options make life easier and more efficient, but how long does it take for the bottom line to catch up to "cost"?

 

[JESSE1]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Nice rig. How, how about a stupid question. How long is that trailer. how do you get your other stufft there, like the rake, etc? Will one tractor do it?

Thanks,
D.
)</font>

The trailer is 28' long including the dovetail. It has 12,000# axles. Pulling the trailer and tractor is really all the load I want to haul with a 1 ton truck. Actually, since I only do my own hay, the equipment never leaves my place. I only haul the tractor if it needs service. I only use the one tractor for mowing, using the tedder, raking and baling.

If I had to do a lot of heavy hauling, I'd look into buying a used 2 ton truck and put a flatbed with gooseneck hookup for pulling the big loads.

 

[burnetma]

On the subject of economy minded tractors, I just recently saw the NH TB series tractors (in person). Very simple machines (8x2 transmission) but a lot of HP. I bet these would make a really nice economical machine. Does anybody have any experience with these machines?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The TB series is the old 10s series with new sheet metal. The local veggie farm here just bought 4 of them with the mudder package. They are solid machines.

 

[burnetma]

Thanks.

Sorry to hijack the post, but it is another model for consideration in the economy class.

 

[MFMan]

If you're looking for info on utility tractors. try this link as well:
Link

MikePA: Cleaned up long URL. Please review your message before posting it. It's simple not to do this. Just insert a descriptive word or two between the {url=http://whatever}<font color="red">Enter words here</font>{/url} instead of the entire URL. Replace parentheses with brackets in previous example.

 

[Turkflyer]

The 5003 actually has the best reliability of any John Deere wheeled machine. It is the same design as the 5020 series, but without syncros. You're paying a lot for the syncros. A lot of dealers have the "John Deere Disease" and would rather sell you a 5020 because they make more money. The engine is the same in both of them. The trans and rear axle are the same, except for the syncros. For a low cost operation, these tractors can't be beat.