What equipment for small scale hay?

[tessiers]

I am going to piss off a few people here but if loose hay was that easy people would be doing it. I am guessing that few that recommend it, actually do it. If you are not commited enough to invest in some equipment, I would go out on a limb and say you are not commited to cutting, raking, gathering and storing loose hay.



An acre an hour = 12 sq ft a second.

Anybody that thinks they can do that is smoking crack.

I agree whole heartedly, I only average an acre an hour with my 7' sickle bar cutter. I can do better, but once you factor in the turning, plugging, and cursing it averages 1 acre per hour.

I can not even fathom raking by hand, I carry a hand rake on my side delivery rake to clean up corners or other places I can't get to with the rake and that takes longer than raking the field.

I just want to know how many of you actually put up 2 or 3 acres of hay per year loose? Also its going to take a lot of goats to use at much hay per year so what do you do with the rest, not many people want to buy loose hay.

Jusy my 2 cents.

 

[Egon]

I am going to piss off a few people here but if loose hay was that easy people would be doing it. I am guessing that few that recommend it, actually do it/QUOTE]

Loose hay was surely much easier than the original small square bales. One got to manhandle them things about seven times.

Loose hay, put up with a little equipment did not require much manual labour.

The bales only got easier when they got big enough that the manhandle method did not work.:thumbsup:

But baled hay transports long distances much easier.