jimg
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2003
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- 2,039
OK, that makes it easier. Robert can give precise info since he knows that general area. If you can reliably get 3 cuts @ 2t/ac making 50# bales then you'd need to hay about 15ac. It could be more or less depending on the ground, rainfall in a particular year and management practices. Id go w/ a bit more since year to year youre never sure whether the weather will cooperate and those unforeseen problems that crop up from time to time. Id rather have more hay than less going in to winter w/ animals to feed. Its better to have some to sell than be forced to buy in late winter/early spring. Anyway, assuming 15-20ac a MF 3625 or 35 w/ in a 12x12 would be good. Having the extra gears will make life easier when mowing & baling. With that small acreage you can also get by nicely w/ a haybine (vs discbine) + theyre much less expensive to buy. I also contend in the long run theyre less expensive to maintain if youre careful. The extra hp (assuming the 3635) would get consumed in the baler...being able to bale faster. Also in future if you wanted to switch to a small discbine you could w/o the need to upgrade the tractor.
I have similar size ground in TN and figure in an avg year w/ close management Ill get 3 cuts. The first 2 should come in at 2t/ac or better. The 3rd will probably avg between 1-2t. Im basing this on current conditions -- right now the hay contract isnt mine and the guy doing it is putting out minimum effort/resources and getting 1.5t/ac and 2 cuts. I bought a TN75 16x16 + a good used pair of MF 725 haybines. In the spring Im going to look around for a used Lely 300 or a new Vermeer TR90 (these are combination tedder/rakes). I havent decided on a baler yet but the inlines are interesting. I have some time though before I have to make up my mind.
BTW out of curiosity I priced a 3635 configured as closely as possible to my TN. The price was similar and I think there was some room to negotiate. A 3635 2wd, 12x12, 2 remotes was basically $25k.
I have similar size ground in TN and figure in an avg year w/ close management Ill get 3 cuts. The first 2 should come in at 2t/ac or better. The 3rd will probably avg between 1-2t. Im basing this on current conditions -- right now the hay contract isnt mine and the guy doing it is putting out minimum effort/resources and getting 1.5t/ac and 2 cuts. I bought a TN75 16x16 + a good used pair of MF 725 haybines. In the spring Im going to look around for a used Lely 300 or a new Vermeer TR90 (these are combination tedder/rakes). I havent decided on a baler yet but the inlines are interesting. I have some time though before I have to make up my mind.
BTW out of curiosity I priced a 3635 configured as closely as possible to my TN. The price was similar and I think there was some room to negotiate. A 3635 2wd, 12x12, 2 remotes was basically $25k.