baling equipment

[bigbull338]

once again we are thinking about buying hay baling equipment an baling our on hay.so i found some used equipment for $25000.it was a 605xl vermeer baler with 9ft kunhn cutter an R23 rake.so i asked how old the equipment was an he said 12 or 14yrs old.so i done some quick looking an the equipment is barely worth $15000.the is wanting what he gave for it new.i priced out new equipment at $37000 that i could get for $32000.so thats $7000 more for new equipment.so the used equipment is not a good deal.

 

[skyhightree1]

Personally if I have to pay 75% of the cost of something used I will spend extra money to buy it new thats just how I have always been. I would opt for new. I have been having an internal battle with myself on whether i should buy new equipment or just pay 15.00 for 4x5 bales like im baling now.

 

[kerley]

You're lucky, a 4x5 roll here costs 35.00 each.

 

[skyhightree1]

Kerley that sucks.. I have used about 100 bales of hay this winter so far I think and wondered 1500 a year and I don't touch anything vs buying 30k worth of equipment. We have local guys who will come bale your hay for reasonable prices too.

 

[ragweed]

here it cost us 20 a bale to get it cut and baled or half the hay. i usually do the halves. had some p-nut hay baled and wrapped it cost me $22 a bale.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Depending on the type of deal it is, i get 15 to 18$ a bale for good 4x6s or half, and i don't use net wrap. Around here i could buy good enough used equipment to bale all the hay you want for 15000$ but if you can afford it and plan on keeping it for a while and staying at the hay yourself, i would buy the 32000$ new stuff, that is about right on prices from what i see on the new stuff. And if that is what you do i would strongly consider a kuhn disc cutter and rake over other brands. and i think jd has a pretty good baler for under 20000$

 

[Stocker Steve]

Typical custom situation here is you cut your own and then get in baled for $9 to $12 each. Issues are getting it done on time, or getting someone to show up at all for small dabs of hay.
I am going retro this year. I put together a small square bale line of equipment for $3,900 :nod: so I can make a few acres hay and oats straw for light calves. If I liked horse people more I could start selling a few bales for $4.50 each...

 

[bigbull338]

yall are saying what i already knew.because i know the cutter would be the 1st to take a dump.an that the package was worth $15000 an no more.plus we are paying $25 a bale to get hay baled.

 

[High Cotton]

If your financially able I would buy a new baler. There are deals on good used stuff out there. If you have very limited or no expericene with what to look for you could be setting your self up for trouble. I would try to pick up a used 11-13ft cutter and a 8-10 wheel v rake. As you go along you can always upgrade. I do have a question about those hydraulic bar rakes. Those things look like they would work the hydraulic system of a tractor pretty hard. What are they like? I've never had to opportunity to run one.

 

[skyhightree1]

I do have a question about those hydraulic bar rakes. Those things look like they would work the hydraulic system of a tractor pretty hard. quote]

High I must agree with you on that one.

 

[kerley]

Kerley that sucks.. I have used about 100 bales of hay this winter so far I think and wondered 1500 a year and I don't touch anything vs buying 30k worth of equipment. We have local guys who will come bale your hay for reasonable prices too.

The problem here is that if we bought hay in northern Alabama it would be less expensive but when you add the freight it would probabily be more expensive. I am not complaining just stating the facts. It all boils down to the frice of fuel.

 

[skyhightree1]

true statement

 

[lavacarancher]

Custom hay baling in my area has steadily gone up over the past 6 or 7 years from $15/bale (cut, rake and bale) to more than $25/bale (C,R&B) with string tie. When moisture was available for growing hay it was always "I'll cut and bale your hay when I get around to it" from the custom balers. When the drought was kicking our butts it didn't matter when they got to you because you didn't have any hay to bale so you had to buy it anyway. Always a dilemma. I finally picked up a fairly new NH BR780 for $15K which turned out to cost me the price of a new one before I got all the bugs worked out. Bought a new 12 wheel rake at the beginning of last haying season and finally got all the kinks worked out of it at the end of last season. If it hadn't been for my old NH851 AutoWrap last year I would still be in the field because the BR780 was in the shop most of the time. That old, ugly, chain baler just keeps on going. Man, those new green Megamouth balers (at $40K) were starting to look real good around August of last year while my red one was in the shop.

Anyway, what I'm suggesting to you Bull is buy what you can afford but give serious consideration to new. Even new will break down from time to time but at least you will have someone to grab by the throat when it does break, not like me where the only one I could grab was me.

 

[JSCATTLE]

I charge 25 per roll to cut ,rake,and bale . My neighbor and I rolled 620 rolls for a lawyer in sept. of last year . We finally got paid yesterday . It took us calling the d. A. Everyday for 3 weeks to get them to do anything . I won't be bailing for anyone else . In fact I'm going to sell my baler and pay off some bills . I can cut and rake and pay my neighbor 10 bucks a roll to roll it . So for 2500 bucks ill have all of my hay . And I can knock about 800 bucks a month off my bills .

 

[James T]

You're lucky, a 4x5 roll here costs 35.00 each.

2 ads in the paper this morning 4x5's of Coastal at $60 each.

 

[Caustic Burno]

You're lucky, a 4x5 roll here costs 35.00 each.

Fifty is as cheap as you can get them here.
Smartest thing I ever done was sell my hay equipment.
I haven't baled in three years and I had 36 dollar's a roll in my own hay then.
I have plenty of hay on hand used the sale of the hay equipment stocked up and I buy 36 rolls a year.
I am going to stay at 12 cow's and buy SS heavies each spring and sell em in the fall.
Made more money off cow's last year per head than I have ever made in my life and had less work in them.
Like I said before they are blood pressure medicine now.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Fifty is as cheap as you can get them here.
Smartest thing I ever done was sell my hay equipment.
I haven't baled in three years and I had 36 dollar's a roll in my own hay then.
I have plenty of hay on hand used the sale of the hay equipment stocked up and I buy 36 rolls a year.
I am going to stay at 12 cow's and buy SS heavies each spring and sell em in the fall.
Made more money off cow's last year per head than I have ever made in my life and had less work in them.
Like I said before they are blood pressure medicine now.

Key is sizing the herd (and the investment) to the amount of low cost feed?