Best used tractor

[millstreaminn]

Each are rated at 2,000 pound loader capacity. They throw around 4X4 wrapped wet or 4x5 dry hay with ease. I have over 8,000 hours of tractor time, never had a problem with safety. Although the operator needs to keep ANY tractor out of a potentially dangerous situation.

 

[jltrent]

You hit the nail on the head Denver. My apologies to M5 :hide:

We use and old new holland 845 chain bailer like this.

Had one exactly like that for years. It was a good baler and had very few problems with it. We put hydraulic tie on it and I still have the hand crank that was taken off stored in the shed.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

We've had good service out of ours, floor chains broke about 14yrs ago but other than that I can't remember anything major happening with it.

 

[greybeard]

How do you keep the hay from rotting before they have a chance to eat it?

It might white mold a little on the outside but you won't see any black rot in most cases and we get a lot of rain here, not to mention high humidity all year long. Now, if you let the bales touch---diferent story. Got to leave a little air space between each so the water can run off and not into the bale beside it. If you tarp, just tarp the top 1/3--I learned that the hard way.

 

[BAR_R]

I have a JD 5425 I bought new in 2008. Bought it new becasue the used tractors were so darn expensive and knew if I did not roll it down the hill I could always get my $ back out of it. So it is an open cab with the cab floor (great!) front assist and beet juice in the tires, shuttle shift and 12 gears. Dandy little tractor but seems tippy to me. I live in a place where the guys like to bale 1400lb+ bales if they can and while you get your money's worth I keep that bale low and drive slow. I have had it on 3 wheels when using the loader and some heavy bales (different story for a different time) but not a bad tractor as long as you remember its not a field work tractor and keep it on the level as possible. We buy lots of rock every year to keep the paths open to the pens where we winter the cows. So I try to keep it out of the mud. Ruts become less of a problem when you get that rock base in the ground. there are places here where you could sink the entire tractor when the spring thaw hits.

I have had it stuck pulling a grass drill early in the spring when I got too close a waterway but other than that I have not had any real problems with it. I use it all the time and as long as it's pluged in it starts on the coldest of days. I am thinking about getting a disk mower for it but don't think I could run a diskbine. I have a woods 84 that I use and the tractor pulls that with no problems. It is a snow/poop moving machine with that shuttle shift. Worth every penny.

I do not let the cows run on the pasture during the winter unless I need to clean the lots out and I did not like the results to my field where I fed had a few years ago outside of the pens. So I don't think teh hotwire feeding would work so well for me. It is interesting though if you have the room.

 

[D2Cat]

Here's some interesting hay storage information. The Vermeer 605C didn't bale a very tight bale either.

http://www.aes.missouri.edu/fsrc/news/archives/nl95v4n3.stm

 

[Calhoun Farm]

Would someone care to explain why feeding more hay is frowned upon in terms of cost?

We can bail all our pastures twice each year for under $500. That includes mowing, raking, bailing each time. This also includes fueling 2 tractors and buying twine. The article posted above makes it out to be bad if you have to store hay or even feed alot of it. I've done more reading in the past year than ever before in terms of farming (medicating, buying/selling, marketing, costs, etc). I even attended and graduted master beef, and after all this "some" of the information I've read/been given seems to be left field and surprisingly comes from universities trying to get farmers to change to their way of thinking.

Information is a good thing don't get me wrong, but just because Missouri, TN, TX whomever suggests it doesn't make it right IMO. This isn't meant to be a rant, but I just feel each farmer should make up his own mind and do things how he wants. Not to be brain washed by some AG teacher sitting behind a desk writing "how to's" on farming.

 

[John SD]

Would someone care to explain why feeding more hay is frowned upon in terms of cost?

We can bail all our pastures twice each year for under $500. That includes mowing, raking, bailing each time. This also includes fueling 2 tractors and buying twine. The article posted above makes it out to be bad if you have to store hay or even feed alot of it. I've done more reading in the past year than ever before in terms of farming (medicating, buying/selling, marketing, costs, etc). I even attended and graduted master beef, and after all this "some" of the information I've read/been given seems to be left field and surprisingly comes from universities trying to get farmers to change to their way of thinking.

Information is a good thing don't get me wrong, but just because Missouri, TN, TX whomever suggests it doesn't make it right IMO. This isn't meant to be a rant, but I just feel each farmer should make up his own mind and do things how he wants. Not to be brain washed by some AG teacher sitting behind a desk writing "how to's" on farming.

While I agree with your basic premise and conclusions, I question whether you are including all the costs of producing hay. Fortunately, we all tend to forget stuff. Does your $500 figure include all cash expenses like fuel and twine, equipment repair/replacement, or any return for your labor?

I cover 200 acres once in a good year. 2013 overall was pretty good here. Ended up with 330 1300lb bales that I valued at $65 each ($100/ton)

Half of the hay went to my neighbor who provides more than half of the labor nowdays. I sold my half two different ways under 10 miles and delivered the hay for $100/ton. Delivery for the neighbor who helps me was short as my hayfield is only a mile from his place.

Neighbor bought the fuel and most of the twine in our deal. Fuel alone here cost more than $500 but kept 3 tractors running all summer putting up hay and also moved the hay to the final destination in the fall.

All the equipment is mine. Last year with my new Kubota and Vermeer rake I had some spendy new iron working in the hayfield along with my old Ford tractors, MacDon swather, and Hesston baler.

I just couldn't do it anymore without a nice cab tractor and the rake speeds up the process. Still hoping to get my cousin to rake this year. Another driver would sure speed up things.

The new stuff is sure nice, but definitely comes with a cost. The baler is now 14 yrs old and is parked on the dealer's lot awaiting some off season R&R. Minor repairs on the baler during hay season were around $500 also. Had to get a new hose, repair a hydraulic cylinder, and the worst was a $300+ new tire. :shock:

I'm sure I'm missing a few costs too. The part of your post I especially agree with is your point that everyone needs to do what works best for them on their own operation. One should not put too much confidence in some talking head with no real world experience.

 

[Calhoun Farm]

We don't have labor costs (my dad and I do the work), all of our equipment is paid for also. The only costs we had last season was fuel, twine, about 20 rake teeth...hmm thats all that comes to mind. All our hay is on the same property so we don't haul it with trucks/trailers, we use the tractors to move it. I guess what I'm getting at is not all situations are the same, every farmers situation and logistics are different. What you may spend every season is in no way the same as what we do. Oh, and I think we rolled about 225 5x5 rolls last year, probably the most for us in awhile because of all the rain we got. We had more hay than we could store, we've still got about 20rolls sitting out thats about 1/4 rotted already.

 

[John SD]

We don't have labor costs (my dad and I do the work), all of our equipment is paid for also. The only costs we had last season was fuel, twine, about 20 rake teeth...hmm thats all that comes to mind. All our hay is on the same property so we don't haul it with trucks/trailers, we use the tractors to move it. I guess what I'm getting at is not all situations are the same, every farmers situation and logistics are different. What you may spend every season is in no way the same as what we do. Oh, and I think we rolled about 225 5x5 rolls last year, probably the most for us in awhile because of all the rain we got. We had more hay than we could store, we've still got about 20rolls sitting out thats about 1/4 rotted already.

A few other things i thought of. The real estate taxes on the majority of my hay ground are over $4/acre so there's $800 that needs to be charged to against hay production before turning a wheel. I could farm it up or fence in out and graze instead of hay. Some years that might pencil out better.

Do you change oil in your equipment when you get done with hay? Engine oil/filters, grease, antifreeze, hydraulic/transmission oil, etc. One hose blows out and many times I loose $$$ of oil before I know it. All that stuff adds up.

I moved my own hay for a long time with my own tractor and stack mover. One of those Lahman single axle jobs with hydraulic drive on a Ford 8600. Sold the old stackmover to another neighbor when I upgraded to a 16 x 33 Lahman.

I don't make long trips with hay now since I no longer have cattle and don't bring any to the home place. When I started moving my own hay, the trip with 18 bales was 17 miles one way. If I got an early start I could make 3 trips a day. Didn't want to be on the highway loaded when visibility got poor. Traffic has become worse since.

One fall I figured I put over 900 miles on the tractor moving hay. Like you, I was using my "free" labor, and I didn't have to wait on and pay a truck to haul or count on my busy neighbor to do it.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If I put hay out in November the bales would be completely covered in snow by now and no way for anything to eat them unless I built all my animals snowshoes.

How do you put hay out in 4' to 6' of snow ?

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

You keep a road, and feeding area plowed/dug out so that you can get the tractor in, and also so the animals can move around. Measured yesterday and there is between 42 and 58 inches of snow on the ground depending on where I measured.

 

[Nesikep]

We got an IH 684, which is a tuned up 574, it's about 65 Hp, and it is built really well. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an older workhorse in that power range. They are a long wheelbase which is good for heavy work, but is a little clunky for haying in smaller odd shaped fields, especially with smaller mowers. They have excellent 3pt hitch, indestructible final drives, live pto and good hydraulics. They also have a heavy front axle that will handle a loader without breaking.

JD did rebadge Yanmar tractors, we had a JD 950 (30 pto hp) and put 5000 hours on it.. it was far too small a tractor for the work it had to do, engine worked perfectly but the transmission and diff's were getting noisy and we got rid of it. Too light a tractor to do any serious work.

If you really want to move in snow, find an old Ford County, nothing with less than double the power will outpull them, but they are clunky to operate and being british made, will require frequent oil top-ups. They all had 4 equal size (front and back) tires, about 16x32". They have a super low center of gravity and weigh in at about 6 ton minimum. That's what we pull our 3 shank subsoiler with down to about 20"

Massey 165's get stuck on banana peels, but are good haying tractors, they turn really tight which is nice for odd shaped fields, handle a 9' sicklebar haybine in pretty much any condition, as long as it's not too steep (they get stuck on banana peels, remember?), I heard the Massey 245's were better, but there are light and heavy versions.. Look for the ones that have the square rear axle tubes!

That about does it for things I have experience with..