buying hay equipment

[Caustic Burno]

I bought a 335 (4x4) JD round baler. I had it for 10 years and made 500-600 bales per year. In those 10 years, I had to untwist a belt and replace one chain. Other than that no repairs other than everytime I tried baling with too high of a moisture content having to cut hay off of the starter roll and unplugging the baler.
1. If you buy new qaulity equipment and maintain it, it will give you very little trouble.
2. If you don't know what you are doing you will have trouble. I knew that that the hay was too wet but was always fighting rain so I baled it anyway. If you want to NOT be stressfree try unclogging a baler in 100 degree Texas sun and the baler is full of fire ants.

My only other point is: the main benefit of having your own baler is baling when you need to. For example, if you have coastal you should bale it every 4 weeks for max protein. If you wait until 8 weeks you are just as well to let a custom hay baler do it when he can.

Oh this is funny as I can tell you have spent some quality time in the hay field.
This is one of the reasons I run a Krone closed drum baler moisture doesn't effect it like other balers.
One tractor operation in the hay business is a hobby. I just cant afford to loose thousand in fertilizer cost on a cut hay field due to a tractor broke down.
They are going to break down, you start putting a tractor in the hay field working a 10' cutter all day and the only break it gets is to put another 80 bucks in diesel in it.

 

[littleboss]

I bought a 335 (4x4) JD round baler. I had it for 10 years and made 500-600 bales per year. In those 10 years, I had to untwist a belt and replace one chain. Other than that no repairs other than everytime I tried baling with too high of a moisture content having to cut hay off of the starter roll and unplugging the baler.
1. If you buy new qaulity equipment and maintain it, it will give you very little trouble.
2. If you don't know what you are doing you will have trouble. I knew that that the hay was too wet but was always fighting rain so I baled it anyway. If you want to NOT be stressfree try unclogging a baler in 100 degree Texas sun and the baler is full of fire ants.

My only other point is: the main benefit of having your own baler is baling when you need to. For example, if you have coastal you should bale it every 4 weeks for max protein. If you wait until 8 weeks you are just as well to let a custom hay baler do it when he can.

Oh this is funny as I can tell you have spent some quality time in the hay field.
This is one of the reasons I run a Krone closed drum baler moisture doesn't effect it like other balers.
One tractor operation in the hay business is a hobby. I just cant afford to loose thousand in fertilizer cost on a cut hay field due to a tractor broke down.
They are going to break down, you start putting a tractor in the hay field working a 10' cutter all day and the only break it gets is to put another 80 bucks in diesel in it.

Yep, been spending quality time in the hayfield for nearly 20 years. I can't say that its fun but at least I am in charge of my hay's quality. If I bale it to green or get it wet, it's nobody's fault but my own.
I replaced that JD baler with a JD 457. I bought the high moisture kit which has a scraper that keeps most of the hay off of the rollers. It also has a slip clutch instead of a shear pin,so at least I am not always having to stop and replace shear pins. It still clogs up some but not as much as the old one. I wish I had of known about how good the Krone is in high moisture hay. No one that I know of sells them around here. You can find JD, & Case IH within 20 miles. If I go out to 60 miles I can find New Holland, Vermeer and Hesston.

I have 2 nearly identical tractors both with Quick Hitch. If one breaks I can move the disc mower over to the other in just a few minutes. Same with the baler, move the computer over to the other and I am ready to go.

 

[Caustic Burno]

I bought a 335 (4x4) JD round baler. I had it for 10 years and made 500-600 bales per year. In those 10 years, I had to untwist a belt and replace one chain. Other than that no repairs other than everytime I tried baling with too high of a moisture content having to cut hay off of the starter roll and unplugging the baler.
1. If you buy new qaulity equipment and maintain it, it will give you very little trouble.
2. If you don't know what you are doing you will have trouble. I knew that that the hay was too wet but was always fighting rain so I baled it anyway. If you want to NOT be stressfree try unclogging a baler in 100 degree Texas sun and the baler is full of fire ants.

My only other point is: the main benefit of having your own baler is baling when you need to. For example, if you have coastal you should bale it every 4 weeks for max protein. If you wait until 8 weeks you are just as well to let a custom hay baler do it when he can.

Oh this is funny as I can tell you have spent some quality time in the hay field.
This is one of the reasons I run a Krone closed drum baler moisture doesn't effect it like other balers.
One tractor operation in the hay business is a hobby. I just cant afford to loose thousand in fertilizer cost on a cut hay field due to a tractor broke down.
They are going to break down, you start putting a tractor in the hay field working a 10' cutter all day and the only break it gets is to put another 80 bucks in diesel in it.

Yep, been spending quality time in the hayfield for nearly 20 years. I can't say that its fun but at least I am in charge of my hay's quality. If I bale it to green or get it wet, it's nobody's fault but my own.
I replaced that JD baler with a JD 457. I bought the high moisture kit which has a scraper that keeps most of the hay off of the rollers. It also has a slip clutch instead of a shear pin,so at least I am not always having to stop and replace shear pins. It still clogs up some but not as much as the old one. I wish I had of known about how good the Krone is in high moisture hay. No one that I know of sells them around here. You can find JD, & Case IH within 20 miles. If I go out to 60 miles I can find New Holland, Vermeer and Hesston.

I have 2 nearly identical tractors both with Quick Hitch. If one breaks I can move the disc mower over to the other in just a few minutes. Same with the baler, move the computer over to the other and I am ready to go.

Well I have one of the newer tractor's 1971 model hooked to the cutter.

 

[littleboss]

Do you have a Quick Hitch on it? My dad can't walk much anymore so I had to make everything for a "one man" show. Sure makes it easier to hitch up.
Course I had to spend one winter converting all of my implements from Cat I and Cat II to fit the quick hitch.

BTW my first disc mower was a Case IH (made my Lely), 6'9" cut. My new one is a JD (kuhn) 9'2". I put the high skid shoes on this one so that I can cut the coastal taller. I have found that if I leave it taller, it will green back up a whole lot quicker.
Before these dad had a IH sickle bar pull type mower. It was built to be pulled by horses. Grandpa liked horses but dad didn't so dad cut off the tonque and pulled it with both the IH Regular and Farmall M. As I am sure you know, sickle bars, rocks and fire ants don't get along. :lol:

 

[Caustic Burno]

Do you have a Quick Hitch on it? My dad can't walk much anymore so I had to make everything for a "one man" show. Sure makes it easier to hitch up.
Course I had to spend one winter converting all of my implements from Cat I and Cat II to fit the quick hitch.

BTW my first disc mower was a Case IH (made my Lely), 6'9" cut. My new one is a JD (kuhn) 9'2". I put the high skid shoes on this one so that I can cut the coastal taller. I have found that if I leave it taller, it will green back up a whole lot quicker.
Before these dad had a IH sickle bar pull type mower. It was built to be pulled by horses. Grandpa liked horses but dad didn't so dad cut off the tonque and pulled it with both the IH Regular and Farmall M. As I am sure you know, sickle bars, rocks and fire ants don't get along. :lol:

No everything here is the old fashion way by one old fat man.
I run a krone disc cutter and haymaxx rakes. Coastal cuts easy jump off in a field of bahia. I have burnt up more than one slip clutch in that thick crap. Then just 60 mile round trip 175 bucks a few wrenchs and your back to cutting hay. I have cut a many a field starting at 10 pm just because it was to hot to do it in the day. Easier on me and the equipment.

 

[kb5iod]

BTW my first disc mower was a Case IH (made my Lely), 6'9" cut. My new one is a JD (kuhn) 9'2".

How much of a time saver is the bigger cutter? We have a 7'8" Kuhn at present.

Caustic mentioned cutting hay at night. Sometimes you will see some interesting things. I watched a plane flying in a clover leaf pattern overhead for a couple of hours. Don't know what it was doing. Also, I had been in a fescue field for three hours and was making the last two or three swipes down the middle when three deer jumped up and ran off. I think they had been there the whole time.

 

[littleboss]

I can cut a 17 acre meadow in 4 hours with my new mower v.s. 5 1/2 hours with the smaller one- basically about 30% faster. That extra drying time can make a big difference.
This is running at slightly over 5 mph. If the coastal is tall and falling over I tend to run at this speed. If it is a smaller crop I have ran as fast as 6.5 mph.

I bought the new mower for several reasons.
1. Cuts faster
2. Was quick hitch compatible.
3. Instead of a swath board this mower has a wheel which moves the swath better so I can see where to drive for the next cut.

From my calculation if you went up to 9'2" you could decrease your cutting time by 17%. Instead of working a 10 hour day, you could be done in 8 1/2 hours.

We do have a cab on both tractors so I can cut during the day. I like to wait until the dew has dried before starting. Here in Texas that usually means around 9am. I usually see a coyote or two while cutting, they are looking for any animals that I have chopped up. Also, egrets, the white birds that hang around my cows show up to eat all of the grasshoppers that I stir up. The hawks are usually waiting for any rats or rabbits that I stir up.
My biggest problem is people stopping by either wanting to buy hay or just to talk. When cutting, I don't usually want to stop for anything.

 

[kb5iod]

The egrets will get so close to the cutter I wonder if they are going to get out of the way.

PLB,
One thing to add about hay equipment. Round balers make a heck of a fire. Might want to get insurance on it and the tractor if you have much invested. I wasted time trying to put one out and and almost lost the tractor. If it happens again, and I hope it never does, I'll go straight for the PTO shaft and pin.

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

Does the original poster know that it will take him from 10 -20 hours to cut that 60 acres ONE time?

Just out of curiosity, littleboss, what are you cutting with that takes so long to cut? My 16ft MacDon isn't a speed demon, and I'll cut between 8 and 12 acres/hour.

Rod

 

[littleboss]

Most people that cut hay at least around here only have a 6 to 9' disc mower.

With my old 6'9" mower, 60 acres would have taken about 18 hours. With my new 9'2" mower I could do it in in 12.

I assumed that if the original poster was just getting started in hay production he would go with a disc mower in this size range.

I don't think that he could justify a 16' cutter for 60 acres.

Take care,

 

[bigbull338]

if you have a 9ft cutter.you can cut 4 to 5ac an hr depending on how fast your going.an you can cut nitght an day.no waiting for the dew to dry.can cut 49ac a day.you usually need 5 clear days to get 40ac baled.an get the hay stacked off.

 

[Double A Ranch]

Plb, I see some of the negative posters are trying to get you to change your mind, but thats okay. Your post was asking for advice since you had already made up your mind WHAT to do. That's what I mean by negative people, for the guy who asked. If they cant answer the question they should pass it up instead of trying to act like experts about everything and tell you that everyhting you want to do is a mistake. You know WHAT you want to do, you just want advice to help you do it, right?

I checked with hubby and showed him some of the posts so far and here are a few more things for you to think about. He said it is hard to beat a Kuhn or a Lely mower, alto Vicon is good too he said. Talk to your dealer to match the mower you buy to the size tractor you have because the mowser has the greatest power requirement. Almost any kind of wheel rake will work for you because they are almost all alike. He said to go with either a green or yellow baler, John Deer or Vermeer. You will be happy with either. And be sure to go with the simplest monitor that you can get. It doesn't take a fancy monitor to bale hay if you have a good rake man he said and if you do it all by yourself you don't have an excuse to not have a good rake man. LOL. He also said that if you have 2 tractors that having your kids to rake hay for you is perfect but the wife is a good 2nd choice But he also laughed and said that if she is a "heavy milker" and your ground is rough that she might not be able to rake fast enough for you without complaining. Wonder what he means by that? :lol:

The 1 thing he cautioned tho was not to get a small "ToysRUs" size baler like a 4' x 4' or 4' x 5'. He said those are mostl;y for the weekend warriors or else peopel who bale hay to sell to the weekend ranchers and try to gouge them by selling them 500 pounds of hay for the price of a bigger bale. He said try to find you a 4'x6' at least, or a 5' x 6' would be better unless you haul hay a long ways or sell it to somebody that hauls it a long way and then you need to stick with the 4 x 6. New is best but used from a local dealer that yuou can trust and that has parts and that will work on it is okay until yuou decide if you like making your own hay.

He said (just like I did ) that 2 tractors will make it easier for you, with 1 big GOOD tractor (80+hp) to cut and bale with and a smaller "chore" type tractor to rake with but that IF YOU HAVE TO, you can get by with 1 tractor for a while. But using 1 tractor will leave your corners looking messy if you try to rake it all first and then bale it but that you can clean a lot of that up with the baler or turn the cows in and they will clean it up so don't worry too much if you only have 1 tractor. He said that a 60 acre meadow really isn't that big so don't let these boys on here scare you. If it takes them a week to do a 60 acree meadow he's sure glad that they're not baling some of ours. :lol:
Also he said that you will have to put out a lot more than the $1,000 worth of fertilizer that 1 or 2 of them talked about. He said he's heard of people buying their fertilizer in a buggy but he didn't know they bought it in a Walmart buggy. LOL I thougth that was a good one. :lol:

Just like Haymaker said about the satisfaction, what is it worth? And being able to have your family help you and to teach your kids how to drive by raking hay in the hayfield, what is it worth? Some of us here like Haymaker and us will be glad to help you so give it a whirl.

 

[littleboss]

Here is my input.

A 4x4 or 4x5 is the perfect size for hauling. A good 4x4 should weigh around 750 and a 4x5 around 1100-1200. I have a JD baler but I am sure that the Vermeer Rebel, one of the "ToysRus" (as she described them) baler would be fine for just 60 acres. Since you know nothing about haybaling (your words) you need a computer or some kind of mechanical indicator to guide you down the windrow; otherwise your bales will look like cones.

I consider Lely as one of the cheaper disc mowers, go with Kuhn (same as JD). If you want to get that field done in one cutting then you had better find a 12' or larger moco cause a small disc mower will take you HOURS to cut it.

If you do go with a larger baler then you will need at least 100hp.

I was referring to breaking the meadow down into 3 sections and if so, then $1000 per each 20 acre section is correct as far as fertilizer price goes. I guess some people just ought to learn to read before they open their mouth..

If you want to bale your own hay, go for it. Just remember, it ain't all fun and games, things will break, you will get mad. It isn't all stress free. If you work off of the farm full time, you will either need to plan on working in the field all night or as I suggested cut that field up into manageable pieces.

If you want advice, we are giving it and at least we have first hand knowledge. I have been baling hay for nearly 20 years.

 

[dun]

Just remember, it ain't all fun and games,

I'm still waiting for the fun and games part!

dun

 

[novatech]

A little off the subject but I read that you disc mow one direction and rake it 90 degrees to the mowing. Is that right and why?

I take it the machine did not come with instructions. :lol:

 

[novatech]

Yes, it's going to be a fun week when I cut, rake and bale my own hay for the first time! :lol2: And yes, I read the manual. It said cut one way and bale the other but it not explain why.

A little off the subject but I read that you disc mow one direction and rake it 90 degrees to the mowing. Is that right and why?

I take it the machine did not come with instructions. :lol:

Cann't think of another S/A remark for now, but I can tell you the the guy that does mine goes the same direction every time, cut, rake, and bale. :roll:
I hope somebody else on here knows, because you got me curious now.
Glad to see you back. You must have finished dozeing.

 

[littleboss]

Just remember, it ain't all fun and games,

I'm still waiting for the fun and games part!

dun

The fun part is watching the baby calves run and play and having a barn full of hay, ready for next winter.....
The rest is just work........ :lol:

 

[HAY MAKER]

Yes, it's going to be a fun week when I cut, rake and bale my own hay for the first time! :lol2: And yes, I read the manual. It said cut one way and bale the other but it not explain why.

A little off the subject but I read that you disc mow one direction and rake it 90 degrees to the mowing. Is that right and why?

I take it the machine did not come with instructions. :lol:

Angus/Brangus,I believe some of the manuals are written by folks that havent got much field experience,the statement of cutting hay one direction and bale the other will make little to no differnce especially if you are doing the fine stemmed grasses(bermudas) I think what they are refering to mainly are the cane type grasses where the theory is your baler will pick up better when the leaf/top is being fed first, instead of the stems,I have done it both ways and saw little differnce,but that's my baler,yours may act differntly ...............good luck

PS I post pretty pictures of haying, hay fields,tractors etc. I hope I am not sending the wrong message,make no mistake about it baling/haying is Hard ,Hot,Dangerous work,you unplug a baler full of fire ants/stickers in a Texas hayfield in July.........you will have paid your dues.
And like most farm/ranch work ,you are probably in a remote location,working by yourself,with heavy moving equipment,Becareful !

 

[The Bachelor]

PS I post pretty pictures of haying, hay fields,tractors etc. I hope I am not sending the wrong message,make no mistake about it baling/haying is Hard ,Hot,Dangerous work,you unplug a baler full of fire ants/stickers in a Texas hayfield in July.........you will have paid your dues.
And like most farm/ranch work ,you are probably in a remote location,working by yourself,with heavy moving equipment,Becareful !

That made me smile. I do the fireant dance at least once a year. For some reason I forget about those little crittters when the baler plugs and walk back there mumbling and a cursing. God gets even with me though about three to five minutes later when I'm throwing my gloves and doing my best "Boogie Nights" impression .

 

[dun]

make no mistake about it baling/haying is Hard ,Hot,Dangerous work,

And the best and worst is when it's boring. Bad because you can lose attention, good because you're not having problems.

dun