Custom Hay work

[TennesseeTuxedo]

$15 here is normal

My guy will be disappointed to hear I'm cutting him back to $10 to rake and roll then.

You get what you pay for. If someone told me what they were going to pay We might have some issues.

Says the guy offering $10 an hour, lol!

 

[True Grit Farms]

I charge $20 to cut, rake and roll a 4x5. I have a $500 minimum and I want to adverage 3+ rolls per acre. Anything less isn't worth the hassle. I told a guy last year that I didn't need to practice cutting hay anymore.

 

[Lucky]

$25-$28 a roll here. Anything less than 1 1/2 bales to the acre might get hit with an extra charge. Most folks now days seem to have a 4x6 baler, not as many 5x6 as there used to be. I really prefer 5x5. I buy hay and pay from $35-50 a roll depending on quality and if it is delivered. Oh yea good luck hiring a $10 hand too, most want $15 and you end up wishing they stayed home.

 

[TCRanch]

I pay $15 per acre to cut, rake & roll a net wrapped 5x6 bale plus $15 per bale. $12 per acre to disc & $12 to cultivate.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have never hired it all done. I pay $12 to have it rolled.

 

[rollinhills]

last i baled was $23 to cut,rake & bale for a 5x5 bale, that was 2 years ago, Would'nt touch it for that now.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I charge 20 a bale to cut/rake/bale 4x5 bales. If I charge anymore than that and it becomes cheaper for the landowner to go buy hay from any number of cheap sources.

 

[1982vett]

I charge 20 a bale to cut/rake/bale 4x5 bales. If I charge anymore than that and it becomes cheaper for the landowner to go buy hay from any number of cheap sources.

Compared to 5x5-6, you are gettin roughly $30.

Bale size matters not only to buying.

I cut my bale numbers almost in half going from a 4x5 JD 410 baler to making a 5x5 with a Vermeer 605L.

Their are several ways to be unscrupulous being a custom baler as well as a hay broker. ;-). Especially if you know your customer well enough.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Price, what size bales and have you weighed any to be sure how much hay is in them? 6-700 lb 4x4s you are about right on price. 900-1000 lb 4x5s you are about $5 a bale too cheap.

 

[ez14.]

lots of folks we are talking about driving a tractor not brain surgery.

Wish I could find a good working for 10$ a hour.

Me too. Lucky here if you can find a reliable worker for $50 an hour.

:shock: I think I work to cheap :lol: I'm under $10 hour

 

[pricefarm]

Price, what size bales and have you weighed any to be sure how much hay is in them? 6-700 lb 4x4s you are about right on price. 900-1000 lb 4x5s you are about $5 a bale too cheap.

I roll a 4x5 roll. I haven't weight them but they are nice tight rolls.

 

[snoopdog]

I think 18 is about right , wrapped with twine , add 2 bucks if using net. The last i hired out was 21, but 4x6, net, and that was a couple of years ago .

 

[Stocker Steve]

Most of the folks going 4x5 here are baling down in wet meadows and floating bogs.
Why the focus on small 4x5 bales? More bales per acre?

 

[5S Cattle]

Most of the folks going 4x5 here are baling down in wet meadows and floating bogs.
Why the focus on small 4x5 bales? More bales per acre?

Around here, the weekend warriors and their 30 hp tractors can't handle big bales for their longhorn cows and their alpacas.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Around here, the weekend warriors and their 30 hp tractors can't handle big bales for their longhorn cows and their alpacas.

Thanks. A big cow like some of mine, would eat one of those alpaca bales in a couple days. :cowboy:

 

[Aaron]

I did a little math and here is what I come up with. I based it off of 20acres of good quality grass and 10.00 hr labor
5 hrs to mow 50.00
ted twice 2.85hr x2 57.00
Rake 1.5hrs 15.00
Bale 3 hrs 30.00
fuel 45 gal 90.00
2 rolls twine 30.00
--------------------------------------
total 272.00
3 bales acre 60 rolls 4.533 dollars cost per roll

I Deprecation and other cost could be figured in and 20bucks a roll is doable IMO

Who works for 10$ a hour ?

lots of folks we are talking about driving a tractor not brain surgery.

Another case of you get what you pay for. $10 an hour hired guys won't check oils, grease, not watch temperature gauge, etc. Hired workers are bad enough about not caring about equipment - even worse when you jew them on the wage. No farm worker around here for less than $20 US, and the guys that are serious about quality help pay $30 and up.

 

[kilroy60]

I had two different people last year to roll for me. I cut, tedded and raked. The first person cost me $10 per roll. Later on the next cutting I had, I done the same thing and the other person only charged me $5 per roll. Neither was net wrapped. Both were 4 X 5 rolls. The $5 roll was a better roll than the $10 roll (tighter, bigger). Personally, I can buy hay all day long for $20 per roll and it's good hay and net wrapped. I'm seriously looking at having my hay cut on a percentage basis due to the cost factor of someone else doing it.

 

[M-5]

Every different region has pay rates relative to their local economy. My example was for 20 acres . If a guy needs to hire help to do that 20 he has bigger problems. Here there are still people making min wage for part time work . The 10 bucks hr is what I pay to have a guy rake a few hours or what I charge for my labor. A person can assign any value they want so you can puff out your chest and brag. At the end of the day a roll of hay will only bring what the market will bear.

 

[ddd75]

I have people come out here all the time that want to help for free. they just want to be out in the country and be away. I know a guy who has a doctor come out and help him all the time for free, just to get away from his job and patients.

I can post a CL ad and in 30 minutes have 10 people ready to work for 8 bucks an hour.. and a few of those will be good..

 

[Stocker Steve]

No farm worker around here for less than $20 US, and the guys that are serious about quality help pay $30 and up.

Must be more to this.
For U$S20/hr and a walleye dinner most nights - - how do you avoid being overrun with migrant workers?