TwoByrdsMG
Well-known member
We own 51 acres of irrigated pasture. We have had our hay mowed, raked and baled by someone else since we bought the place. We pay him by the bale. He is raising the cost of baling by 20% next season.
At an extra 20% we would be out of pocket $10-13k to have him do the baling for us. We had a poor year but were still out of pocket $8k+ this year.
We only have a New Holland TC35D tractor for our farm use. We use it for brush hog, box scraper, bucket, cleaning ditches, disc, etc. I am pretty sure that we would have to buy another tractor to use to cut, rake and bale our own hay.
Other than learning the hard way on how to maintain our own tractor my husband and I know very little about haying equipment but are willing and capable of learning.
This time of year a lot of equipment comes up for sale. Recently we have seen a New Holland 310, New Holland 315 and New Holland 425 balers.
We also would love to hear about everyone's opinion on different rakes. Pros/cons of sickle vs. disc mowers.
Note: We are in our early 30s and would like to invest in equipment that we can use long term without completely breaking the bank. EX: If we financed equipment $800-1200 per month would be reasonable. We also have a close friend who has a couple fields that we could mow to offset the financed cost.
At an extra 20% we would be out of pocket $10-13k to have him do the baling for us. We had a poor year but were still out of pocket $8k+ this year.
We only have a New Holland TC35D tractor for our farm use. We use it for brush hog, box scraper, bucket, cleaning ditches, disc, etc. I am pretty sure that we would have to buy another tractor to use to cut, rake and bale our own hay.
Other than learning the hard way on how to maintain our own tractor my husband and I know very little about haying equipment but are willing and capable of learning.
This time of year a lot of equipment comes up for sale. Recently we have seen a New Holland 310, New Holland 315 and New Holland 425 balers.
We also would love to hear about everyone's opinion on different rakes. Pros/cons of sickle vs. disc mowers.
Note: We are in our early 30s and would like to invest in equipment that we can use long term without completely breaking the bank. EX: If we financed equipment $800-1200 per month would be reasonable. We also have a close friend who has a couple fields that we could mow to offset the financed cost.