saw me coming.........

[Medic24]

Had a fellow I used to buy hay from a few years ago, when I was feeding square bales........I stopped in and ask for a few bales the next time he cut ( just for those occassions when a small bale would do)..paid him a good deposit up front too...like a good neighbor would do...........he called, even said he had help for me to load...I went, and was immediately disapointed when I picked up the bales... could not be more then 25 lbs each..was able to toss em up onto the 6th row on the trailer with one had....anyway to add insult to injury...after 35 minutes we were loaded with a full trailer and about half of the hay in the field...............needed to come back for a second trip........but the boys hit me up for pay...... can't believe it... 60 bucks for 35 minutes worth of work,( ummm that would come out to 40 dollars an hour for each three boys) and when I counted...87 bales of lightweight hay..............needless to say.. when they asked when i was coming back for the rest, I had to tell them I couldn't afford too, it was all theirs! :x Ahhh now I remember why i had not been back before now............

No wonder we have to go outside of our own country and import labor!

 

[cowgirl580]

aren't ppl just dandy :?: :roll:

 

[Crowderfarms]

When we haul square bales in, I pay boys by the Hour. When someone comes up here to buy hay, we load it no charge. When it's in the field, we sell it with the buyer providing the Labor to load it. I'd just as soon sell all my Hay from the Barn, it brings more $ anyway, and I figure between fuel and labor 25 cents a bale to get it in the Barn. Sorry you got burned Medic, drive over here next time, we'll treat you right. Our bales average 60-65 lbs. ;-)

 

[Susie David]

Our son is home for the summer and a son-in-law owes us a few $$ so labor is cheep for us right now. When we need to buy hay our supplier delivers for $25.00 a load (5tons), cheeper than the diesel and labor to bring in a load. Bales of alfalfa are running over 80# and alfalfa grass mix 70-80#. Like to suppliment the cut hay seems to keep the cows more firm in the flop when they are on pasture.

 

[eric]

Granted, I've only been buying hay for 3 yrs now, but I've never paid a deposit or even been asked for any money before I've been loaded up before. I just found a new supplier for this winter thats only about 3 miles from my house, and when I called her today, I mentioned I would need around 40-50 rounds this fall and she said just let her know in the next couple of weeks, as shes taking orders now and making plans for her regular customers and a few new ones like me. She even went down from $40 / bale for less than 10 bales to $30 a bale if I take 50 of them, which I am gonna do.

Not too sure I would of taken those bales if I was you. Surely doesnt sound like a good friend, so why would you worry about hurting his feelings if he's trying to take advantage of you.

 

[TheBullLady]

I agree.. I wouldn't feel bad about saying exactly why you weren't coming back for the rest of the bales. Maybe it won't make any difference, but at least give the "nice neighbor" something to think about.

We've been through a lot of hay suppliers over the years, and it's amazing how different a bale of hay can be. It's hard to find people that don't want to screw you if they can.. especially if they think you're new or inexperienced. It's a shame.

 

[flaboy]

Sounds like he loosened his baler up either to make it easier to handle or to get more bales. When I used to do square bales we would sell by the ton. Some complained that they didn't get a ton because the weighed a couple that were 50 pounds. I told them the bales varied from 50-75 pounds and I took the average. I quit doing that and started selling by the bale. Made more that way anyway. I used to tell them, there's the barn pick your medicine.

 

[TXBobcat]

...I went, and was immediately disapointed when I picked up the bales... could not be more then 25 lbs each..

What did you have to give per bale for that hay? I have bought some light weight (40 - 50lbs) coastal squares before and gave $2.00 to $2.25 a bale. It was good hay, just lighter than most; however, most other people were asking $3.00 - $3.75 bale, so I figured I didn't get hurt too bad.

 

[El_Putzo]

When I was a kid, my dad used to pay us kids and our friends to put up square bales (that was how we made our spending money). We only did about 5000 a year and usually not more than 800-1000 per day. Anywho, he would pay 15 cents for labor to put a bale in the barn. That meant that if there were 3 of us, we got paid 5 cents a bale, or if there were 4 people, 4 cents a bale. If you wanted to make more money, you didn't call too many friends, but it sure did make it harder. Our baler has a "thrower" on it so it only takes my dad to bale, the rest of us were in the barn. We still do about 1500-2000 a year, but we do that on weekends and evenings so my brothers and I don't have to take off work.

Sorry for getting off topic, but I was feeling a little nostalgic.

 

[flaboy]

When I was a kid, my dad used to pay us kids and our friends to put up square bales (that was how we made our spending money). We only did about 5000 a year and usually not more than 800-1000 per day. Anywho, he would pay 15 cents for labor to put a bale in the barn. That meant that if there were 3 of us, we got paid 5 cents a bale, or if there were 4 people, 4 cents a bale. If you wanted to make more money, you didn't call too many friends, but it sure did make it harder. Our baler has a "thrower" on it so it only takes my dad to bale, the rest of us were in the barn. We still do about 1500-2000 a year, but we do that on weekends and evenings so my brothers and I don't have to take off work.

Sorry for getting off topic, but I was feeling a little nostalgic.

We used to cut hay on shares when I was growing up. We used our equipment and their fields. I started by driving the truck pulling the trailer as I was too small to pick them up. I then graduated to picking them up to being a stacker. The most we put up was about a 1000 bales in one day. The crew was, grandpa, father, mother, brother, and myself. I did this until I was about 17 and then we quit the share and just do our own. My pay was dinner. Friends were not allowed as my dad thought it would distract me. :roll:

 

[eric]

My pay was dinner. Friends were not allowed as my dad thought it would distract me. :roll:

Smart fella your dad is! ;-)

 

[chrome]

. My pay was dinner. Friends were not allowed as my dad thought it would distract me. :roll:

I always thought it was fun to brings friends home from school. They thought it was fun to shovel corn from the crib and shock corn and push oats in the grainery. They came over to have fun...I invited them over to do my chores. They never new the difference!!

 

[Medic24]

Well the thing is... he knows that I know what a bale should weigh and look like.... so that was one thing.......it is standard mixed grass. ...no premium grass or legumes in it. What has made it so much worse was that I left it in front of the farm for a day before taking it to the barn, and I got rain for about 15 mins on if from an afternoon shower...bummer.

I do have a friend who was just as angry about what I was telling him , he has promised me to hold over some of his.. problem with his... just the opposite... need two ppl to handle each of his bales! Geees. He puts up ver 480 acres of hay 3 times a year... lotta hay.

:cboy:

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

I really hate those dinky little lightweight bales too Medic, and they sure don't seem to give you much feed for the dollar because nobody wants to reduce their price accordingly. And just as with round bales, there seems to be a pretty big variation in weight for the small squares, depending on who's doing the baling and the type of forage being baled. I've only agreed to buy hay "sight unseen" one time and got burned in doing so. Lesson learned! I did some square bale hay hauling in high school to earn extra spending money. Can't rememberr for certain, but I want to say we got paid 10 cents per bale. In those days it was mostly what the locals called "prairie hay" ( might have been just plain Pensacola Bahia) and they were very tight and heavy bales, probably closer to 70 or 80 pounds than to the 40/50 pounders of today. Of course, everybody used wire balers in those days. Several summers ago I got about 200 bales that probably weighed no more than 35 pounds each, but they were free for the picking up and hauling away so I didn't complain about them!

 

[TLCfromARK]

The going rate for hauling square bales ( ~75 lbs ) in the 60's was 10 cents a bale. When Dad let my brother and I use his truck he kept 6 cents for gas, oil, wear / tear and my brother and I got 2 cents per bale apiece. One summer I worked for someone else hauling hay, I got 1 cent a bale.

I can remember making $10 on good days and thought I was in high cotton. Of course gas was about 25 - 30 cents a gallon, hambergers was 25 cents, cokes were 10 cents, etc. so $10 went pretty far.

Ah, the good ole days!

;-)

 

[mtnfarmer]

Call me crazy, but I miss putting up square bales. There was something about a group of neighbors, a pitcher of ice tea, and the sweet smell of hay and sweat mingled with the summer heat. And we would load the bales and deliver them to the buyers barn and stack them in the barn all for 2.25 a bale.
Sometimes we would all go to the steakhouse afterwards just to squander the profits!
Now the labor is gone, so my husband starting round baling. We don't sale many round bales, just keep em in the barn for the cows and horses.
I do appreciate the round bales in the winter when the winds are howlin at 50 mph and the temp is dippin in the single digitis.

 

[Farmhand]

And don't forget the cha-chunk sound of the baler! I love that sound. Hard work but I do like baling.

 

[lancemart]

We just bought square bales of beautiful hay off a field today in N. Scituate, RI for $4.00 a bale and they help load for free. It took about an hour after talking and dilly dallying around. It looked like rain, so we even went back to help get the remaing hay in the barn. It seems like they charged you doctor's wages.

Had a fellow I used to buy hay from a few years ago, when I was feeding square bales........I stopped in and ask for a few bales the next time he cut ( just for those occassions when a small bale would do)..paid him a good deposit up front too...like a good neighbor would do...........he called, even said he had help for me to load...I went, and was immediately disapointed when I picked up the bales... could not be more then 25 lbs each..was able to toss em up onto the 6th row on the trailer with one had....anyway to add insult to injury...after 35 minutes we were loaded with a full trailer and about half of the hay in the field...............needed to come back for a second trip........but the boys hit me up for pay...... can't believe it... 60 bucks for 35 minutes worth of work,( ummm that would come out to 40 dollars an hour for each three boys) and when I counted...87 bales of lightweight hay..............needless to say.. when they asked when i was coming back for the rest, I had to tell them I couldn't afford too, it was all theirs! :x Ahhh now I remember why i had not been back before now............

No wonder we have to go outside of our own country and import labor!

 

[flaboy]

And don't forget the cha-chunk sound of the baler! I love that sound. Hard work but I do like baling.

Yeah but back then as a teenager I had other things on my mind that I wanted to do. I remember other kids talking about going to the beach or someplace. They would ask me what I was doing and I would say baling hay and they would laugh. Back then I thought I was getting a raw deal. The one and only high school reunion I went to was funny. There I was all fit and trim and there they were all fat and sloppy. They asked how I stay in shape and I tell them "just work hard". I think all the hard work and discipline made me a better person. Now hard work doesn't bother me and I would rather be working than sitting on the couch watching TV.

Our old square baler has given up and I am looking for one cheap just do some square bales for some friends with horses (yes I do have a couple friends).

There is something about looking at a full barn of hay that sort gives you that feeling of satisfaction. I won't get that feeling for a while as it has been raining here everyday.