Newbie to haying

[Darren from High River]

I have the same drum mower. Bought it used along with a small tedder. These replaced an old NH haybine. The drum mower and tedder have been reliable and only grease and oil as needed.

That drum mower is awesome. Very simple. But you do need a tedder.The 2 drums on the mower rotate in opposite directions so the hay is pushed into a row between the 2 drums. The tedder really helps dry the hay out faster.

That is great to hear as it appears that your tractor is very similar to mine.

 

[rasorbackq]

Im in NS. . Been helping my neighbor for 10 years do his hay.
This year was his last .
I bought his haybine tedder rake and bailer . All very old stuff for $2500. Included was a sickle mower and a second rake we didn't use these. Hay here is $5 a bale. Made 500 bales sold 200 so far and critters will eat the rest.
He, we, us did the maintenance showed me what to do . He ran the machines and I loaded with others help. Knock on wood no issues for 2 years Next season will be a profit year fingers crossed.
Cost me $100 on fuel a $56 for baler twine.
Around 10-12 acres 3 different field.

 

[ultrarunner]

Hay prices really vary and that can make or break viability.

$24 a large bale for orchard grass is what we paid for the last 50 bales...

 

[Jchonline]

They are all very much one man operations that like to keep themselves to themselves. They take a call, let you know when they are coming over, come over, do their stuff to cut, disappear to the next location, come back to tend, disappear, come back to bale, disappear, come back to retrieve their bales.

It sounds like I am deluding myself, but I though that something like this would be perfect for what I need:

https://www.palletforks.com/tractors/3-point/mowers/drum/54-in-drum-hay-mower-category-2-3-point-%E2%80%93-pto-driven/191436.html

Mini Round Baler - Keno Tractors

Mini Round Baler. Works on any 18 - 50 hp pto tractor. Don't waste that pasture or grass along your driveway. Bale it up!

www.kenotractors.com

And now you want to go for cheap Chinese stuff. Good luck finding parts! That is about the worst bale I have ever seen! They are smaller than a 50 gal drum. Talk about unwieldy. Go square.

 

[Hay Dude]

Weather always the struggle... summers with lots of rain bad and more than a few hay loft fires from hay being put up before dry enough.

Other years the timing perfect and able to do extra cuttings... life of a farmer.

I lived to drive the tractor haying… I was 4 in this picture and everyday haying was a dream.

Best childhood memories and hooked on tractors ever since…

The wood hay fork in the foreground is here in Oakland but no luck bringing that tractor home…

Sickle Mower Cut, Tedder to Turn, Rake to Windrow, Collect and Transport to Hayloft…
View attachment 756237

Man I love that picture.

 

[Williy]

Here is some thing for you to check out:
Hope you get some good insight of what to
look for:

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

which of the small square balers are the best - Google Search

willy

 

[KennyG]

I can't remember which US company came out with the small round balers about 50 years ago, but there was one purchased in our area. We hired the guy to do our hay one year. The bales were such a pain to handle and store that we went right back to square bales.

 

[RichNJKubota]

That is great to hear as it appears that your tractor is very similar to mine.

Along with the drum mower and tedder, I have a 6 wheel rake, hay wagon and a NH 320 baler w/thrower. The baler was what I could get in my area for the price I wanted to pay. About $2k for the baler but it needed work. I went thru the whole thing and replaced many parts. Luckily it seemed to have been kept dry so it had no rust. Had to fix some bad repairs. But it's been rock solid since.
Don't be deterred if you really want to DIY the hay. Take your time to find all the equipment. I think it took me a couple years until I found what I wanted. But you will need to be able to make repairs if you want to spend less. With older equipment, getting replacement parts is not always easy.

 

[Farmer495]

At least here in the east you can buy perfectly serviceable hay equipment for less than 10k if doing squares.

CaseIH 8420 / Hesston 530 / MF 1734 (All same baler) only need 30 PTO HP and a compact would run it. They make 39 x 52 round bale

$3500-$6000 price tags on the above machines in older used market.

Saw a mint 479 haybine 7' sell for $500.

The old haybines, square balers etc were only ever run with 30-40 PTO HP tractors.

 

[Darren from High River]

Im in NS. . Been helping my neighbor for 10 years do his hay.
This year was his last .
I bought his haybine tedder rake and bailer . All very old stuff for $2500. Included was a sickle mower and a second rake we didn't use these. Hay here is $5 a bale. Made 500 bales sold 200 so far and critters will eat the rest.
He, we, us did the maintenance showed me what to do . He ran the machines and I loaded with others help. Knock on wood no issues for 2 years Next season will be a profit year fingers crossed.
Cost me $100 on fuel a $56 for baler twine.
Around 10-12 acres 3 different field.

Good to hear. Here's hoping you have good luck for the future!

 

[Darren from High River]

Hay prices really vary and that can make or break viability.

$24 a large bale for orchard grass is what we paid for the last 50 bales...

As I said, we are not really looking at making a profit. If what we get from the bales will sell helps defray the costs of the maintenance, great. If not, that will be fine too.

 

[Darren from High River]

And now you want to go for cheap Chinese stuff. Good luck finding parts! That is about the worst bale I have ever seen! They are smaller than a 50 gal drum. Talk about unwieldy. Go square.

To be clear, I have no idea. That's why I am seeking advice.

 

[Darren from High River]

Here is some thing for you to check out:
Hope you get some good insight of what to
look for:

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

which of the small square balers are the best - Google Search

willy

Thank you. I will have a look over the weekend.

 

[Darren from High River]

I can't remember which US company came out with the small round balers about 50 years ago, but there was one purchased in our area. We hired the guy to do our hay one year. The bales were such a pain to handle and store that we went right back to square bales.

We bought some small rounds from someone once. My wife really liked them as she could man handle them herself. I would much prefer large rounds, but our tractor isn't big enough to handle it and I don't want to have to buy a new one just to be able to use a full sized round baler.

It's looking like squares are the way to go.

 

[Darren from High River]

Along with the drum mower and tedder, I have a 6 wheel rake, hay wagon and a NH 320 baler w/thrower. The baler was what I could get in my area for the price I wanted to pay. About $2k for the baler but it needed work. I went thru the whole thing and replaced many parts. Luckily it seemed to have been kept dry so it had no rust. Had to fix some bad repairs. But it's been rock solid since.
Don't be deterred if you really want to DIY the hay. Take your time to find all the equipment. I think it took me a couple years until I found what I wanted. But you will need to be able to make repairs if you want to spend less. With older equipment, getting replacement parts is not always easy.

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[Hay Dude]

We bought some small rounds from someone once. My wife really liked them as she could man handle them herself. I would much prefer large rounds, but our tractor isn't big enough to handle it and I don't want to have to buy a new one just to be able to use a full sized round baler.

It's looking like squares are the way to go.

Why cant you handle round bales?
You mean your loader not strong enough?
Just put a bale spear on your 3pt hitch. It’ll lift way more than your loader, but won’t stack them very high lol

Its hard to tell who has money to “burn” from maybe a wealthy wife , who has some money, and who has NO money, but it sounds like you aren’t worried if it’s a money losing venture. If thats the case, then give it a try. You can always sell off the equipment if you realize you don’t like it.

I highly recommend Hesston balers. They have some very simple round balers. As far as rake or tedder goes, those little italian jobs (Tonutti, etc) work fine for light occasional use. If you do get a mower without conditioning, you WILL need a tedder. I would think your weather situation all but makes it a necessity or you might have a lot of rained on hay due to longer drying times

 

[sea2summit]

Here is some thing for you to check out:
Hope you get some good insight of what to
look for:

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

Cost of Hay Equipment for a Small Farm

Each piece of hay equipment is an expensive investment, even for a small farmer. The hay must be cut, dried, raked and then baled with different pieces of equipment and all this equipment must be attached to a tractor.

goneoutdoors.com

which of the small square balers are the best - Google Search

willy

Google is the last source I would trust for finding which baler is best

 

[MHarryE]

Round balers my area can go cheap; good used round balers expensive, especially if you get one with net wrap. Hesston makes a 1.2m x 1.6m round baler that they advertise will work well with a 40 HP tractor. Normally I only bale straw because I have a good market for small square straw bales (-40 degree winters make a good market for straw insulation). This year I did my first hay, 550 bales off 8 acres but I borrowed my nephew's spare 4' x 6' round baler to get the next field, same size, abut 25 tightly packed rounds. But being is spare, no net wrap which cuts the value $20 or so per bale in my area. He goes 4' wide instead of 5' due to sales - truckers are over width. One thing you need to do is find what your market will be - if you make 4- x 5' rounds can you sell them okay. But that is the size for your tractor. Next size baler jumps to 70 HP minimum.