The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Hay Dude]

That would have made a bunch of round bales next month . . .

I figure there’s 25 large square bales in there per cutting.

I’ve been cutting it for 12 years. It pays roughly $500/cut. There’s 4 cuts per year.
Thats $2,000/year
12 years x $2,000/yr = $24,000.

If hayed, it would yield 50 lg sq bales per year.
12 years x 50 bales/year is 600 bales.
600 bales @ $150/bale = $90,000.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I figure there’s 25 large square bales in there per cutting.

I’ve been cutting it for 12 years. It pays roughly $500/cut. There’s 4 cuts per year.
Thats $2,000/year
12 years x $2,000/yr = $24,000.

If hayed, it would yield 50 lg sq bales per year.
12 years x 50 bales/year is 600 bales.
600 bales @ $150/bale = $90,000.

And I'm sure you've had exactly that conversation with the owner. What's their aversion to baling it instead of wasting it?

 

[CH4Ohio]

I'm guessing they just want to keep it cut short and don't want to look at the nice tall first cutting grass. Right?

 

[Hay Dude]

And I'm sure you've had exactly that conversation with the owner. What's their aversion to baling it instead of wasting it?

Great question!
To enter the field, I have to enter a subdivision and drive between 2 homes. The HOA of the subdivision doesn’t want the noise of farming or the equipment being driven into the subdivision. Bales would need to be extracted 2 at a time out between the homes.
Ridiculous, but that’s the way it is.

I am working on another angle to get in there, but by the time I get them to agree, there will be a different HOA board that will turn it down.

 

[CH4Ohio]

Well if it's that boxed in, better to just get paid to mow their lawn than deal with all the people issues it would take to bale it. Doesn't sound like you'll run out of work either way!

 

[Hay Dude]

A new “path” was cut into the field last year to bury a 24” drainage pipe.

Not kidding you when I say it’s not quite big enough to get farm equipment in there. It’s the few who object to farming that are keeping it this way, otherwise, it’d be hay.

 

[Hay Dude]

I could “push it” on them to hay it, but if I upset a few people, could lose all of it.
Sometimes you have to know when to leave well enough alone.

 

[ConawayFarms]

Looks like you’ve got quite the operation going on! I’m always amazed at how much work goes into keeping everything up, especially when it comes to clearing old fence lines and maintaining ponds. That Stihl KM 131 looks like a solid tool too

 

[Hay Dude]

Looks like you’ve got quite the operation going on! I’m always amazed at how much work goes into keeping everything up, especially when it comes to clearing old fence lines and maintaining ponds. That Stihl KM 131 looks like a solid tool too

We do about 70K in fields, 50K in lawns, and 125-150K in hay. Then another 150K+ in Property maintenance (tree work, land clearing, construction maint., etc.)
We just picked up a 9 ton excavator to further expand our reach into property improvements.
Keeps us real busy and the equipment in a constant state of maintenance. Every year, it seems we send one piece in for advanced repairs. The hay baler is probably the most problematic piece.
Its a labor of love, but that doesn’t make it easy.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I could “push it” on them to hay it, but if I upset a few people, could lose all of it.
Sometimes you have to know when to leave well enough alone.

Right. It's their grass and their situation. Just mow it and get paid for it and move on to the next customer. I know I commented that it seemed like a waste, but I think that every time I look at a golf course too . . . .

 

[Hay Dude]

I have a customer with a small hay field, maybe 10-12 acres. They only allow it to be hayed 1x/year during 1st cutting. Second cutting just stands there and dies-off. Looks like 5’ tall dead grass hay.
I have asked why only 1 cut and the HOA member told me “because I like to see the dead grass stand over the fall and winter”.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I have a customer with a small hay field, maybe 10-12 acres. They only allow it to be hayed 1x/year during 1st cutting. Second cutting just stands there and dies-off. Looks like 5’ tall dead grass hay.
I have asked why only 1 cut and the HOA member told me “because I like to see the dead grass stand over the fall and winter”.

If he'd ever let you mow the second time, you'd get less but better quality hay, and he'd never know the difference by the time winter hit.

There's just no explaining it to some people . . .

 

[Hay Dude]

If he'd ever let you mow the second time, you'd get less but better quality hay, and he'd never know the difference by the time winter hit.

There's just no explaining it to some people . . .

Here's another head scratcher.
I have a 40 acre rotary mowing customer. Will not allow hay. It's a Conservancy.
I have asked (nearly begged) for them to allow me to cut hay off of it.
They have repeatedly said "no".
I finally said "may I ask why no hay"?

Their reason is because they think "it's a natural habitat for deer". That may be true, but even if I did first cutting only, it would grow back in a matter of 5 weeks and be a deer habitat again.
I guess they'd rather pay $2,000 to cut it than get it hayed for free?

 

[CH4Ohio]

Everyplace is a natural habitat for deer -- regardless of how it's mowed. They're everywhere all the time. In hay fields before, during, and after mowing too.

I do find it a little nerve-wracking trying to watch out for fawns. You almost have to get off the tractor and walk over and kick them in the butt to get them to move.

 

[EddieWalker]

...
I finally said "may I ask why no hay"?

Their reason is because they think "it's a natural habitat for deer"...

I've found on my place that the deer show up after I mow. I think they prefer the fresh growth after it's been cut. Once my pasture gets over a foot tall, the deer disappear.

 

[hayden]

Everyplace is a natural habitat for deer -- regardless of how it's mowed. They're everywhere all the time. In hay fields before, during, and after mowing too.

I do find it a little nerve-wracking trying to watch out for fawns. You almost have to get off the tractor and walk over and kick them in the butt to get them to move.

But aren't most areas overrun with deer?

 

[CH4Ohio]

But aren't most areas overrun with deer?

YES!

 

[CH4Ohio]

I've found on my place that the deer show up after I mow. I think they prefer the fresh growth after it's been cut. Once my pasture gets over a foot tall, the deer disappear.

If there's alfalfa in the field, they'll be there non-stop.

 

[BackRoad]

You might suggest he give it a try for a year to see if the deer actually show up more.

I've said it in another thread. My neighbor has lived here over 30+ years. He said there's never been as many deer as we have since I started mowing my acreage. They congregate in my eight acre "front lawn" 20+ at a time, near daily...grazing the lawn like cows...

 

[Hay Dude]

You might suggest he give it a try for a year to see if the deer actually show up more.

I've said it in another thread. My neighbor has lived here over 30+ years. He said there's never been as many deer as we have since I started mowing my acreage. They congregate in my eight acre "front lawn" 20+ at a time, near daily...grazing the lawn like cows... View attachment 3419167

I’ve tried everything. Trust me.
On the HOA and Conservancies, I’m thinking there’s probably someone who dislikes farming and is insisting it be mowed.

I just picked up another small HOA with about 2/3rds field mowing and 1/3rd hay. About 40 acres total.
I tried to get them to hay more of it, but again, access to the open space between houses is the problem. I’d have to drive between 2 peoples homes to access one of the fields. The HOA says those 2 homeowners will complain too much. I see their point.
Just surprised that when these large open spaces are created, proper access to them isn’t dedicated.