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 . . . .