The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Tx Jim]

Today was just another day of the same threat of Thunderstorms. Sunny, then threatening black clouds. This has gone on for 3-4 weeks almost every day.

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I have deployed a new raking/baling strategy……..only rake what you can bale in about 20 minutes. Here I am this afternoon in partly sunny, hot & humid weather baling only like 4 or 5 rows at a time, never knowing when the skies will open-up. Anyone who bales hay knows the misery of hay thats been raked and rained on.

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This is a small HOA customer I do the hay, rotary-mow some other fields they don’t want baled, and clean up downed trees.


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Same HOA. This fields hay was trashed with multiple days of rain.

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Hoping for some improved weather, but it aint looking good.

I retired from custom baling in 2023. With the weather the way it is where I live I don't miss the misery very much of trying to bale dry hay! Depending on amount of rainfall on the hay I think the rained on crop shrinks IE looses bales per acre production in addition to changing crop color.

 

[Hay Dude]

Those are some beautiful looking spots HD, especially that last one, as usual the pics are great.

Funny you say that. I always figure on poor picture quality because I’m usually taking pictures behind cab glass thats really dirty.

 

[Hay Dude]

Man, you are sure having some temperamental weather!!

This is what our typical 10-day looks like over the last month or so.

Hard for me to figure out how you can even make any hay under those conditions! Any type of wet hay always caused mold and over-heat situations for us and we only made 2x4 small bales. Wishing you some stable weather.

I’m lucky that I have buyers for less-than perfect hay.

 

[Hay Dude]

I retired from custom baling in 2023. With the weather the way it is where I live I don't miss the misery very much of trying to bale dry hay! Depending on amount of rainfall on the hay I think the rained on crop shrinks IE looses bales per acre production in addition to changing crop color.

Jim, yes it truly makes it frustrating.
As you well know, rain right after cutting is not so bad, but once it’s dry, anything other than light rain ruins hay.
Even though you’ve retired from custom baling, I hope you’ll continue to hang around and share your decades of experience with us.

 

[mrmikey]

I wish I could send you the weather we're having here in NS. No amount of rain for the past three weeks or so. Yesterdays temperature was 30C (86F) with a feel like of 38C (100F). Grass is brown and crispy, I've mowed places in my back yard that is usually too soft to drive on with the ZT since I've been here., 15 years.
My daughters well has never been so low, I've been hauling water for her for the past couple weeks. Grass is a lot browner in real life.

 

[Hay Dude]

Over to another field I cut on Sunday afternoon for a little teddering.
Hoping to bale it tomorrow.

I broke a twine guide on the Krone baler. Shut down knotter #4.
At least it wasn’t #1 or #6. I hate losing the edge twine on large squares.

Small, cheap easy to replace, but I’m at the mercy of Messicks and Fed Ex. Supposed to arrive by 12.

 

[EddieWalker]

I like buying from Messick's. They are fast with tons of emails to let you know what's going on with it.

 

[RjCorazza]

I like buying from Messick's. They are fast with tons of emails to let you know what's going on with it.

They are fast and reliable... No doubt. My only beef is the seemingly random and exorbitant shipping rates. For routine parts and supplies they offer a weekly delivery service in my area for a flat fee. When I last used it was $10.

 

[Hay Dude]

I like buying from Messick's. They are fast with tons of emails to let you know what's going on with it.

They are fast and reliable... No doubt. My only beef is the seemingly random and exorbitant shipping rates. For routine parts and supplies they offer a weekly delivery service in my area for a flat fee. When I last used it was $10.

I get weekly delivery from them. If I need sooner, I can get parts in one day Fed Ex ground, or as a last resort, drive up to Mount Joy, which I will be doing tomorrow.
I broke a billhook.

 

[Gregster613]

I get weekly delivery from them. If I need sooner, I can get parts in one day Fed Ex ground, or as a last resort, drive up to Mount Joy, which I will be doing tomorrow.
I broke a billhook.

If it's cheap and easy to fix, why don't you get a couple spares to keep on the shelf? Unless they are all different shapes/sizes? You know your equipment and your business, I was just suggesting...

 

[Hay Dude]

If it's cheap and easy to fix, why don't you get a couple spares to keep on the shelf? Unless they are all different shapes/sizes? You know your equipment and your business, I was just suggesting...

Because my business is very thin on profits and keeping thousands of dollars in parts laying around ties up cash flow
I do keep filters, oils, grease, twine, etc on hand, but not occassional need expensive parts

 

[Gregster613]

Because my business is very thin on profits and keeping thousands of dollars in parts laying around ties up cash flow
I do keep filters, oils, grease, twine, etc on hand, but not occassional need expensive parts

Gottcha HayDude, I was just suggesting and I seem to recall you said it was a cheap/cheaper part in your earlier post. I probably misread it. You said it was an easy fix so I guess I thought cheap also. Sorry.

 

[Hay Dude]

Gottcha HayDude, I was just suggesting and I seem to recall you said it was a cheap/cheaper part in your earlier post. I probably misread it. You said it was an easy fix so I guess I thought cheap also. Sorry.

It was at first, then the repair developed “scope creep”. Turns out I broke a billhook. Now it gets a lot more complicated.
Here I am at Messicks this morning to pick up parts in Mount Joy(less) location.

Now back at the shop. I have to drive out this 5/32nds roll pin to extract the billhook assembly. It’s really hard to get to with a pin punch and a hammer.

Here’s the broken billhook removed.

All said & done, 3+ hours of driving and 1-2 hours shop time to install.
Parts were $291.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Because my business is very thin on profits and keeping thousands of dollars in parts laying around ties up cash flow
I do keep filters, oils, grease, twine, etc on hand, but not occassional need expensive parts

I've found that keeping parts around tends to reduce the need for them. But that bill hook isn't cheep....

 

[RayIN]

As Hay Dude said, maintaining an inventory of needed parts is expensive; that's why Messicks and other farm suppliers have to order parts when requested, cuts down on overhead.
The strange thing is, the U.S.A. taught Japan industry this method of reducing overhead after WWII. We(American Industry) forgot about that and began maintaining a huge inventory until after Vietnam.
Then American industry woke up-so to speak and began purchasing needed parts by the "just-in-time" method; by the time they used the last part, the new shipment was departing receiving enroute to the assembly line.

 

[Hay Dude]

Theoretically, I can get parts same day from some dealers. If you want to pay for a driver, they will drive a part to you. Probably costs you plenty. I’ve only done that once.

 

[Gregster613]

Theoretically, I can get parts same day from some dealers. If you want to pay for a driver, they will drive a part to you. Probably costs you plenty. I’ve only done that once.

At 300.00 for parts I see rapidly what you mean. I was thinking 40-60 maybe.

 

[Hay Dude]

At 300.00 for parts I see rapidly what you mean. I was thinking 40-60 maybe.

At first on Friday, when all I saw was a broken twine guide, that was true. We replaced the twine guide, fired up tractor and baler and tried to tie a bale. Knotter failed up top. I felt around the back of knotter #4 and felt its billhook tongue was missing.
Thats when I knew I was into more parts and time.
Turns out it was a lousy baling day anyway.

 

[BleedingOrange]

Haydude, you could be the poster boy for GETERDUN. ! Great work. Find the problem, fix the problem, get moving ahead again.

 

[sixdogs]

Funny you say that. I always figure on poor picture quality because I’m usually taking pictures behind cab glass thats really dirty.

Don't even think poor pictures. I look forward to the land, job, equipment and repair photos. They tell the story to go with the words.