Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics

   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics
  • Thread Starter
#31  
Isn't it harder on the plants being cut by a brush hog blade as opposed to a sickle or rotary cutter. I have always been told that the blunt cutting edge on a brush hog blade pulls on the plant and damages the stalk, slowing the regrowth. Any hay experts know the answer to that?

I can't say that I know. I do know one thing, I wish it would slow the regrowth on the trails that I brushhog once a year. In fact I wish the brushhog would completely kill the regrowth on my trails so I would never have to brushhog them again. Unfortunately every fall it seems as if the grass in my trails has grown taller than the year before....

As for regrowth for a second cutting, i'm not sure, next year I may consider doing 2 cuttings especially if I have some more cows, then maybe I could better answer this question.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #32  
Small balers and tractors to run them have a few threads devoted to them on this forum. I've personally seen a smaller massey ferguson baler being run by an 8n which is around 25hp. Alot of the older non-kicker balers are usually small enough to run with a 30hp tractor.

What I'm curious about - is there any sort of general formula about how big of a tractor you would need with small baler behind it - and what kind of acreage that would handle.

I guess what I'm wondering is: If I had say 10 acres - how long would it take to cut, turn over for drying - and then gathering the hay into bales if I had say a 35hp tractor with a small baler.

How much time do people typically allocate for haying on a acre by acre basis?

I know it's probably all over the place but I just curious if there are any general rules that would be a good place to start.

Everything boils down to money and time in the end - so I'm trying to figure out what factors I would have to take into account if I was thinking of buying land and growing hay as a crop on it.

I've been reading a bunch of the threads on haying and baling and I have learned quite a bit about the different types of equipment that are available - but I haven't seen much about what it takes to build a successful haying operation.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics
  • Thread Starter
#33  
What I'm curious about - is there any sort of general formula about how big of a tractor you would need with small baler behind it - and what kind of acreage that would handle.

I guess what I'm wondering is: If I had say 10 acres - how long would it take to cut, turn over for drying - and then gathering the hay into bales if I had say a 35hp tractor with a small baler.

How much time do people typically allocate for haying on a acre by acre basis?

I know it's probably all over the place but I just curious if there are any general rules that would be a good place to start.

Everything boils down to money and time in the end - so I'm trying to figure out what factors I would have to take into account if I was thinking of buying land and growing hay as a crop on it.

I've been reading a bunch of the threads on haying and baling and I have learned quite a bit about the different types of equipment that are available - but I haven't seen much about what it takes to build a successful haying operation.

Well I know for me, it comes down to money. I don't have thousands of dollars to buy equipment, so I had to make do with what I had and luckily I only had to buy a $300 rake. I also am not doing hay to sell, i'm looking to not have to buy any hay for my animals so my goals are a little different than your goals. It really comes down to what you can afford. Being you are looking to only do 10 acres, I think a 35hp tractor and mower/sickle, rake, baler would work fine. As for amount of time to do 10 acres for me mostly depends on the weather. If you can get 5-6 days of no rain, you could probably do all 10 acres in a week.

Some advice from me to you is:

1) buy a tractor that has remote hydraulics - i'd love to at least have the option of running a small haybine, or small round baler.

2) what you lack in fancy equipment you can makeup with in manual labor.

3) the more tractor the better.

4) Don't ever forget that you're equipment can breakdown at anytime.

For me, successful haying is getting my hay done without it getting rained on and making sure I have enough.

For you successful haying will also include having your hay income exceed your expenses. I mean if you can sell 1000 squares for a total of $4000 but you've spent $12,000 on equipment, you really better enjoy doing hay as a hobby for the first 3 years.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #34  
What I'm curious about - is there any sort of general formula about how big of a tractor you would need with small baler behind it - and what kind of acreage that would handle.

I guess what I'm wondering is: If I had say 10 acres - how long would it take to cut, turn over for drying - and then gathering the hay into bales if I had say a 35hp tractor with a small baler.

How much time do people typically allocate for haying on a acre by acre basis?

I know it's probably all over the place but I just curious if there are any general rules that would be a good place to start.

Everything boils down to money and time in the end - so I'm trying to figure out what factors I would have to take into account if I was thinking of buying land and growing hay as a crop on it.

I've been reading a bunch of the threads on haying and baling and I have learned quite a bit about the different types of equipment that are available - but I haven't seen much about what it takes to build a successful haying operation.
I think if you've got reliable labour(2 teenage sons?) an empty barn already and like to work on older equipment, and lots of spare time, a small scale square bale operation can sort of be fun and profitable.
If you don't have any one the above, then you need to buy labour saving equipment(expensive) or a barn. I've only seen someone try tarps on small squares once and it was a disaster... Coincidently it was someone "giving hay a try" and they were learning the hard way it seemed to me.
Small rounds is an easier way to go to me, but to sell you probably still need a barn if you can't sell them off the field. I've bought hay for 6 years now and its amazing how many full time guys don't get it right either.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #35  
I have one pasture (~13 acres) that we pay a farmer down the road to cut, bale (small squares), and stack in a 3-sided shed at the end of that field. That has run us about $2-3 per square bale over the years, but my only labor is writing a check.

I also have another field that has about 8-10 acres of area we could hay, and our guy won't touch it because it's too much trouble. I keep thinking about getting hay equipment so we could bale and sell instead of simply cutting it down, but I don't think I can make the math work. I have a tractor and sickle mower, but that's it. I'm also short on time.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #36  
I have one pasture (~13 acres) that we pay a farmer down the road to cut, bale (small squares), and stack in a 3-sided shed at the end of that field. That has run us about $2-3 per square bale over the years, but my only labor is writing a check.

I also have another field that has about 8-10 acres of area we could hay, and our guy won't touch it because it's too much trouble. I keep thinking about getting hay equipment so we could bale and sell instead of simply cutting it down, but I don't think I can make the math work. I have a tractor and sickle mower, but that's it. I'm also short on time.

Advice: DON’T DO IT.
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #37  
Thread has been dead almost ten years to the day…
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #38  
LOTs of people have rotary cut hay, including me, but when it comes time to sell the bales, no one wants to buy them!

OK, almost no one...

SR
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #39  
Thread has been dead almost ten years to the day…
Yet the pictures still work. Amazing!

(Also, I'm usually the one pointing out that it's an old thread. ;) )
 
   / Mowing Hay with Brushhog...with pics #40  
Another shining example of why a thread should be blocked for no replies after about 3 months. Reading but no replies
 
 
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