The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Hay Dude]

Starting a custom job here for baleage since no dry hay weather. It is very localized rain this year. Makes it hard to know when and where. Got a few sprinkles at home but he had water running down the road from heavy rain. Just the type of year. Worst part is the day of it is changing whether for the better or worse. Not like 4 days out so you know. That's what makes it hard. Everything is last minute decisions.

Similar here. Local pop-up rain/T-storms. Can’t plan a damn thing.

 

[EddieWalker]

60 gallon of fuel in a day surprises me. I never thought about how much fuel those bigger tractors use when working hard.

 

[Hay Dude]

60 gallon of fuel in a day surprises me. I never thought about how much fuel those bigger tractors use when working hard.

That’s nothing.
Baling tractor runs 10-15G per hour.
8 hours of baling could be 100 gallons.
More if it’s hilly.

 

[dodge man]

It’s hard to compare my small tractor to a bigger ag tractor, mine is 25 hp. Doing things like cutting wood or other end loader work it uses considerably less than 1 gallon an hour. When I mow with a 60 inch mid mount that goes up to at least a gallon an hour. Mowing loads an engine down and it’s keeps it loaded down. I’d actually say 6 gallons an hour is pretty efficient for what you are doing.

 

[Hay Dude]

The Challenger MT535B runs about 5G/hour @ 130HP
The Massey 7495 runs about 8G/hour @ 200HP
The Challenger 655E runs about 12G/hour @ 300HP

When we are raking & baling, we are running close to 15G/hour. So we could burn through 120 gallons of fuel in an 8 hour baling day. I’m paying $3/gallon for off-road, so rough math is about $400 for fuel per day for both tractors.

 

[EddieWalker]

While I enjoy your pics of your tractors in action, I think the real story is what it takes to keep it all happening. Getting that much fuel every day has to be a big part of your day!!!!

Do you have a tank on your truck that you fuel from, or do you just drive into the local gas station when you are roading the tractor from job to job?

Is it reasonable to think that you spend over a thousand dollars a week on fuel?

 

[Hay Dude]

While I enjoy your pics of your tractors in action, I think the real story is what it takes to keep it all happening. Getting that much fuel every day has to be a big part of your day!!!!

It certainly is. I make fuel runs in early morning or after work/mid-evening.

Do you have a tank on your truck that you fuel from, or do you just drive into the local gas station when you are roading the tractor from job to job?

I have an 80G fuel cell on my truck. Sometimes we make 2 fuel runs in a day.

Is it reasonable to think that you spend over a thousand dollars a week on fuel?

Very close to that in the height of the season. $1,000 in fuel is only 333 gallons. We can burn 333 gallons in 3 days of raking and baling.

 

[EddieWalker]

80 gallons at a time means a lot of time at the gas station!!!! I guess you have a routine. It's just not something I thought about when thinking about what it takes to make hay for a living.

For me, buying fuel for my tractors or gas engines is a pain that I always put off until I have to have it. It always seems like it takes too much time when there are other things that I really want to be doing.

 

[Hay Dude]

I am going to set a 1,000 gallon tank this winter at a location where a fuel oil truck can fill it up, then fuel my truck bed tank from there. It’ll save me a few more hours time every week. Just haven’t had the chance to do it.

The way I do it now is “OK”, but it could be easier and less time consuming.
I’ve had tanks at the shop in the past, but they were too small.

 

[Hay Dude]

Sometimes a "close call" is a good safety wake up.
This was a freak, capital F accident that has more to do with your lucky stars!
I'm glad you're stars were lined up just right HD!

While I agree, having a fitting shot at your face by a tractor out in the field is something nobody has ever prepared for. Ever.
In the shop doing repairs, yeah maybe, but while running out in the field?