The Life of a Custom Mowing contractor

[Hay Dude]

$120,000 for a used baler makes me wonder what they cost brand new?

A really loaded up 4x4 is $350,000-$400,000.

 

[Hay Dude]

So I finally got the driveshaft put back in.
The new greaser unit arrived yesterday and I got that installed as well, but much to my chagrin, no grease will push through the system. I isolated the blockage to the main distribution block.
Tomorrow, I am going to try using a manual pump grease gun to force out the blockage. If that wont work, I’m down to trying some ATF fluid to try dissolving the blockage, or the much less desirable option of a new distribution block at $900.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

$120,000 for a used baler makes me wonder what they cost brand new?

I've never even seen one down here in a field , but someone uses them as yesterday I saw 2 of them at Weeks Farm Auction in Moultrie Georgia and both went for around $6k each and I was thinking about this thread, one was a Hesston and I don't remember what the other one was, but they didn't appear to be wore out junk and looked to have been barn stored.

 

[Hay Dude]

Here’s a 3 year old 3x4 baler with 25,000 bales through it at my dealer for $150,000. New, it would be double that.

2023 MASSEY FERGUSON LB2234XD For Sale in Leola, Pennsylvania

2023 MASSEY FERGUSON LB2234XD For Sale in Leola, Pennsylvania at agriteer-inventory.tractorhouse.com. USED 2023 MASSEY FERGUSON LB2234XD 3X4 BALER SQUARE BALER, TANDEM AXLE, HYD BRAKES, 600/50-22.5 TIRES, AUTMATIC CHAINOILER,1-3/4 PTO, ROLLER BALE CHUTE, MECHANICAL JACK, ISO HOOK UP, IS WINTER...

agriteer-inventory.tractorhouse.com

 

[Hay Dude]

I've never even seen one down here in a field , but someone uses them as yesterday I saw 2 of them at Weeks Farm Auction in Moultrie Georgia and both went for around $6k each and I was thinking about this thread, one was a Hesston and I don't remember what the other one was, but they didn't appear to be wore out junk and looked to have been barn stored.

Here is my former Hesston large square baler I paid 12K for it in 2019 and it was unreliable by the time I traded it. Knotters were in need of extensive work. Pretty simple & easy to work on though.

Up here $6,000 would maybe buy you a parts baler.

You need to spend at lest $50,000 to get a reliable baler ready to go into the field, and it could develop extensive problems at any time.

 

[mrmikey]

......I’m down to trying some ATF fluid to try dissolving the blockage, or the much less desirable option of a new distribution block at $900.

Any way to disassemble it? From what I remember the Gressen or the Lincoln ones can't remember which, the cartridges could be removed and cleaned but that was years ago when I've dealt with them a very little bit.

 

[Hay Dude]

Any way to disassemble it? From what I remember the Gressen or the Lincoln ones can't remember which, the cartridges could be removed and cleaned but that was years ago when I've dealt with them a very little bit.

Possibly, but I have no idea what I’m getting myself into. I was going to try to find a way to push ATF through it since ATF has some cleaning properties in it and is good for loosening thick sludge.

 

[EddieWalker]

The cost of those balers is shocking!!! I guess that's why it's so rare to see people making large square bales.

I'm guessing that people paying that much money for the baler must be selling $60,000 worth of hay a year just to pay for equipment. The monthly bills required to do this must add a lot of stress to this kind of business.

 

[Snobdds]

I never knew those ran so much.

Maybe I should be paying my neighbor to hay my meadows, instead of just letting him take the hay.

Capital intensive business.

 

[Hay Dude]

The cost of those balers is shocking!!! I guess that's why it's so rare to see people making large square bales.

Large square balers and their bales are really common here since it’s very hilly and a lot of hay is made in my area.
Round balers are less common as the bales want to run away when you dump them.

I'm guessing that people paying that much money for the baler must be selling $60,000 worth of hay a year just to pay for equipment. The monthly bills required to do this must add a lot of stress to this kind of business.

Its very common to see a NEW 350HP tractor and a new square baler package run $750,000.

That would be like $12,000/month for 6 years.

I have made mostly very low cost deals buying my used equipment, then made repairs and upgrades over the years on all of it as I go.