Small scale hay baling, questions.

Ok, dad has 30 acres, about 5-6 is old row crop in two patches. No one has used the land in about 20 years, and our neighbors have 40 acres and 180 acres respectively that isn't being used. What I'd like to do is sprig costal on dads place and bale it in small bales to sell to horse people. I'd like to plant wheat on the neighbors and another neighbor has a round baler I think he'd bale the wheat for a %.

So for dad's place I'm thinking of a sickle mower, a side deliver rake, and a square baler, all used because I'm on a budget. There's a couple more acres I can get out of dads if I have it cleared; its mostly post oak and Texas cedar.

Asking this question is like asking do you prefer blondes or brunettes but here goes. Which brands/models equipment work the best/have least amount of problems.
Maybe a better question is which brands/models to avoid.

Thanks in advance
 
New Holland hands down is the first choice. JD come in as second choice. I have owned both NH and JD balers and I have found the NH to be a tad bit easier to keep working well. As for sickle bar mowers well I have had and used many brands and right now when I mow my hay I use a IH sickle bar mower mounted on my BA. May rake is also an IH rake. As for buy used equipment it is best you either learn the stuff or find some one who knows what to look for since you can be taken pretty easy.
 
Not to highjack the thread but I assume you've evaluated the quality of hay before hand? My uncle said 'you can sell anything at any price to horse owners, and they will cheerfully pay, IF they WANT it'. So, are you comfortable that the hay will be realistically marketable to that niche market? I too am cutting small acreage and even though there is a state equine center 10 miles away, I go the cattle route because its more stable and less finicky. I'll be curious how you land.
 
I bought all used, older equipment. Baler is NH 269. Had to replace a few missing / broken parts, but nothing major. Bales fine with no problems. Mower is a Massey Ferguson 31. Only problem was an old weld on one part broke, and the dealer says the part is obsolete and no longer available. Had a friend weld it, and all is fine. Whatever you get, get an owners manual and figure out what needs fixing.
 
Whats a BA. I have a B Farmall. Ive heard of BN Farmalls. Never heard of a BA Farmall. OR a BA John Deere
 
If your asking that it means you have not sen the posts where I explain what my Farmall BA is. What I did was we got in an A that had a fight with a tree and lost. It was so bad the radiator and front axle and block and torque tube all broken. I also have a B that was locked up. So I took the front half of the B and from the transmission back of the A and built my BA. So ya it is not a factory built tractor. Not a BN or an A or a B and since the front half is a B and the back an A I call it a BA. I used parts of both the A and B engine to build the engine that it has. I took all the best parts of both. I also did it old school like it would have been done back in the 40 when you could not buy much in the way of parts and even used a used head gasket on it. Only new parts I used was the sleeve seals and oil filter and oil
a233644.jpg
 

Mower: New Holland 451 sickle bar if you have three point hitch, I haven't seen another brand that will cut with a 451 equiped with double guards. NH still makes the 451 so parts are easy to get. If you don't have three point hitch look at a NH 456 pull type, same mower on a trailed frame.
Rake: New Holland 56 or 256 are good rakes, their off set axles are better on uneven ground than other straight axle rakes. They're also still made new today so no problem with finding parts.
Baler: New Holland would be top choice, Massy 12 makes nice bales but wont bale as fast as NH, never baled with a JD so can't say good or bad.
 
It all depends on your dealership network.

I grew up running IH and I own a 350 tractor, a 47 baler, a 1000 IH mower and a 256 New Holland rake that we use for "horse hay" (nice clean brome). It works for me but I would gladly give up the 47 baler for a New Holland 269 or (even better) a 276 in equal condition. The dealer support is much better (they have an old New Holland baler guy that has been trained) and parts are more readily available. I currently have a 47 parts baler and am always on the lookout for more used parts because buying new from the dealership isn't an option on most items.




John Deere competes well in parts availability but the local JD dealership is crap and their service department is even worse.
 
I would also get a rake with a dolly wheel on the front, they move with the contours of the land better and I have lots of contours.
 
"<font color="#6699ff">[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]I'm thinking of a sickle mower, a side deliver rake, and a square baler, all used because I'm on a budget.[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]</font>"

We bought all used equipment for our small hay operation.

We have 3 <a href="https://youtu.be/KcztYe4w5-M">John Deere 350</a> sickle mowers to cut hay.

Most OEM parts are still available and aftermarket parts are also available for <a href="https://youtu.be/RCir14euNJA">maintenance and repair</a>.

We have a <a href="https://youtu.be/PlcFC8Di37s">John Deere 640</a> side delivery rake to rake hay.

Most OEM parts are still available and universal rake teeth are available at TSC.

Good luck with your coastal bermuda hay field.
 
A conditioner will save you a day by drying faster.I started out with a Massey 7 ft sickle mower and now I have a nh 479 haybine with stub guards I cut the same fields in less than half and no clogging the sickle bar.
 
New holland makes good hay equipment since 1960 or a bit before.

Jd makes good hay equipment from about the same time. See a tad more NH, but wouldn't be afraid of a Jd unit.

In the past 20 years most equipment from most of the brands is pretty good. This might be newer than your budget. Older might work with the
off brands, but parts and experience and quality might be getting questionable.

Paul
 
Either JD or NH equipment. I get along better with my local JD dealer so they get any suitable business.
 
600 series rakes are bullet proof. I've had 4 of them and none of them failed me, seldom if ever needed attention. If you keep your teeth out of the dirt and keep your guards straight so that they don't bend over and break the teeth, you don't use teeth. +1 on parts availabiltiy and here in the Dallas area, you can have parts the next day for most of the JD vintage equip.

I had Ford, Case IH, and JD balers. Take the John on that too although locals in the custom business like NH haying equip. Case IH ate pickup fingers, JD doesn't, nor does Ford. JD rollers are preferred around here and my choice too.

I don't like sicklebars, whether bare or integrated into a swather so I will pass on reporting on my experiences with them.
 
I no longer put up square bales, and have the neighbor round bale
it for me. That's a thought for you.

However in the past, I put up small squares with my own equipment.
I had a 501 Ford mower I really liked, then a 451 New Holland. It
was a fine machine. I held onto my 256 rolabar rake til the end. I
had others, like a 3pt Massey Ferguson, and a 4 wheel Vicon. I
kept the 256, because none of them could rake a decent windrow for
my baler.
I only had 2 balers. A 214w John Deere and a 276 New Holland. The
Deere made a big, tight heavy bale. 65 pounds or better, wire
tied. Finally worked it to death and bought a 276. Made a decent
bale, around 50 pounds. Had some knotter trouble later on and that
cost dear, but not what it would've to fix the Deere.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough. I think that most machines are as
good as the care they've had, and that which you give them. I take
better care of my equipment than most around here. That's why it
lasts longer than most of the neighbors. And that's what matters,
to me.

Mac
 
I only have experience with New Holland and Massey Ferguson balers, had pretty good luck with both. I like IH sickle bar mowers. New Holland rakes are good. Also have a belt driven AC rake that has been a good one.
 
dad and grandpa had IH sickle mowers they never said anything bad about them we switched to a haybine in the early 70s
because the dairy and beef were expanding.dad said the worst rake they had was an IH he said it just roped the hay the
best rake was Minnesota made a fluffy windrow it was traded on a NH 256 in 69 and it is still being used . the only
balers we had were NH when dad and grandpa were working together they had 2 super 68s . the NH balers 273 275 and 310
had a feeder rake direct driven by the plunger if these were run at 540 and not over revved they worked fine so check
these models rakes carefully . i run a 273 and it works very well for its age.of course all pto driven equipment should
not be run faster than rated speed lasts a lot longer.
 
Given your criteria.... economical... I'd suggest you buy whatever you can get a good deal on relative to it's condition. Deere, NH and
Hesston would be my main choices and probably all else being equal I'd take the Deere. I've never been a fan of NH's clap trap feeding
system. Find something with a close spaced pickup if you can. Beyond that they'll all tie the same because they all have variants of the same
knotter.
Personally i'd be looking for a small disc mower rather than a sickle bar.... I just hate sickle bars. And a Haybob for a tedder/rake rather
than the side delivery... and that should be available just as cheap as a side delivery rake on comparable condition. But that's jsut what
I'd do...

Rod
 
IMHO - balers, hard to go wrong with JD or New Holland. Rakes, pick one in good shape and you'd probably be Ok. You will want a tedder, a
2 basket is cheap. Cutter - I'd definitely recommend a mower conditioner. Any New Holland with intact rollers and Hesston 1120 or 1110 with
rubber/steel rollers.

Other things, a wagon hitch for the baler and a few wagons. It's really nice to bale on a wagon vs picking up off the ground.

Good luck,
Bill
 
My line up consists of
IH 990 haybine - $600. It's a nice simple old machine - you can't go wrong with New Holland either
IH 35 side rake - $400 + $200 in repairs. Does a nice job, but again, New Holland side rakes are great too. A Kuhn rotary would be even better, but more expensive
Deutz Fahr 4 rotor tedder - $1200. Does a good job but parts are expensive. Kuhn is much better
New Holland 316 baler - $2500 + 500 for repairs. Great baler, but John Deere is good too.
This equipment is all 30 - 40 years old, so you have to be able to do all the miscellaneous repair work they will need
Good luck
Pete
 
Just to give you a general Idea what you can buy hay equipment for here's what I use and what they cost me.
Mowers
#1 NH 456 trailer mower($500)pulled by a Yanmar 330 ($1800) did some trading so estimate and that was over 10 years ago
#2 NH 456 trailer mower ($550) pulled by a Long 460 ($1100) bought about 8 years ago
Rakes
#1 NH 256 ($2000) had only raked 30 acres
#2 NH 56 ($500)
Balers
#1 NH 851 ($300) pulled by an Oliver 1550 diesel ($1500)
#2 NH 851 ($500)
#3 NH 847 ($900) Very little use. Pull the last two balers with various tractors.

As you can tell I like NH hay equipment,also like JD square balers but you couldn't give me a JD rake if I had to use it rather than the NH ones.
 

I have a farmall 450 w/ fast hitch, the trailer mower looks good. Also the prices seems like my range. I'm putting the cart before the horse a little; I got the tractor this spring and it needed some maintenance, but its almost finished, (unless something else happens).

Dumb question time...does the haybine reduce time hay has to lay before baling compared to a sickle mower? That's what I understand, but not sure. I'm not sure if my neighbors will let me plant on them, but they aren't using the land and its a strong possibility. Combined they have about 200 acres, about 40 acres hasn't been farmed in years, the 160 about 2 years ago. I have a 4 bottom plow, a small spring tooth chisel, and a 10' cultivator w/ sweeps. Dad has a 2 bottom plow and an old drag-type tandem disc, but its in sad shape.

Thanks everyone for the information; especially those with dollar amounts. That helps put things in perspective.
 

Haybine crimps the stems for faster drying time but needs a bigger tractor to operate and is slower than cutting with a sickle bar.
For normal grass hay I'd rather have a tedder to lift and fluff hay for better drying.
Alfalfa and large stem grasses are better cut with a haybine.
For your 450 a 7ft disc mower on a caddy would be my choice but their not cheap.
My 9ft Kuhn trailed disc mower was $14,000 two years ago, but it's a sweet cutting machine, layed down 17 acres of third cutting yesterday in four hours.
 

Haybine crimps the stems for faster drying time but needs a bigger tractor to operate and is slower than cutting with a sickle bar.
For normal grass hay I'd rather have a tedder to lift and fluff hay for better drying.
Alfalfa and large stem grasses are better cut with a haybine.
For your 450 a 7ft disc mower on a caddy would be my choice.
 
(quoted from post at 21:53:24 08/04/16)
Haybine crimps the stems for faster drying time but needs a bigger tractor to operate and is slower than cutting with a sickle bar.
For normal grass hay I'd rather have a tedder to lift and fluff hay for better drying.
Alfalfa and large stem grasses are better cut with a haybine.
For your 450 a 7ft disc mower on a caddy would be my choice but their not cheap.
My 9ft Kuhn trailed disc mower was $14,000 two years ago, but it's a sweet cutting machine, layed down 17 acres of third cutting yesterday in four hours.

I'm sure that's a great piece of equipment but there's no way at all I could afford that! I saw some sickle mowers online with a trailer, that looks easy for a one man operation to use. I guess I need to start going to equipment auctions.
There's very little alfalfa gettin here, only on irritated land. not much sudan, etc. Mostly wheat, coastal Bermuda, a little clover and vetch.
 
My experience is using a swather ads at least 24 hours to drying time. Mowing it flat and then raking when dry is the fastest way to get hay ready to bale with a small square baler. I mow brome in small patches and usually cut one afternoon, rake and bale the next afternoon then pick it up immediately after baling. And this is heavy brome that stands almost as tall as the 38" tractor tires. The way the last couple of years have been you can't get three dry days in a row in mid June. Had I have waited for the weatherman to predict three dry days in a row I would have started mowing some time in late July.
 
If you are making grass hay you might go with a wheel rake. I prefer a wheel rake on grass. It works great on heavy Rye. Not as good on sudan and Johnson grass but they will get it raked. Dealer support will be a big factor deciding between JD and NH.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top