hay problem

You can step up to a New CCM drum mower for 40-60% of the price of a disc mower and have the same cutting technology. Mows 3-5 acres an hour and will not clog up. Prices start at $2,300 NEW!

Better luck to you the next time around!

Billy

With reliable older new Holland and John Deere rakes, mowers and balers being out there in such large numbers and at such reasonable prices (I'm not talking late model ---under 20 years old here) there is simply no good reason for not getting your own baler.

The straw that broike the camel's back in my father's case was the time the neighbor cut the hay one afternoon and baled it the following morning. After having to throw out all of that hay, it was already heating by the afternoon it was baled, dad went out and bought a JD14T. That was in 1965 and the baler was 10 years old.

I have seen the same problem at the in-laws, folks who had promised to bale just never showed up, never called, nothing. Drive by their house, they are home, in the house, all the tractors parked. They just couldn't be bothered to follow thru and do what they said they would....

So my theory is very much get your own equipment and do it yourself.....

Sorry you are having problems though.

#1 my fields come first, I know what quality the hay is and generally they are closer to home
#2 Equipment breaks, a lot. The tedder has ceased functioning 3 times this year, the rake twice, the mower once, the baler twice.
#3 People, I can't cut hay if I have no one to put it up. We do small squares by hand off the ground, and for a 3-5 person show where half + is female, 500 bales is a big day.
#4 But the number one reason, weather. No I can't put hay up in one day. Despite what you see the sileage guys doing, I can't do that. They are not interested in your field because it is rocky small and has boggy bits. You are lucky you are getting it cut for free! I would rather you pay me to bushhog it.

Delays happen with hay.

Once you spoke for it, it is your responsibility to finish it. If it has become worthless you still need to deal with the issue you created.

--->Paul

This is not a case of quality hayfields here, I don't make money on it and they don't have animals or a use for hay. The objective is to get them cut down.

The reason I cut them is no one else will cut them. I can't see how someone can expect me to be at their low quality field to take hay off it when my good fields with money making hay are ready. I don't tell them any different. I understand they want a nice looking field around their house but pay me to bushhog it is you want that look with out the trouble of waiting for haying.

Re: the equipment, when your ground is rough and rocky, things break freqently. Yes our tedder is near beat but the other stuff is in relatively good shape.

Every year we dig out more rocks, and every year the frost tosses new ones up to the top. These are TV set sized rocks, not little guys.

Also for those not familiar with eastern Canada, it is really wet, we have had a total of 5 two day spells free of rain this hay season, and only two of them have been accurately predicted by the weatherman.