Advice for baling newbie

flyingace · Feb 4, 2012

We have come into about 10 acres of cleared pasture land and would like
to use it to bale some hay for our horses. I have an older Ford 3000 diesel.

First of all, what implement(s) do I need to bale hay?
What is most economical method - round or square bales?
Can I use the tractor to do this, or is it necessary to get self-powered implements? (not likely I'll do that).
What will the cost be and is it worth it considering the small tract size?

Thanks in advance,
John.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 4, 2012

Where are you located and how many horses do you have? You may do yourself a better service and save plenty of money and stress just fencing/crossfencing and rotate them on the pasture and buy hay to carry you over short grass times...
No expert here except for in the "coulda, shoulda, woulda" field...
A little creativity goes a long way....

donjr · Feb 4, 2012

It really depends on how young and ambitious you are. You've got the ground and the tractor. You'll need a mower or haybine, from about $500 to a couple of thousand, but just a mower can get you started. The 3000 has a three point hitch, so I'd try to find a three point 7' sickle bar, preferably a New Holland or a haybine that hasn't been beat up. Then ypu'll need a rake. You can get one at a sale for about $500 in decent shape. Then a baler. A small square baler will run you from $300 at auction to several thousand. An older one that's still workable is usually about $750 or so, like a 14T John Deere or a small New Holland. They are the more popular types. You may also find a round baler for not too much, but most horse people seem to prefer the small squares. And you'll need a wagon or trailer to pick the bales up in the field, depending on the type and age, anywhere from $500 to about $2000. Of course, you may be able to get someone to "custom farm" it for you until you see what is involved.

John Adamson · Feb 4, 2012

If you don"t have the equipment, look for a neighbor that does and do it on shares 50/50 or such.

flyingace · Feb 4, 2012

(quoted from post at 13:22:03 02/04/12) Where are you located and how many horses do you have? You may do yourself a better service and save plenty of money and stress just fencing/crossfencing and rotate them on the pasture and buy hay to carry you over short grass times...
No expert here except for in the "coulda, shoulda, woulda" field...
A little creativity goes a long way....

Two, maybe three horses. I think the crossfencing and buying hay in the winter is a good idea. We are in S/W MO., so winters are not as long as farther north. Even now, there is some grass to eat. I think the acreage and the number of horses is a pretty good match. Besides, it would be a lot of work for the old Ford, so I would have to add repairs/rebuilds into the $ picture

Thanks for your replies everyone.

SouthernFarmall · Feb 4, 2012

I don't really think it would work your tractor too hard. By my calculations, you would put about 35-45 hours a year on your tractor cutting, raking, tedding, and baling hay. Counting spraying and fertilizing, you would probably add another 8 hours. If the tractor is in rough shape it might not handle the job, but I think you would be fine. I bale 15 acres of coastal bermuda with a 1962 Farmall 140 (raking and tedding) and a 1974 International 464 Diesel (cutting and baling). I put 60-80 hours a year on each of them, but I do many other jobs around the farm, too.

SF

Anonymous-0 · Feb 4, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:33:39 02/04/12)

(quoted from post at 13:22:03 02/04/12) Where are you located and how many horses do you have? You may do yourself a better service and save plenty of money and stress just fencing/crossfencing and rotate them on the pasture and buy hay to carry you over short grass times...
No expert here except for in the "coulda, shoulda, woulda" field...
A little creativity goes a long way....

Click to expand...

Two, maybe three horses. I think the crossfencing and buying hay in the winter is a good idea. We are in S/W MO., so winters are not as long as farther north. Even now, there is some grass to eat. I think the acreage and the number of horses is a pretty good match. Besides, it would be a lot of work for the old Ford, so I would have to add repairs/rebuilds into the $ picture

Thanks for your replies everyone.

I'd split it 3 times, put a 10x20ft leanto on each piece (or build a portable on skids), get a harrow and maybe a brushhog and go for it.... If you just want to look at the horses and have something to eat things down a little, do yourself a favor and get an aquarium and rent out the land.... Whole lot less stress :roll:

Anonymous-0 · Feb 4, 2012

You never know, about 10 tears ago I picked up a NH-66 baler and an antique JD side delivery rake for $65.00 Yes I,ve worked on them a little but not much! Already had a JD MT with sickle bar and use an old MM U to bale, just pick up hay with equipment trailer behind my truck.

hoosierhog · Feb 4, 2012

Well your ford 3000 is way to small for a round baler but it will handle most older square balers perfectly. In my area id spend 1000 for a mowco,
1000 for a baler , 500-750 for a rake and 500 for a wagon. you could find stuff cheaper ive seen what apear to be decent balers for 600-900 and if you think you could get away with a sickle mower youd spend 400-700 and a used 3pt rake 4-500 or if you went with an old farm hand wheel rake pull type about the same. you could easly make your money back on the equipment if you bale for a few other small places. here i paid for my equipment in 1 GOOD year on 8 acres of alfalfa. the ford 3000 will handl 7 or 9 foot mowco or sickle bar mowers it will handle most small square balers except the newer high capacity ones. and it dosnt take any power to a rake. good luck let us know how it turns out

Anonymous-0 · Feb 5, 2012

If it were me, on that small of an acreage, I would start out by finding a 3 point bush hog 205, or 305 bush hog mower, with the removable left side. It can always be used as a conventional mower, for pasture management, if you cut your pasture into 3 lots, will have lots of use, thataway. If your ground is flat, you can find ground driven wheel rakes cheap. While looking for all this equipment, get to know your neighbors, if one has a baler and bales his own, he might bale yours on shares, or to trade a favor. A older, less efficient baler, around here is worth about $250, untested. Might go to $750, if I saw it bale. If you have no farm experience, I wouldn't go jumping into a baler, right away.

Mel in SW Iowa · Feb 5, 2012

Small squares are excellent to feed horses with if you have dry indoor storage up off the ground (prevents spoiled hay storage losses). Round bales are better if you only have outdoor storage.

Don't expect to use a small square baler or a sickle bar mower without an operator's manual and, preferably, an experienced coach if you don't have personal experience with them.

Baling equipment condition is everything. Don't
consider a purchase if the owner can't or won't demonstrate how well his equipment works.

Leroy · Feb 5, 2012

Not enough to think about making any hay, Three horses and you are likely buying hay to feed. Just get a bar mower for clipping the pasture every once in a while to control the weeds that will come and not get eaten and also some type of grasses you have to cut every once in a while to get them to start new groth if they start to get to the ripe stage.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 7, 2012

A.sickle mower or mower/conditioner
B.side delivery rake
C.square baler
D.wagon or trailer to haul the hay

extra option could be a seperate conditioner or crimper to go behind the sickle mower & a tedder to kick the hay while its drying.

Don't forget the the tillage & planting equipment you will need to even get started. Goodluck

Bevan · Feb 8, 2012

I would look into customing out the hay field. Look for another guy in the area that has the equipment and have him come in 4 times a year to bale up the hay. Pay him by the bale and you will be money ahead. Better yet, see if you can barter swap for the service. I had a neighbor who swapped storing the guys bales for him in a corner of his place in exchange for some of the hay.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 9, 2012

I just bought a bunch of old equipment years ago and started baling. I have baled hay for 30 years. My neighbors let me bail some odd patches as well and occasionally I sell a little hay. It all works out.

Gumby · Feb 10, 2012

Also think about where you would store the hay, if you don"t already have some space, especially if you anticipate selling some of it off, as a lot of customers may not have storage available when you"re baling it.

I put up hay on about 12 acres, some custom large round bales (usually first cutting as it"s so heavy, I"d be making small square bales for a week) and the second and third cuttings usually in small square bales. The price of hay is quite high in Illinois now. This is just a goofy hobby for me...lets me get out my frustrations while bucking bales on the hay rack.

If you"ve never done much hay work, please ask around about potential dangers working around your equipment. Way too many possibilities to post here. It can be really dangerous. Work safe. Get some other local advice from the older guys who may have had some close calls and know things we younger guys don"t.

Good luck.

MSS3020 · Feb 10, 2012

I was always told rule of thumb is 3 acres per horse.. I have about that for mine. Have it split in three different areas.. rotate the two first and let the larger one grow till the Timothy starts to head then I cut it for hay. then let it grow couple weeks and turn horses on it for awhile. Just couple rules of thumb in doing this and it works well. I have a holding pen prob 40' x 60' I can lock them out of all pastures. Esp. if its rainy or alot of snow and the ground gets soft. also drag the field to scatter poo.. Good luck.. Oh I forgot to mention that I have additional 25 acres I put up hay and sale..

flyingace · Feb 10, 2012

(quoted from post at 14:20:03 02/10/12) I was always told rule of thumb is 3 acres per horse.. I have about that for mine. Have it split in three different areas.. rotate the two first and let the larger one grow till the Timothy starts to head then I cut it for hay. then let it grow couple weeks and turn horses on it for awhile. Just couple rules of thumb in doing this and it works well. I have a holding pen prob 40' x 60' I can lock them out of all pastures. Esp. if its rainy or alot of snow and the ground gets soft. also drag the field to scatter poo.. Good luck.. Oh I forgot to mention that I have additional 25 acres I put up hay and sale..

After more surveying, the land is closer to 8 acres. I think we will just split
in two and rotate. We have a small pasture with some stalls nearer the house, so we can lock them out as needed. I'm going to stay out of the hay baling business for now.

Thanks all for the useful information and support.

John.

Advice for baling newbie

flyingace

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donjr

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John Adamson

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flyingace

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SouthernFarmall

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Mel in SW Iowa

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