custom hay operators...

Just curious to see what everyone is using, especially those doing small square bales I am farming about 100 acres, all hay and 40 acres straw with this system

Ford 8N
AC 180
684 INT
784 INT
NH 477 Haybine
NH 850 Roun Baler
NH 273 Square Baler
NH 451 Sickle Mower
Rake No Idea what brand
Diller 8 ton wagon

We do a little over 100 acres devided between two places. Most of the hay we use ourselves
but if we know we'll have extra come late winter
we'll sell.

John

Gehl 2480 round baler
Hesston 1340 discbine
NH 144 inverter
NH 256 rake
Hoping to replace the inverter and rake with either a wide V-rake or rake/tedder over this winter.

NOT ENOUGH TIME!

i work full time and farming helps me keep my sanity. grew up on a farm and left when i was 19. 25 now and glad to be back! i have 35 acres in hay and 10 in straw this year. hopefully more next year.

Hesston 12' haybine
NH 56 side rake NH 273 baler
2 Pro Quality hay baskets

JD 3010
Ford 861
Use of my Dad's 6600 W/loader
Cut with a NH 488
Ford 501 sickle mostly for trimming
NH 255 Rake/Tedder
Back-up JD rake
Bale with a IH 37 She's old but works well
Four flat wagons.
I'm doing about 25 acres for our horses and goats and sell the rest. Just finnished 1st. cutting and we have about 1800 bales and 24 rounds I sold to dairy Farmer. My biggest Problem is Barns are full, 2nd??

Now, I understand he was trying to teach me the value of a dollar as well as work deals on shares to get us extra hay, but he failed to realize that equipment that broke down half a mile from the house in the lower pasture wasn't going to fare any better fifteen miles away!

We had a '53 DC Case with live power, a $250 later model Moline "R" with NO brakes on the New Idea semi mount mower (the lowered cutterbar would hopefully slow you down) an earlier Moline "R" on the John Deere conditioner, and an Allis 303 baler that did a RECORD 700 bales for me without missing a tye or shearing a pin!

The worst part was trying to haul an old Co-Op side delivery rake ON STEEL down highways....that and it was the most troublesome POS we had.

That and the jobs were usually some people with a couple horses and 5 acres of the steep, hilly fields of Brome grass, thistles and gopher mounds interspread with sicklebar eating rocks.

Though it sounds miserable, now that I'm 37 and have been working as a mechanic for many years I somehow miss the clatter of a sickle mower and thrum of the baler..... .

Now if we put up rounds we borrow the neighbors IH 186 Hydro with Gehl silage special round baler and wrap with their one IH 766D and bale wrapper built in Britian by a company by the name of Edwards(Or something like that).

Farmall 400
Farmall H
Farmall 300 ( not running yet)

NH 55 rake
NH68 baler rebuilt
NH 268 baler Not using yet.
IH 241 round baler

NH469 haybine
JD #5 mower
3 flat racks 16 foot hay elevator

home built (by me) 16 foot flat bed trailer to deliver hay.
1991 Ford F150 that sees more work than all the rest.

15 acres

:-)

We are going to do about 30-40k bales this year straw and hay. The balestacker is the one of the most awesome machines you have ever seen.

Looking to add another 2280 within the next year and upgrade on rakes. Got a wheel rake bought but have to go pick up.
Would also like to add a second round baler on the list to run 2 and also a 3rd. cab tractor next season.

I've used Anderson and Tubeline. I really like the Anderson a lot better. Tubeline uses electronic switches where the Anderson is all hydraulic switches like a NH bale wagon. Dry hay I like 2-3 layers of plastic, wet hay at least 6. I've seen cubes of squares wrapped, not sure the exact dimensions. I thought about it before last year (the market here for barn stored rolls haas taken off). 12 squares to the 4x4 roll, $2.50-$3.00 for the squares, $30 for a barn stored roll and it let me cut my summer payroll by 30% and winter by 50%. I'll probably drop back to 6000 squares this year.