New to mowing/bailing

Tractor--CaseIH Farmall 65
Mower--Kubota 5 and half foot disc mower
Rake--Kubota rotary, single rotor
Baler--Any New Holland or John Deere
Wagon--John Deere gear with 14 foot flat rack

You should be able to get this setup for less then $50,000

Or you could hire your neighbor to do it.
 
(quoted from post at 20:22:25 07/12/22) hello,

Got a couple acres of grass we're looking to mow/bail next year. Just wondering a reliable, economical setup.

Thanks

I have a ten acre section around my pond. I get on average 35 rolls a cutting with 3 cuttings per year.

With that said if I get 105 rolls a year at $50/ roll it would take 10 years just to pay for older used equipment and that is not counting fertilizer and herbicide costs.

I can have it rolled by a neighbor on the halves and pocket $2625 before fertilizer and herbicide costs.

With fertilizer and herbicide costs what they are its a loosing battle but it does make a beautiful setting for the pond.
 
Are you thinking new, or used? The setup suggested by flying belgian sounds great,
but you'll never, in your lifetime, be able to come close to paying for it for just
a couple of acres. Which is completely ok if you're looking to have fun; there are
lots of worse ways to spend $50k. If you're like me, however, spending that much
for such small acreage is out of the question.

How you define, 'reliable', and what work you're prepared to do to get equipment
into this ,'reliable', state will make a big difference on what you can get away
with. If you're willing to wait until a deal comes along, you can also get by with
substantially less output costs.

At my home farm we use some larger equipment, but I also do about 15 acres at my
father's as well - really just for giggles. I consider his place my 'toybox' where
I can have fun with old equipment and tinker away. I suspect this might be more
akin to your operation.

I just finished first cut at his place. As an example of repair work required and
equipment costs that a miserly person like me can get away with, this year I used:

- IH sickle mower - cost $60 at an online auction last year, and had to fix the
lift mechanism and replace the pitman.

- Gehl 260 rotary rake - cost $450 on Facebook marketplace last year - needed 1x
new tire/rim assembly purchased off Amazon for $80.

- Allis 442 square baler - cost $350 several years ago, had to replace all plunger
bearings, which required some innovation as the original Allis ones aren't
available and are an unusual size. Probably cost $200 to do them.

- A couple of wagons. Can't remember what I payed for the running gears - probably
around $200 each. Replaced some tires with used truck tires from a scrap yard, and
built the decks/rack myself as I have a sawmill.

- Fordson Major - cost $1200 two years ago - previous goofball owner had the wiring
all bungled up. Didn't cost anything to fix except some frustration and a lot of
cussing the PO.

I'm not saying any of this equipment would be my first choice, just giving you an
idea on what you might be able to get by with if you like to tinker, and are
mechanically-inclined.

Although all this equipment required work when I bought it, it's now all in very
good working condition - no breakdowns/repairs this year nor last, and I don't have
any cause to suspect I'll have any breakdowns/repairs any time soon.

Perhaps give us an idea of your budget and plans, and you might get advice more
applicable to your operation.
 
So, small squares? Otherwise Im wasting a lot of time typing.

Tractor about 30 hp and has live or independent clutch. Haying is no fun without a live clutch. You can get by, but why the heck would you..... $2500-6000.

Sickle mower. Good new blade just buy a new sickle blade trust me money well spent. Good sharp edges on the guards. Or new guards ($$$). Any model that you can
easily get sickles and guards for. The sickle blades and the square sharp guard edge make a scissors cutting the only important feature is that it works and you have
those parts sharp. $250-1000 (a mower conditioner is often better (Needed for alfalfa...) but costs more and needs a bigger tractor 50hp. A disc mower is way way
faster and more fun, but you are in the 5-10 grand price range there.)

Side rake. Anything working. A New Holland roll a bar is the king of small hay raking, but any old machine that works is fine if you need to save money heres the place.
$500. Or less. Or more.

Baler. New Holland 69 through 271 models are the older slower but very dependable models. JD T14 or T24 are also good. Newer models of these 2 brands are
wonderful but then you get into budget questions and might want a bigger tractor. Any other brand of old baler might work but often doesnt and there are far less parts
and knowledge of these other brands around. This is the center of your operation, so this is where you spend the bucks. $1000 and add $750 to shine it up, or spend
$2000+ on a good shape to start with. You might want to spend double or more on a mint machine and have something worth having.... Lot of old balers around, most
have the life sucked out of them, some have been kept in mint working condition. Buy smart here.

Something to haul the bales, nice to bale onto a hay rack if you have the help, $500. Can get by dropping on the ground and picking up on what you got for a trailer but
its work.

You can spend a lot more. Im at bargain auction sale prices here it would be hard to spend less and have anything that works. You have to shop a while to find my
deals or spend more.

Paul
 
No one can come out owning hay equip for a couple acres. I just assumed you were doing this for some family fun. That why I suggested $50,000 worth of equip on my post below. So you can spend your time
having fun verses fixing and trying to make some old junk work. I know people that spend $50,000 on boat and trailer just to have some family fun. I bale up 10,000 bales a year with the equip. I suggested
below. I have about 4000 baled this year so far with 0 repair costs.
Are we having fun yet?
 
Just gotta correct you some. You 'bail water' or 'bail your son out of jail'- you 'bale' hay and straw.....
 
Nothing at all wrong with your suggestions Flying. Its nice to see the different perspectives and options on such an open ended question.

Paul
 
I make hay with a $500 NH 456 mower,have a good back up NH 256 rake paid $500,NH 851 balers I bought from $200 to $500.Also have an Oliver 62-T square baler paid $200.Make about 400 round bales and 200 to 300 squares a year.
 

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