Posted by JDseller on August 30, 2010 at 08:29:59 from (208.126.196.117):
In Reply to: Advice posted by Randy Cook on August 29, 2010 at 19:36:16:
Randy, I see you have a JD 4620 already. If that tractor is not "special" to you. Use it as a trade-in for the start of your hay enterprise. You will find that that 1000 rpm pto on that JD 4620 is a PIA on hay equipment. Most hay equipment you will find used is going to be 540 pto. I know some here will tell you to just use an adapter and run slow. On that tractor you don"t have any torque at lower tractor speeds. I would try to get two good used tractors. One 75-85 hp to pull the baler with. The second can be smaller it would be the raking tractor. You are going to need to be raking and baling at the same time most of the time. For mowing your hay. If it is mostly grass hay then you don"t have to have a conditioner. I would then look at a drum mower they mow fast and cost less. For your rake I would go with a wheel rake. Its size will depend on what baller you buy. You don"t want too big of windrow for a smaller baler. For a baler you said that you have several different Dealers near you. You need to research your local hay market. This makes a big difference. In North-east Iowa here you will take a pretty big discount on hay that is not mesh wrapped. If you have to handle twine wrapped hay much more than twice than the losses go up. Now in southern Iowa and northern Missouri the discount is not much. Also a mesh wrap baler lets you bale faster. Two or three turns of the bale and you have it wrap verses a turn for each wrap of twine. Now after that balers to get: In my area here Vermeers sells for a little less. There are deals to be found on them if you find them at a competing dealer IE. JD, NH, CIH. I would stay away from the NH chain balers if you are going to sell hay. First I don"t think that they ever made one that used mesh wrap. Second they make a shaggy looking bale, yes they weight alright but they look rough, plus the chains can be high maintenance. The guys on here like them because they are cheap and will bale just about anything you get it them. They just don"t make a very good looking bale.(I am not knocking them. I owned one for years. 85-90) If you are going to be baling 60 acres plus want to do some custom work you are going to need a higher capacity baler.
I would think long and hard after doing some research on the local markets. You need to know the demand for hay and custom services in your area. Around here the demand for custom baling is going down fast. The smaller livestock guys are quiting in droves as they age. Also as round balers become more affordable more people are buying their own. The other factor I would worry about is you not having that much control over the hay ground you currently have. How is that??? You are one of four brothers owning something. That is setting the stage for conflict if they think you are making money baling the hay. Money makes things go hay wire pretty fast.
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