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price and size of hay tools greatly vary. Before you head to a dealer you may want to consider a few things

First - how many round (or squre) bales do you use a year. If you only use 20 - 30 or so round, it can be a lot more economical to buy hay. We use 200 - 250 a year so it was well worth doing my own. Same with square, at a couple of bucks a piece, 500 bales is only a grand, but if you use 1,000 or more a year, yes, it could be worth the venture

Of course a part of the equation is, do you have the hay available ? If so, and if there is a market in your area perhaps you can sell some to help pay for equipment

Second, if you decide "were gonna make hay" what do you have for a horse - PTO horse power, to be more exact.

I have a John Deere 5205 - that is about 48 PTO horse power. Alot of old dogs like myself remember the days of "square" bailing with my dads John Deere B (I still have the B, by the way) or an A, or JD 60 or the such. These tractors were low HP and handled a bailer nicely and there has not been a lot of changes on square style bailer operations - however, if you add a kicker/thrower - it does take a bit more PTO HP , but just as important, when you add the weight of the bailer and wagon with a 100 or so bales, it can get a bit hairy on side hills and the such.

I really would not want anything lighter or less PTO HP than I have now though. The 5205 is an economical tractor to operate too

a disk mower with a conditioner requries (normally, depending on cutting width, about 60 + PTO HP), you can get a small disk mower with a 7 ' or so cut and no conditioner for about 3500-4000 and run it with 45 - 50 HP.

A mower conditioner (cycle bar style) is a good alternative to a disk mower.

My equipment:

Mowing: For years we used a cycle bar style mower. Never again - I found an old case IH 1190 ( 9' cut ) mower conditioner for $1,500 and put another 200 into it. I love it. I do primarily timothy and birdsfoot - even in early spring, I cut one day and tedder it the next and rake and bale the third. Later in the summer I can mow/condition one day, rake and bale the next. Nothing will make a man cry more than having 5 or so acres of hay down and then get a 2 day rain :- (

Tedder: I dont even own my own yet, I borrow a neibors but do need to pick one up. A used one goes for 1,000 to 1,500. I have seen them for less, but, not too often

Rake: old rakes are all over the country and I bet you can find an old John Deere or IH or New Idea (used idea eh) for a lot less then a thousand. Sure, you can go to a dealer and spend a couple of grand, for a piece of machinery you use 6-8 weeks a year. For My money ($ 600 to be exact) I found a IH rake that I have used for 4 years. Its a bit old so to have a back up, I purchased an old john deere rake as a back up for another 300.

Yes - the new rakes rake a fluffier windrow - but again, I really cant see 1,500 - 3,000 for a used rake

square bailer: I used an old John Deere T12 for a long time. I watched the auctions and finally picked up a JD 336 with a kicker for 3,000 last year. Now remember - the kicker presents another situation - ya gotta buy or build basket wagons. watching the local paper, I found a couple of old wagons for 400 each. they arent pretty - but again - for 6-8 weeks a year - they are just lovely.

Round bailer: I purchased an old Hesston round bailer a few years back for 2,000. It required 50 PTO HP and I ran it with an old John Deere 60 (before I got the 5205) It worked and I used it for two years while I went to auctions and I finally bit and got a Case IH 8430 bailer, that only requires 45 HP to operate.

It makes a 4 X 4 bale about 800 lbs. I paid 4,500 for the bailer and have been offered 7 K for it. The round bailer will be the most expensive of your hay tool purchases.

I guess what I have found is, talk around, check out auctions and ask questions. make sure you dont get equipment that is too much for your tractor. Also make sure that when you buy used that there is a dealer for parts somewhere not too far away - nothing sucks more than a break down on a nice sunny day with a bunch of hay down.

Hope this helps - if I can be of any help, please drop a note.

Equiptment to Hay with
Parts and Repair
Replies 5 Post by shadowcat5205