This is my first post and am looking forward to learning a lot from this community. I have 18 acres of mostly grass hay and have leased it out for the last four years. I have decided to start looking at equipment and want to start farming it myself. I own a JD 5083E tractor (65 hp PTO) but don't have any hay equipment. I have been researching balers and rakes quite a bit and wanted to get some opinions. I am looking at a NH 5060 square baler and a Kuhn ga300 rotary rake. Any thoughts on this setup? I am also looking at some JD balers. I would love some advice. Thanks.
Advice on Hay Equipment
ElkHunter
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You are getting some good advice here...
I also have a 5083E, and bought a new JD 328 square baler last year. Use it for grass hay here on the Gulf Coast. Picked up a Tonutti 5 wheel rake and an old NH 463 cheap. I can keep a rake and cutter running, but splurged on the tractor and baler to get the dealer support...
Good luck in your operation!
Jim
I also have a 5083E, and bought a new JD 328 square baler last year. Use it for grass hay here on the Gulf Coast. Picked up a Tonutti 5 wheel rake and an old NH 463 cheap. I can keep a rake and cutter running, but splurged on the tractor and baler to get the dealer support...
Good luck in your operation!
Jim
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Might want to read this thread when deciding just how much to spend..http://www.haytalk.com/forums/topic/19425-profitability-vs-machinery-costs/
Well, I have finished the process and decided on some equipment. Ended up buying a used Kuhn GA300 rotary rake and a new (last year's model) Hesston 1835 small square inline baler. Went in together with a buddy of mine on a used swather. Now I'm ready to go, just need to wait until the second cutting when I am going to take over my property from the custom farmer. Thanks for all of the help.
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194 Posts
I have a NH 5060 baler, Kuhn 7000HD disc mower and a Kuhn Speedrake...don't use or need a tedder in East Texas where I live. I have put about 12000 bales through my baler and it hasn't missed a bale so I have been very pleased with its performance. It has the extended bale chamber, side compression paddles, hydraulic tongue swing etc. I probably would buy the 5070 as it gives you more room for the larger windrows and makes it easier on turns etc. However the 5060 works great for me and I got a great price on it. I got it about 2 grand cheaper than a used JD 348 that was 2 years old. Love the disc mower and speed rake as they work as advertised. Be careful of used balers that have been used by the commercial crowd as they may look good but are worn out from constant baling on larger ranches or custom baling. I recommend a good size tractor for baling and mowing. Started with a 75 hp tractor which is plenty of horse power but I prefer using my 150 hp tractor as it is a much more stable platform and seems to keep the vibrations and shaking down.
Good luck with your hay operation. I'm sure you will be looking for some sort of mechanical hay stacking system soon. Pull type NH stackers can be had fairly cheap on the front range of Colorado. Not sure about the western slope.
Yes, this is definitely on my radar. I have been cruising Craigslist on the front range.
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194 Posts
I have a New Holland 1033 stack liner that really helps out in a square bale operation. I can put up more than 1500 bales in a long day with a hay stacking crew in the barn. I use the stackliner to retrieve the bales from the field and dump the bales off in the hay barn where the crew stacks the hay using a skeleton hayrite elevator. I could just use the 1033 to stack the hay but it only goes 7 layers high and I find it more efficient to stack the hay just short of my barn eves which is about 19 ft high. The labor cost is not cheap but I charge more for barn stored hay than in the field so it is about a wash in cost. I had considered using a model that has the single unloading feature but that would take a lot longer than just dumping the load of 105 bales. Since my hay fields are nearby I can get almost three loads dumped in about an hour. I bought my Stackliner from Roeder's implement in Seneca Kansas. They specialize in New Holland stackliner, pull types and self propelled. The stack liners are complicated machines so don't buy the cheapest one as it can be expensive and very frustrating to get one to operate properly. I use a 75 hp open station tractor on mine as I find it easier to monitor the operation and see what is happening and have access to all the options but there are some that work with a cab tractor. Good luck.
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