[floydlipe]

How often does any of this break down?

I certainly can save $$ by going the old route,

But I can also fork over 10k-12k for all new implements for my Kubota so I am at an impasse. I have only MAX 4 acres to hay.

They make small equipment. Not sure where you are getting the 12k for all new. Implement
I have gone some years with no break down other years 2500 in repair parts.
With 4 acres if you are looking at the compact equipment it's a possibility
Don't know the bailer reliable. I had considered these my self but they were much higher 5 years ago. Consider support from the dealer parts availability. If you were local I would be glad to help

Subcompact Homesteader Hay Package

You CAN bale hay with your compact tractor! Get the TX45 Drum Mower, TX51 Wheel Rake, and TX31T Mini Round Baler and achieve small-farm hay production today!

tractortoolsdirect.com

 

[Millrat]

Money IS an issue, but I can manage the costs for new equipment. I just had to dig around and find the implements, I would not have been able to without this forum, as regular googling seems to ignore small farm equipment in search results

We hay to feed our own cattle. Our 3.5 acre field produced 3.5 tons last year and 7 ton the year before. At the price of hay here in Oregon Willamette valley that averages about $500 per year. Not much return on investment. Our goal is to break even on beef for our own use.

 

[Millrat]

I used the 3.5 acres as an example, we will hay about 17 acres total this year.

 

[Millrat]

Should have said 5 ton average and $750

 

[Thistlewick]

Let's go back a couple of steps. All you have told us about the hay is that you want to make it yourselves. What do you plan to do with it once you have made it? How will you carry it to the storage area? DO you have a shed to store it in? How are you going to feed it out to your stock? Or are you planning to sell it?

You might find small square bales are much easier to handle than small round bales. Some small square balers come with their own engine, so you don't need an bigger tractor than you already have to pull them.

However, it worries me that you have said your ground is not flat. Your Kubota might struggle (or worse, be dangerous) with any kind of baler on hills. When it comes to tractor size, weight can be as important as power.

Roger

We will probably use some for our cow/calf and a couple pygmy goats. Hell, our chickens might even enjoy some but we will probably sell it, though since this isn't a money making operation I'm also keen to possibly donate the hay to a farm rescue.

Most of our rolling ground is pasture, we have 10 acres that we're trying to swap from cropland to pasture so I have mowed it with a bushhog at all angles many many times. My neighbor, on similar ground, will hay the fields next to me (probably hays 10x as much acreage as I have) with a larger tractor and standard size baler. He does alright. It's not flat ground but it's not steep either, it's bumpy and gently rolling.

I took this just yesterday evening.

Fences are going soon, in June.

What mini square balers will work on a 25 hp tractor? I wasn't aware there was any?

We do have storage, a big barn. I am not sure how we'd pick it up, we have a handy ATV with a trailer we use for every damn thing I imagine that. haha

 

[ACDII]

While you could use a New Holland 273 with the 2501, I would NOT recommend it, You WILL be sore after baling for a few hours and if you are inclined to motion sickness, you will be hurling rather quickly. I have a B2401 that I tested my NH273 on and it moved the tractor back and forth a few inches and handling was not fun. I have an 4060LE-HSTC that I hay with now. The NH273 baler requires 17 PTO HP, so the smaller tractors have the HP PTO output, but not the weight or stability.

I started out a few years back with 4 acres or so, bought the used baler for $1250, a JD1209 for $1600, and a sidebar IH35 rake for $600. By the time I got the rake fully working with teeth, bearings and a replacement hub and axles I was in it for $1900. It lasted all of one season before the clutch gave out in the gearbox and would disengage when making a turn.

The $1250 baler ran the first season with nothing more than two bearings being replaced. That cost me all of $65. I ran it last season and had some knotter issues after replacing a few hay dogs, that ran me ~ $300. This year I replaced all the sweeper bearing and all the tines, about another $350. It still needs a bearing for the main shaft on the sweeper as I discovered after putting it all back together and watched the gear move up and back when I tightened the chain. SO now I ma about $2K into the baler, but it just baled 150 bales without an issue and only had 3 miss-ties. Much quieter now that the bearings are all new in the sweep and the teeth are straight.

The mower needed a new sickle bar when I got it, and the part where the lock pin goes was bent and cracked. I had a new one made for $300, and the bar was about another $300 with some new guards. I went 2 seasons without issues, but last cut of the year the hydraulic cylinder seal gave out and I found a broken float spring. That was $175 in parts. The mower has been the most reliable item out of all of them. I did have to make a new PTO shaft to connect to the tractor and the JD uses a special hitch that is made of unobtainium so I made my own.

I broke down and took advantage of a special finance offer from Kubota and bought a new rotary rake to replace the unrepairable side bar. One used of it and I am hooked, so easy to use and did a great job. I missed out on a used Khun that would have required at least $1500 in parts to be trouble free, and they were asking $5900 for it. Thats all that is available around here.

Unless you plan to replace the tractor though, those micro machines from Italy are your best bet.

For me Last year the drought hit hard and I barely made any hay, only pulled in $1800 from the 10 acres I do. This year looks promising, I only did my 3 1/2 acres and pulled in $600 so far and have another two parcels to mow if I can ever get 5 days of dry weather. I estimate I can probably pull in another $1500 from those fields the first cutting. I also have two customers that need their hay cut and baled, so I make cash off that too.

As mentioned though, it is an addiction. I have added the new rake and a hydraulic grapple, along with a no till drill and spreader. Running out of room in the barn for winter storage. I might consider upgrading the baler if I find a decent one, the NH273 is slow when it comes to baling, if I go too fast it will snap a shear bolt as it needs new knives.

Good luck in whatever you decide, you will need it when it comes to equipment.

 

[bool]

Does anyone know how people cart in those mini round bales? They seem a little larger and heavier than small square bales, therefore a little harder to lift and carry and throw manually. Plus the twine wrap will be harder to grab by hand and more easily broken (because it is thinner) than the twin twines of a small square bale. Handling them by machine would be difficult because doing it one at a time will be slow and inefficient, and it will be difficult to make machine handling more efficient because they are hard to bundle together. And being round they will be harder to stack. My feeling is a small square bale will be easier to handle, easier to store and easier to sell than a mini round bale.

Yes, the plunger movement on a small square baler will make a small tractor rock backwards and forwards but if the ground is like in the photo it won't be dangerous.

Most small square balers come in 14 x 18 inch cross-section, and you make the bales 36" long, twice their width, for easy stacking. Larger sizes exist, and you won't want them. Smaller sizes also exist but are harder to find. New Holland made the 65 and Long also made a compact baler: I think both of them were 12" x 16", so you would make the bales 32" long. If you can find a good smaller one, go for it. Otherwise, your tractor will run an older, lower-capacity 14"x18" baler for a while and give you time to contemplate a tractor upgrade.

Roger

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

The motion and mass of the plunger is what tears up splines in undersized drivelines...

 

[Millrat]

The motion and mass of the plunger is what tears up splines in undersized drivelines...

I didn't notice excess movement with the NH 68 behind my Kubota 3240. I'm interested to see if the NH 65 I acquired will move the tractor even less at about 450lbs lighter.

 

[slowzuki]

If you only really need 1-2 acres of hay, and have a big barn, just mow it and rake it, sweep it with your loader to the barn and push it in the door. The reason to bale it is for ease of selling and storing more in a space.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Put up fence and pasture the land you have. Read up on rotational grazing, stockpiling, etc to extend your grazing out as much as possible to reduce your hay needs. Then buy what little bit of hay you need.

 

[CoronaGold]

FWIW, Fifty years ago when my parents made hay for cheap, they cut it with a sickle bar mower and took it in loose with a hay rake. They loaded the hay wagon with pitch forks and took it to the barn. From there they must have laid up a temporary tier or two, like scaffolding, and pitched it up to the loft one level at a time, again with pitch forks. I hope for the sake of your aching back that this post does not give you any ideas.

 

[bool]

I doubt a well adjusted baler would wreck a light driveline quickly. A poorly adjusted baler, on the other hand, may well cause damage. Dull plunger knives and too much plunger knife clearance dramatically increases the cyclic peak load on the tractor driveline.

I have put up loose hay and bales made with a stationary hay press as a child. Neither are any fun. One year we spent most of a day making a handful of bales with the hay press. A local custom operator was baling the neighbor's field over the fence with a self-propelled NH 1281 baler. My dad had a chat with him and when he finished the neighbor's field he came to our field and made 151 bales in 20 minutes. We were very happy. Our new friends want to make their own hay and they seem to want mechanical help.

Before you buy a mini round baler, have a look at the bales it makes, try to pick one up and think about how you would handle them.

Roger

 

[ACDII]

The round balers make bales about 21" x 23" up to 28" x 28" in size and weigh up to 60 pounds each. Just grab each end and lift. They stack too as long as you have something to stop the bottom row from rolling. Could also get pallet forks and put a pallet on, then stack them on end to get them to the barn.

 

[Hayjosh]

A little late to the conversation but here is my take:
We started last year with a Kubota 3240 32 horse with 26 hp Pto. purchased two New Holland 68s and proceeded to learn a lot about baler mechanics. Used the knives, plunger, feeder bar and other parts to make one serviceable baler. Bought a really well kept 4 disc mower and a JD 640 bar rake. Total investment about $4000 not counting the tractor. Baled 400 bales in a poor hay year for our area. Spent time fixing the baler after the season ended. If your ground is flat, you have the skills ( I learned a lot as I went) and the time to be easy on the equipment it is doable. That said, the 3240 is a bit bigger than your 2501. there is video on Youtube of a 2501 baling with a 400? series new holland baler and a wagon behind it (search scientific hay farmer?) but the conclusion was that it did a good job but how long would it last. I picked up a New Holland 65 for $100 this spring but it hasn't baled hay yet. Barn kept and hadn't run in 25+ years so maybe a good backup. It has been a sadistic sort of fun but worthwhile to make our own hay!

That was a 311 I was running behind that 2501. The neighbor I borrowed it from uses it as his square baling tractor.

for the OP’s sake for just a few acres, it would have no problems handling a 273.

 

[Millrat]

Watched the video again after I posted, should have watched it before I put forth inaccurate info. Thanks for your videos, yours is one of the few channels I subscribe to.

 

[Hayjosh]

Watched the video again after I posted, should have watched it before I put forth inaccurate info. Thanks for your videos, yours is one of the few channels I subscribe to.

Thank you, I’m glad to hear it’s useful to you. I’ve got plans for a bunch of videos this summer I think will go over well. And just finished a neat aerial drone video mowing a pretty field (before my mower broke).