Yesterday I went shopping. Awhile back you may remember reading about whether I should rent equipment, buy equipment, or hire someone with equipment. Most of the discussion centered around the subject of making hay. On our farm we won't have a lot of ground to make hay on (unless we find some to rent), but between my dad's land and my land we will probably be making hay on up to 40 acres this year. Considering the prices of some older equipment out there we decided it would be most efficient for us if we actually owned the equipment. So, as I said yesterday I went shopping, and now we own the equipment we are going to need to make hay. I found a listing on Craig's List for a haybine, rake, and baler. With that equipment we would have a pretty good start, so I e-mailed the seller and yesterday I had a chance to check everything out. It's old used machinery, but it seems to be in good condition and the baler has always been shedded.
I didn't take a camera with me, and I wasn't able to bring it home today because the pasture (some of it is out in the pasture) and the roads are pretty muddy. But, I did some searching on the internet to come up with some pictures of what we bought to get started in the hay business.
The haybine is a New Holland 469 (like the picture) that seems to be in okay shape. I have never used a haybine before, but when my uncle used to make quite a bit of hay he had a New Holland haybine so my dad used it and there is a good source of information in the family. One plus of using a haybine is that you are able to bale a little sooner than if you just use a sickle bar mower. The rake is just an old Massey Ferguson five bar rake (similar to the one pictured). Nothing special, but it will work great for us.
The baler is an old Massey Ferguson #10 baler (the same as pictured, just more dust). It is an old baler, but it has been taken care of and the knotters where rebuilt not too long ago. Before I went to look at the baler my dad talked with a couple Amish neighbors that have or have used Massey Ferguson #10 or #12 balers. They all had good things to say about the bales they make. In fact the only complaint they had was that they were too heavy, so they took to many horses in some people's opinion. I'm not too concerned about the weight!So, that was my shopping day. I must admit that I enjoy shopping in another farmers barn and pasture much more than I enjoy a day running from store to store. Even on a cool and muddy day it is better! We have a few options on how we will split up the equipment between my dad's place and our new place, but most likely the baler will end up at his place since he is further away from his brothers place. I will at least be able to get the hay cut and raked and then pick up my uncle's baler if I need to. I'm already looking forward to the warm summer days!
12 comments:
Ethan,
How big of a tractor to pull that baler and haybine? I bought a Ford 2000 (1971 model) and it has around 35 hp.
What is a ballpark $ figure for all 3 pieces of equip? Not trying to be nosey just trying to get an idea of equip cost...
I found a custom baler down the road but want to know how much it would cost to do it myself, so I can run some numbers..
John (was in Texas, now on the farm in Illinois, waiting for the rain to stop so we can get started on the contruction)
John,
I went to an auction of a distant relative 2 weeks ago in Southeast Missouri. He had a rake (just like Ethan is getting), and a NH square baler, and NH haybine. All his stuff was in perfect condition with all the paperwork. People said it all got top dollar. The baler was $4,200 and I think the haybine was $3000 or so. The rake was alot less, but at least $1,000. There were alot of people at this auction and every thing was well taken care of so I would assume these are top prices.
Tomorrow's the big day!!!
John and Steven - Well, I didn't pay ANYWHERE NEAR THAT MUCH! But, it depends on the age. If it was relatively new equipment then those prices might be okay. This equipment is fairly old (40 years give or take maybe). But, that doesn't mean that it won't work great.
In my area (although prices will be higher now because of spring) I think you can find stuff between $1,000 and $1,500.
As far as the tractor ... I'm no expert, but 35 hp could work, but more is better.
I would say those are top prices from that auction, but I don't know how old the equipment was.
Tim - I hope it is tomorrow, but we haven't heard anything yet...
This equipment was NOT new... but I doubt it was 40 years old either. The rake looked exactly like the one pictured. T
The whole auction was high dollar.
A 2001 F-350 went for 21,000
A 75HP Massey Ferguson (can't remember the year but pretty old) went for 13,350. I was told that that was more than it sold for when it was new!
Guessing this is the ad -
For Sale: Massey Ferguson 10 hay baler-knotters fairly new-baler always shedded. $450 obo. New Holland Haybine 469 9' reel-works good includes cyl. $275 also Massey Ferguson hay rake that works well. $250 (all machines with decent tires ready to pull home or load on your trailer) Located in central Iowa between Newton and Knoxville at Monroe, Ia. can send pics if wanted
All for $975...not bad Ethan!
lol Inspector John!
That would be a good price, all for the price of a used hay rake in SE Missouri.
Where did you move to John? What part of IL?
John - You nailed it! But, I did have to pay a pinch more because there were some sight unseen offers higher than the asking price. I can't wait to get it home.
Steven, We moved from Austin Texas to Salem Illinois. I bought a 40 acre parcel and we are living in our 5th wheel travel trailer while we await the start of construction. We really wanted to be on the land and not rent a house and move twice. So far, I bought an old tractor and a horse for my daughter. Learning how to run a post hole digger and installing some fencing.
you should always look for used machinery. sites like this will give you lots of options and good pricing.
You got a winner with the haybine, the NH 469 & 479 were workhorses of the NH haybine line and the standard that all other haybines were judged by back in the day. Even though NH has come out with "bigger and better" these two models are the ones you will find most on smaller farms. I've ran almost every make of haybine from a massy to a Ford and none of them can touch the NH, of course my opinion is bias because I've been running a 469 for more than 25 years now. The only real draw back on them is that sometimes they can be a real pain to repair. A simple example, look at the belt that runs the knives ... then look at what you have to do to change that belt ... pain in the butt doesn't even come close to describing that job thankfully I've only had to do it twice. Another "pain", lift up the trap door that is used to oil the chains that run the rollers and everything else in there ... then look at how hard it is to worm your hands into such a small place to work on those chains. I spent 3 freaking hours last week on mine trying to get that chain in there right, of course if I had been smart enough to write down how the chain went on and around all the idler gears it probably wouldn't have taken anywhere near that long. I could ramble on for probably 25 pages about these machines and all the little unique things that happen with them but I don't think I have that much room here. As for the rake ... a winner also. The rake I have is a IH, my grandfather bought it in 1947 and it still runs like a top. We've rebuilt the gearbox a few times but other than that have had few problems with it over the years, I really wish the thing had an odometer on it, I don't think a trillion miles would be overstating the issue. The baler, I don't have much experience with Massy's but the one that I have seen in action is a pure beast, kind of slow but does a great job. Again, I'm a NH guy with them too, 269 & 273 being the ones that have been the best models I've used. When it comes to balers if they make a square bale and tie 95% of the time then it doesn't matter what make or model it is as long as it gets the job done.
That's a great price, around here used hay equipment is sky high - but you won't go wrong with the NH, too bad you didn't find a NH baler too!
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