Hay equipment

[Barenz125]

I have a John Deere 3020 gas and I’m looking at starting to make hay on my 10 acres. I’m in northwest IL, What would you recommend I get for equipment? Going to do small square bales.

 

[G1000VISTA]

I'm gonna say a john deere 14 T , 24T or a older New Holland baler. I have a 14 T that i picked up for 250 dollars. Needs a little work but for just a few acres it should last for years. Also picked up a New holland 58 side delivery rake for 150 dollars. Needed the star wheel welded, a couple ends and the gear box resealed. If you look around you can get into it cheap and have very little money into it. For a mower the New Holland 400 series sickle bines are a good machine. Their still out there if you look.

 

[flying belgian]

I have a John Deere 3020 gas and I’m looking at starting to make hay on my 10 acres. I’m in northwest IL, What would you recommend I get for equipment? Going to do small square bales.

You don't mention how fat your wallet is but if you can see fit get yourself a disk mower. Any kind of rake and New Holland or JD baler.

 

[Mobuck]

Depending on your intentions and/or need for the hay, you might be better off renting out the hay ground.

 

[gf in S.IL]

A 9 foot cut sickle type mower-conditioner can be bought used for a reasonable price. A two basket tedder and a hay rake can be found used. I would suggest focusing on getting the best used baler you can afford. Not much more frustrating than having a nice hay crop in the windrow and the baler give trouble.
What plans do you have for picking up the bales? With helper(s) you can pull a wagon behind the baler. How far from the field is the barn where the hay will be stored?
New Holland bale wagons are wonderful, but good used ones may be scarce in some areas,

When I was selling hay I had: 3020 tractor, JD 1219 mower-conditioner, Kuhn single basket rotary rake (had a New Holland bar rake prior to the Kuhn), two basket tedder, Hesston in line baler (would be over kill for 10 acres), and a New Holland bale wagon. (hay help around my area was non-existent)

When buying used equipment, plan on spending some money to get them in dependable shape. Have tines, bearings, belts, chain repair links, etc on hand. On the baler be sure to get an operator's manual and if possible a service manual.

 

[paul]

Going to get more acres over the years, or are you going to be baling 6 of your ten total acres for the next decade(s)?

Get a dependable baler. Life is miserable when they don’t function properly. New Holland and JD figured out bakers best, other brands took a lot longer to come up with dependable machines. Parts are out there for NH and JD….

Get a good mower. Disc is great, a good sickle is fine for 6-10 acres and a lot cheaper. But you need a good sickle, and good sharp guards/ ledger plates.

You can skimp a bit on side rake, about anything that functions.

Paul

 

[gf in S.IL]

A couple more thoughts. International (IH) had an old mower conditioner, model 816. They were a dud when new and would be junk now. IH had a model 990 which was a good machine, but is also old. With anything used, look it over carefully. Hesston had a model PT 10 mower conditioner. They were good when new (in the 1970's), but the sickle drive system was complicated and prone to wear out (I'd not recommend one). Regardless of brand, for a sickle type machine, stub guards are less likely to clog.

If you decide to use a sickle bar mower, IH had a model 1300. JD had a model 350. Both are good. I'm not acquainted with New Holland models, but their equipment has a good reputation.

The advice for a New Holland or JD baler is correct. IH knotters were unique and could be temperamental (last thing you need on a hot day)

Are you confident you can get help gathering the bales when needed? That has been a problem in my area for years.

 

[560Dennis]

You Baling to the ground?Loading on the wagon, baler with kicker? , how much reliable help you got?
Lot way to do. Most importantly I think is the help available to you , how to recommend equipment.
In heavy hay with wrong tractor speed could lose your help clutching all the time . On very hot humidity day with no shade over the tractor.

Hay Tools | Messick's

Messicks - A helping hand with your land.

www.messicks.com

 

[Tx Jim]

I'll suggest bypassing a model JD 14T or 24 & get a 327,336 or 346 that will have better parts availability. JD later model balers such as 336/346 are easier to time with fewer # of only 2 roller chains than older JD small sq balers & & newer balers have roller brgs to support plungerhead. A mower-conditioner will be fine for smaller of acres if no fire-ants are present

 

[Tony in SD]

I'm gonna say a john deere 14 T , 24T or an older New Holland baler. I have a 14 T that i picked up for 250 dollars. Needs a little work but for just a few acres it should last for years. Also picked up a New holland 58 side delivery rake for 150 dollars. Needed the star wheel welded, a couple ends and the gear box resealed. If you look around you can get into it cheap and have very little money into it. For a mower the New Holland 400 series sickle bines are a good machine. Their still out there if you look.

Here is a JD 14T on an action sale. So far really cheap. Might be able to get it for transportation cost.

John Deer 14T Square Baler | Live and Online Auctions on HiBid.com

hibid.com

 

[NY 986]

I'm gonna say a john deere 14 T , 24T or a older New Holland baler. I have a 14 T that i picked up for 250 dollars. Needs a little work but for just a few acres it should last for years. Also picked up a New holland 58 side delivery rake for 150 dollars. Needed the star wheel welded, a couple ends and the gear box resealed. If you look around you can get into it cheap and have very little money into it. For a mower the New Holland 400 series sickle bines are a good machine. Their still out there if you look.

I'd be careful on a 4XX New Holland. It has been said that CNH has cut back on parts offerings for older machines. If the OP buys one it should be very good in appearance to suggest it will need potentially very little in the way of repairs.

 

[NY 986]

I'll suggest bypassing a model JD 14T or 24 & get a 327,336 or 346 that will have better parts availability. JD later model balers such as 336/346 are easier to time with fewer # of only 2 roller chains than older JD small sq balers & & newer balers have roller brgs to support plungerhead. A mower-conditioner will be fine for smaller of acres if no fire-ants are present

336 and 346 are not that much more expensive than the older JD balers anymore as well. A good 336 with thrower can be had for under 2,000 dollars at auction. The demise of small dairies has greatly reduce the demand for them.

 

[EFV]

IH knotters were unique and could be temperamental (last thing you need on a hot day)

That qualifies as the understatement of the century ! If you aren't extremely well versed on how that style of knotter
works is a fast way to change from a hay producer to a landlord.
The IH 990 haybine has been mentioned , the rollers on this machine are both metal.
An IH 1190 has one roller made with a rubber facing. Hay dried faster with the 1190 doing
cutting than the 990.
Good luck with your idea. Report back on how it goes. Always interesting to hear other's
experience especially making small squares.

 

[Mobuck]

Owning, maintaining, and storing a mower conditioner and square baler is overkill for 6-10 acres of hay.
JD 350 sickle bar mower is one of the best. I ran two of them for several years before older Son left home. We baled around 250 acres at that time. Replaced those with a Hesston hydra-swing when I was working alone. Got about as much done with one MOCO as with 2 mowers but higher maintenance and PITA to store.

 

[showcrop]

I have a John Deere 3020 gas and I’m looking at starting to make hay on my 10 acres. I’m in northwest IL, What would you recommend I get for equipment? Going to do small square bales.

GFinS.IL is the only one who mentioned a tedder. He is in IL. In many parts of the country people don't know what a tedder is, while in other parts it is very unusual to make hay without one. You need to find out what our local conditions are.

 

[Wdj]

Might consider a MF 12 if in decent shape and not doing it all at once. On anything that vintage a parts machine or
2 isn’t a bad idea.

 

[deere4040]

Need a lot more information. 10 acres and that's it or you looking to expand? Are you working full time or retired and this is a hobby? Are you selling or your own use? Do you care if the hay gets rained on? Do you care if it is a quality product?

If you don't care about quality, selling, or beating the rain you can buy the cheapest equipment you can find, otherwise you need to find well maintained equipment because a breakdown in the heat of the moment ends all the fun of haymaking.

 

[deere4040]

Owning, maintaining, and storing a mower conditioner and square baler is overkill for 6-10 acres of hay.
JD 350 sickle bar mower is one of the best. I ran two of them for several years before older Son left home. We baled around 250 acres at that time. Replaced those with a Hesston hydra-swing when I was working alone. Got about as much done with one MOCO as with 2 mowers but higher maintenance and PITA to store.

Depends on his end goal of the hay he wants to make and his budget. We regularly run 2 discbines when we mow. We are going over a lot of acres but are only knocking down 10-20 acres a day pending yield. Is that overkill? By running 2 discbines it can be a difference of 4 hours of drying time which can make a big difference on the baling end. It can make the difference of whether I tedd the day I mow or wait until the next day. The same can be said about the difference from getting a sickle or discbine for the OP but we don't know his whole story at this time as to what he wants to accomplish.

 

[Destroked 450]

Depending on the type of hay you plan to make would effect the best choice of equipment
Alfalfa, heavy clovers or Sudan type grass need a mower conditioner to reduce leaf loss and crush Sudan stems for better drying, for common grass hay a sickle bar mower works well, cost less and is cheaper to maintain, disc mower is another option but for 10 acres I don’t know if the benefit would be worth the cost
A tedder is not recommended for alfalfa or heavy clovers but is a game changer in grass hay especially in high humidity areas
When looking at any equipment check on parts support for that machine
I’ve never owned a mower conditioner so no recommendations there, some are brand loyal but I’ll put a NH 451 sickle mower up against any other brand, double check parts support for any disc mower, there’s name brands out there that were make by foreign companies with little to no parts available today. About any bar rake will make windrows but all others are compared against the NH 256, I won’t recommend a vee rake for small square balers. As for small square balers JD, NH and Massey are all I would consider, we made a lot of bales with a Massey 12, they are old and slow but made good bales, today I would go either a 124 or newer, JD made good balers I just haven’t worked with any.
When growing up and small squares was the main way of making hay, in my area for every 10 NH balers there would be 4 Massey’s and 1 JD so I just wasn’t around one. A few years ago I picked up a really nice NH 273 to make the few squares we do
We have the extended chute for loading a wagon behind the baler, if I were to do several squares I’d look at an accumulator and grapple

 

[G1000VISTA]

I'd be careful on a 4XX New Holland. It has been said that CNH has cut back on parts offerings for older machines. If the OP buys one it should be very good in appearance to suggest it will need potentially very little in the way of repairs.

Hadn't heard that. nice to know.