jscusmcvet
Adventurist
After much consternation over the relative cost of feeding the animals (cow, pigs, goats and horses) compounded by the extraordinary cost of hay equipment, we are finally at it, cutting and processing our own hay.. although not like most do these days.
Of our 85 acres we have about 10 acres of hay... it is not perfect and is a mix of several varieties, along with weeds too. Over the years a neighbor was cutting it and selling it and that suited us fine as it took care of the field. After a falling out (I swear this one was not my fault... apparently I am not the ONLY asshole on the planet), we needed to find a different way to cut the field.
Well, since we were spending roughly $50 every 2 weeks on rolled hay from various suppliers, we did the math and started looking for equipment to pull behind our small John Deere. Holy gold plated hell.... You can spend anywhere from about $2k used to $15k and up on hay equipment. It would take a long time in our little field to make that up. Also, frankly, I am not interested in another piece of finicky equipment to baby along until I cannot fix it... only to have to hire someone and pay yet MORE to keep it running. Seriously... have you ever seen or thought about what it takes to bale hay? Lots of little moving parts, that's what and that means things are going to break. I cannot.
So we improvised, because well... we are cheap. I loaded my bush hog onto the 3 point hitch and backed the tractor onto my shop ramps. From there, laying on my back I was able to use my grinder to sharpen the bush hog blades, pretty dang sharp. Turns out that cut the hay pretty dang well. Clean and crisp. Since my bush hog does not have a back, the hay just lays out in the field... as it needs to to be dried by the sun.
So how to rake? Instead of the thousands spent on a "Hay Rake" (which I am sure is 10 times more efficient... but we are only doing our small field) we bought a leaf/pinestraw rake. First go was OK, but not so good. Lots and lots of hay rolling out the back. So I welded some old bolts to the top and loaded it with plates from our barn gym and viola! It works. Ann doesn't look too bad wranglin that tractor either
Though, judging from her middle finger extended she was resistant to me taking the picture
Anyway we rambled about today, raking hay and forking it into the back of Junior and an old trailer we have. Joe worked like a champ, with a happy heart and a smile as you can see. We did about 1/4 of the field and wound up with 3 hay piles in the paddock and some also to the pigs...
And finally.. a thank you to @Dave for keeping this little used section of AAV alive. I like to share our adventures on the compound and appreciate your willingness to look at it. Oh hey (no pun intended) So far we have about $205 invested outside of what we already have... so we have almost paid for it with the hay we got...just today
Of our 85 acres we have about 10 acres of hay... it is not perfect and is a mix of several varieties, along with weeds too. Over the years a neighbor was cutting it and selling it and that suited us fine as it took care of the field. After a falling out (I swear this one was not my fault... apparently I am not the ONLY asshole on the planet), we needed to find a different way to cut the field.
Well, since we were spending roughly $50 every 2 weeks on rolled hay from various suppliers, we did the math and started looking for equipment to pull behind our small John Deere. Holy gold plated hell.... You can spend anywhere from about $2k used to $15k and up on hay equipment. It would take a long time in our little field to make that up. Also, frankly, I am not interested in another piece of finicky equipment to baby along until I cannot fix it... only to have to hire someone and pay yet MORE to keep it running. Seriously... have you ever seen or thought about what it takes to bale hay? Lots of little moving parts, that's what and that means things are going to break. I cannot.
So we improvised, because well... we are cheap. I loaded my bush hog onto the 3 point hitch and backed the tractor onto my shop ramps. From there, laying on my back I was able to use my grinder to sharpen the bush hog blades, pretty dang sharp. Turns out that cut the hay pretty dang well. Clean and crisp. Since my bush hog does not have a back, the hay just lays out in the field... as it needs to to be dried by the sun.
So how to rake? Instead of the thousands spent on a "Hay Rake" (which I am sure is 10 times more efficient... but we are only doing our small field) we bought a leaf/pinestraw rake. First go was OK, but not so good. Lots and lots of hay rolling out the back. So I welded some old bolts to the top and loaded it with plates from our barn gym and viola! It works. Ann doesn't look too bad wranglin that tractor either
Though, judging from her middle finger extended she was resistant to me taking the picture
Anyway we rambled about today, raking hay and forking it into the back of Junior and an old trailer we have. Joe worked like a champ, with a happy heart and a smile as you can see. We did about 1/4 of the field and wound up with 3 hay piles in the paddock and some also to the pigs...
And finally.. a thank you to @Dave for keeping this little used section of AAV alive. I like to share our adventures on the compound and appreciate your willingness to look at it. Oh hey (no pun intended) So far we have about $205 invested outside of what we already have... so we have almost paid for it with the hay we got...just today
