# Inital outlay?



## Kotori (Dec 21, 2011)

I'm looking to purchase a patch of land, maybe 100 acres, of which 20 are going to be hayed. What makes this unusual is that I'm going to attempt it with horses. So how much would I be looking at shelling out? As I'm going to be using 3-4 horses, and not haying much ground, I'm looking for smaller implements.

(used)

Square baler

raker

tedder

I've heard of rakers that double as tedders. Are these trustworthy or should I pass? Just trying to get my ducks in a row (way) in advance, so any advice you could give would be invaluable. My location is SW ohio, but I'm looking at land in every neighboring state. (Advice on which state also apreciated.)

http://www.ruralheritage.com/horse_paddock/horse_power.htm


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Well, to start with you will need a about million just to buy the land, might get by with a half but it will struggle to maintain goats.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Kotori, welcome to haytalk...are you being facetious? You must be going off the grid too....I mean if your using horse power and going organic.....one can only assume....but you know what assuming does....good luck, you will need plenty of it and a pile of money as well. How much you ask....I thnk haybaler was on the money, get out ur pocketbook....keep us posted on your adventure and post pics, can't wait to see horses pulling a tedder....BTW most of those combo units are a compromise, but then again, you prolly don't mind that one bit! Good luck


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## Kotori (Dec 21, 2011)

I'm not being facetious, but gathering data before seriously entertaining the idea. I should have specified without the land- I've already priced the land around where I want (Northern Kentucky), and in this particular area it is 2,500 an acre for tillable land. I almost didn't believe him, but my cousin won't change, and everything I've found online points to it as well. Organic? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but I'm also not a fan of foxtail and thistles. I was looking at another thread, and online and came up with these numbers:

Baler: 4,000 (Used, small square.)

rake:2,400

tedder:2,400

hay wagon: 4,000

Sickle bar:4,000ish

Pole barn for 100 ton: $20,000

All except baler is new; figured that would give me the 'worst case scenario' prices.

Horse and tedder: http://www.farmingwithhorses.com/rotary-hay-tedder

Maybe I should have just said I was using an old tractor...Rural heritage has a nice comparison between tractors and horses showing that I have at least a remote chance of succeeding. But impossible doesn't exist until you've tried it, eh?

It's an adventure that likely won't start for quite a few years, as this is to get a ballpark so I know how much I should plan on saving.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Kotori said:


> I'm not being facetious, but gathering data before seriously entertaining the idea. I should have specified without the land- I've already priced the land around where I want (Northern Kentucky), and in this particular area it is 2,500 an acre for tillable land. I almost didn't believe him, but my cousin won't change, and everything I've found online points to it as well. Organic? Maybe, maybe not. I'm not a fan of chemicals, but I'm also not a fan of foxtail and thistles. I was looking at another thread, and online and came up with these numbers:
> 
> Baler: 4,000 (Used, small square.)
> rake:2,400
> ...


I think those figures are fairly accurate....prolly do some of it for less...just curious, if you do use horses, guess ya gotta figure in some kind of carriage to house a smallish engine to drive the pto shaft of implements? course the way the tree huggers thnk, u could put some sort of contraption on the horses to harness the methane produced by the horse to run the engine....

Is there a homestead on the land.....

Down here farm land runs around 3k a acre or more depending on how large the lot is....

Did you figure in the prices of the horses.....that's a capital outlay as well

250k for land
80k house (depends)
60k Barn, equipment, etc
100k living expenses for 2-3 years

500k minimum I would think, but that's an uneducated guess....


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## aawhite (Jan 16, 2012)

Check real carefully on your capacity to harvest hay with horses. I grew up with a lot of Amish in SE Iowa, and most of them went to hiring hay done conventionally, they were killing too many horses.

I think you will struggle to put up decent hay. Not an issue if you are feeding it, but could be a real issue if you plan to sell commercially. Timing is important, and considering how slow your hay operation will be (I would check to see if you can even find anyone willing to put up hay by hand, all the mechanical tools to ease this are not an option for horses. Labor to throw bales by hand does not exist here. Period.) you will struggle to put up good quality hay. You are dealing with a lot humidity and rain in your area, speed is very important, and that is the one thing you will not have.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Wouldn't you also need a pto engine to run the baler and Tedder while the horses are pulling them?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Teslan said:


> Wouldn't you also need a pto engine to run the baler and Tedder while the horses are pulling them?


There are ground driven tedders. The Amish here have a pony motor on top of the baler to run it.


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