# Custom Plowing



## AQHACWBY

What would be a good average to charge per acre to plow a hay field ?


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## downtownjr

Using the Iowa State Guidance...http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/pdf/a3-10.pdf

Moldboard plowing per acre 16.10 median price range in survey 12.00 - 22.00


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## hay rake

when you look at published custom rates for tillage you will find many different prices from area to area. above ground work is mostly the same so haying and combining are about the same around the country. in maine our ground is so hard with rock and ledge you couldn't buy the plow points for those prices. what we do is figure what we want an hour and then convert that to the acres we feel we can do in that hour. last year with a six bottom plow that came to 38 dollars an acre for us. this year will probably be 40. i would love to work some of that soft dirt ground but this is home and nobody put a gun to my head so it's my own fault. gary


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## LeadFarmer

hay rake said:


> when you look at published custom rates for tillage you will find many different prices from area to area. above ground work is mostly the same so haying and combining are about the same around the country. in maine our ground is so hard with rock and ledge you couldn't buy the plow points for those prices. what we do is figure what we want an hour and then convert that to the acres we feel we can do in that hour. last year with a six bottom plow that came to 38 dollars an acre for us. this year will probably be 40. i would love to work some of that soft dirt ground but this is home and nobody put a gun to my head so it's my own fault. gary


Yeah prices around the country vary pretty wildly. I just checked a custom rate sheet I have lying around and plowing here would run you $50 an acre. We have lots of produce around here so the custom rates are sky high.


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## 52Trap

Here's the 2010 custom rates for WI. to use as a guide. 
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Wisconsin/Publications/custom_rates_2010.pdf


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm

I do custom fall tillage work, and like hay rake said, it depends on the ground. I use the IASTATE custom rates, but on some fields, I'm going to break-even, with "break" being the operative word. Getting paid by the acre means that you want to work as fast as you efficiently can, but the drawback with running on soft ground at a higher speed is that you don't expect to hit a rock, and when you do, you're at ramming speed! Plus, since it's not your ground you don't know where the tip of that iceberg sized rock is unless someone told you or was nice enough to mark a map for you. There is money to be made, but repairs and maintenance always take a chunk of it back.


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## NDVA HAYMAN

Chris, You are exactly right. I would not plow for $50 an acre with the amount of fuel my tractor drinks. I would end up with a junk plow and tractor and have nothing to show for it. LOL


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## Blue Duck

Here is an interesting video of high speed plowing. I would like to see them try this in some of my clay ground!
Speed plowing laholm Ford - YouTube


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## swmnhay

Blue Duck said:


> Here is an interesting video of high speed plowing. I would like to see them try this in some of my clay ground!
> Speed plowing laholm Ford - YouTube


"Dumb and Dumber"

"Hold my beer and watch this"

We better get this done before the boss gets here


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## Gearclash

. . . and through all the clouds of carbon foot print I can see the wind generator spinning away!! . . .

Makes tractor pulling look like a tame sport.


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## swmnhay

Reminds me of a kid that helped me for 1 day.









He got there 2 hrs late.Then he tried going as fast as he could chisel plowing to "Get R Done"Tractor got hot so he shut it off HOT.Piston cracked on the tractor the next spring.


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## barnrope

I bet those boys woke up the next morning and wondered what the hell they were doing last night! That had to take more beer than diesel fuel!


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## shortrow

To heck with plowing!!


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## mlappin

Any time I even see a picture of a plow, I have the uncontrollable urge to get the gas axe out and cut it up for scrap.


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