# Part time haying help hourly rate?



## Robert333 (May 5, 2020)

Been a while since I hired any part time haying help, largely due to the difficulty in finding anyone willing to work! Not getting any younger, and recently hired a Early high schooler to rake hay....he doesn't drive so I picked him up and took him home, paid him what I though was a pretty good deal ($11/HR), plus a $6+ lunch for raking a 15 acre field that took him 6+ hours to do (counting the lunch time, which I also paid him for). The next day I raked a 16 acre field in a little over 3.5 hours, going fairly slow as it was wheat/crimson clover that was in early/mid dough. The youngster suggested a $15/HR rate!!!! I thought he was nuts, and paid him the $11/HR. Opinions?? and what is the 'going rate'?

P.S. It was my equipment and fuel.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I think thats fine for a “newbie” I wouldn’t consider more until he had some time “in the seat” once he’s proven himself then I would step him up....I start mine at $10 an hour and my man that’s been with me for about 4 yrs makes $15 and and has a company vehicle and I pay for most of his fuel. So I think you’re in-line.....


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I think $15 would be fair enough if he wasn’t working at half speed. Obviously he has to learn so I could ignore the slow speed for now if there was reason to believe he’d pick things up quickly.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

Other then slow did he do ok raking?


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## skyrydr2 (Oct 25, 2015)

Call me cheap skate, but I would not make a dime if I paid by the hour! LOL I do it by the bale its the easiest and most feasible way for me. 
So much a bale for field work and $.10 a bale in the wagon and out. I really need to get an accumulator set up but that is just not yet on the books.


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

skyrydr2 said:


> Call me cheap skate, but I would not make a dime if I paid by the hour! LOL I do it by the bale its the easiest and most feasible way for me.
> So much a bale for field work and $.10 a bale in the wagon and out. I really need to get an accumulator set up but that is just not yet on the books.


I hired a kid to help me he wanted to be paid hourly but I told him I only pay by the job, it's up to him how fast he wants to work. I can't remember specifics but I was going to pay him 10 cents a square bale he wanted a dollar a bale, that didn't happen!


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## BWfarms (Aug 3, 2015)

I didn't even make $15 an hour operating heavy equipment part time at the landfill. Plus I paid taxes, pretty sure squirt over there is not.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

BWfarms said:


> I didn't even make $15 an hour operating heavy equipment part time at the landfill. Plus I paid taxes, pretty sure squirt over there is not.


That sucks for you.

Most people aren't going to want to do farm work, especially random unscheduled farm work, so you have to incentivize the deal somehow, and free pizza isn't all that exciting.

Let's say he only needs help 50 hours. He's either paying $500 at $10/ or $750 at $15/. If he needs the help and needs it now, what's $250 in the big picture? Now, if he's hiring for many more hours than that the rate can maybe go down as the person gets more hours in per day and has more consistency as an incentive.

Of course you also have to account for what area one is in and how much labor force is available.


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

8350HiTech said:


> Of course you also have to account for what area one is in and how much labor force is available.


There is a big difference in what is potentially available and what is willing. I have lived on my place for 19 years. small country subdivision next door to me. numerous kids, at least 10 decent sized boys came out of there since I have been here. Not one was willing to touch a bale of hay.


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

My 17 year old grandson is his second year working for our city. He runs string trimmer a lof of most days. He is paid $8 per hour. Does he get any benefits? No idea it is a summer job. Now he is a government employee for what that is worth. lol


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Hayman1 said:


> There is a big difference in what is potentially available and what is willing. I have lived on my place for 19 years. small country subdivision next door to me. numerous kids, at least 10 decent sized boys came out of there since I have been here. Not one was willing to touch a bale of hay.


 No doubt, as that's the first thing I pointed pointed out about trying to incentivize one's way to willing help.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ya, if you’re not working them but once in a blue moon and they’re decent help, you have to incentivize the deal some kinda way. But you’ll know after one time how much you’re willing to pay to get the job done correctly without much intervention....or how much you’re willing to pay to get the job done moderately well, but with considerable intervention. Some places have completely different workforce’s available. Most around here are Hispanic, at least he ones worth a shit are.....


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## Palmettokat (Jul 10, 2017)

In the late 60's and early 70's worked some with a couple of local tobacco farmer. Big big difference in the number of people who wanted to work then compared to today. Some have been trained on how deprived they are and some of the other part is they are doing well with all the government programs. Remember well when the tobacco workers here were a mix of white and colored (any one else remember that description?) and today mix of white and hispanic. Guess that is natural for if you study history I understand there was a waive of say Irish and another of Italtians who were the unskilled workers. Well remember for a good while here the hispanic were mostly filling low skilled jobs but if you are building the vast majority of the skilled workers are Hispanic now.


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## Beav (Feb 14, 2016)

If you don't pay $20/ hour your not going to get somebody to work on a on call deal like hay. Go buy an accumulator and end your labor problem. An accumulator will pay for itself in a year or two. We got ours fist year increased from 15000 to 22000 bales and eliminated hired labor. We also bought a telehandler and extra wagons sell 85% of our hay off the rack we baled 4500+ so far this year have 0 bales unloaded in the barn. Best money we ever spent.


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## danwi (Mar 6, 2015)

Before I had my drivers license I would rake hay for free just for a chance to drive tractor, anything the farmer handed me at the end of the day was a bonus, but that was 40 years ago.


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## IH 1586 (Oct 16, 2014)

danwi said:


> Before I had my drivers license I would rake hay for free just for a chance to drive tractor, anything the farmer handed me at the end of the day was a bonus, but that was 40 years ago.


I used to ride my bike to my uncles farm just to work at a different farm and hang out with my cousin. Wasn't paid anything and had to work to get there and work when there. Now work consists of how fast can you move your thumbs while sitting in a chair and your mommy does everything for them.

I wouldn't pay anybody under the age of 20 $20/hour until they have proven they are worth it. Early high schooler would start at $10 min and go from there.


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## Robert333 (May 5, 2020)

Wow....great responses all! First....I make large round bales for my cattle--4'x68"....accumulators wont' help. Second, as an FYI for folks disparaging 15/HR......on a 40 hour week for only 50 weeks a year that's $30,000 (likely tax free). My wife works in a hospital and there are families living on that wage (granted with some benefits).

I agree with the many that said or implied that folks don't want to work anymore......when I was young, never knew that Uncle Sam had teats......guess I was wrong!

Third, the kid did OK, but did NOT rake as I asked, and went across windrows creating a series of parallel rows perpendicular to a few outer rows (headrows). Took me over 30-35 seconds of "deadtime" at each end of the inner rows, times about 40+ rows, resulting in well over 30 minutes when my tractor and baler were doing nothing....COSTLY!!


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Robert333 said:


> Wow....great responses all! First....I make large round bales for my cattle--4'x68"....accumulators wont' help. Second, as an FYI for folks disparaging 15/HR......on a 40 hour week for only 50 weeks a year that's $30,000 (likely tax free). My wife works in a hospital and there are families living on that wage (granted with some benefits).
> I agree with the many that said or implied that folks don't want to work anymore......when I was young, never knew that Uncle Sam had teats......guess I was wrong!
> Third, the kid did OK, but did NOT rake as I asked, and went across windrows creating a series of parallel rows perpendicular to a few outer rows (headrows). Took me over 30-35 seconds of "deadtime" at each end of the inner rows, times about 40+ rows, resulting in well over 30 minutes when my tractor and baler were doing nothing....COSTLY!!


If a first time hay raker didn't execute the pattern you wanted, I think your expectations are way too high. Did you have him ride with you baling so he understood why you wanted it a certain way? Raking "logically" is a very abstract concept for someone who is new to it. Now, I'm not saying that he was necessarily the right worker for you, but a single slow day raking seems to have you disproportionately fired up. It took you an extra 30 minutes to bale. Stuff happens.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

8350HiTech said:


> If a first time hay raker didn't execute the pattern you wanted, I think your expectations are way too high. Did you have him ride with you baling so he understood why you wanted it a certain way? Raking "logically" is a very abstract concept for someone who is new to it. Now, I'm not saying that he was necessarily the right worker for you, but a single slow day raking seems to have you disproportionately fired up. It took you an extra 30 minutes to bale. Stuff happens.


I was thinking the exact thing. If you're that concerned about maximum time efficiency, don't bale 4' bales, go 5x6 and your time baling will drop dramatically. An extra 30 minutes burning maybe 8 gallons an hour is 4 gallons. 4 gallons at $1.30 is $5.20.


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Have to make it worth a persons time to work for you. I would say given the circumstances, $12.50 an hour would have been a good starting point. For what its worth I pay my round baler drivers $25 an hour, but its a pretty fast paced deal and I usually hire people that have quite a bit of drive.


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

Robert333 said:


> Wow....great responses all! First....I make large round bales for my cattle--4'x68"....accumulators wont' help. Second, as an FYI for folks disparaging 15/HR......on a 40 hour week for only 50 weeks a year that's $30,000 (likely tax free). My wife works in a hospital and there are families living on that wage (granted with some benefits).
> 
> I agree with the many that said or implied that folks don't want to work anymore......when I was young, never knew that Uncle Sam had teats......guess I was wrong!
> 
> Third, the kid did OK, but did NOT rake as I asked, and went across windrows creating a series of parallel rows perpendicular to a few outer rows (headrows). Took me over 30-35 seconds of "deadtime" at each end of the inner rows, times about 40+ rows, resulting in well over 30 minutes when my tractor and baler were doing nothing....COSTLY!!


Sounds to me like you failed in your training. There are plenty of people that they will say they understand what you want, but in reality they don't. They tune you out and then when they start doing it, it is "how did he want it done". They did not hear a thing. I think you needed to take a little more upfront time to show him how you wanted it done, and explain why.

I know with my son when he was a teenage I had to show him how I wanted it done, and explain along the way.


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## elizabeth (Aug 1, 2020)

I'm 19 and I rake hay and silage for $15 an hour, but this is my third year running a rake. My first year I started out at $10 an hour. So, with the time it took him to rake the field and especially if this is his first experience raking, I would say that $11 is very reasonable.


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

Hello, elizabeth, and welcome to the forums!


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