# Paying the help



## kenny chaos (Jan 5, 2009)

All of our hay is stacked on the wagon by hand and stacked in the barn by hand.
An hourly price seems to work in my favor but I'm thinking of paying by the bale to give the guys some more money and incentive.
I don't really have a grasp on an average time for loading or unloading because of variables, mostly, age of help. Older teens seem alot stronger, more stamina, and more motivated.
Anyway, does anyone have ideas about paying per bale for loading and/or unloading?
Thanks-
Ken


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## ohiohaymakr (Nov 27, 2008)

Think about mechanical harvest .Machinery there every day,won't leave early,doesn't get tired.


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## chadl (Mar 23, 2009)

they need to paid a little extravagant just cuz the next time they may change their mind my theory is pay good enough to come back but not to much that u cant make money. hard job right there and it is a dying breed. not to many kids want to work like that anymore


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## 4020man (Jun 21, 2008)

Back when I first work for the neighbors baling hay I was paid anywhere between .125 and .25 per bale. It figured out somewhere between 12.50 and 25.00 an hour depending on how much hay you stacked. Now I pay by the hour and I have never got any complaints.


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## Hayboy1 (Jul 19, 2008)

Well we pay our guys $10-12 an hr, and personally I feel that is a gift to them on most days. But when the sun is shining and the clouds are rolling in, that is not the time to negotiate wages. If we have a stellar day, I try to give them a little bonus if I can. Now I am sure you all have stories to match my own or probably even top them. I know a guy who payed his help by the load, rather than by the bale. I know after I pick half my guys up, feed them lunch, give them drinks, deal with all their whining and then bring them all home, I should just start a babysitters club and a Taxi service. Oh and did I mention that they want to be paid at the end of each day? I hate to say this, but I have stopped paying them their whole checks now, for the sole purpose that they will always come back if they are owed money. I hate doing it almost as much as when they don't show up on a huge day!! Talk to the local high school or athletic director to see if any young boys from the football or wresling teams etc. are looking to bulk up over the summer months. Just a couple suggestions. Chad is right, it is a dying breed. Why sweat your cajones off when you can go to the mall and hang out with cute girls and make the same amount of money with a non-weather dependent paycheck? Times are-a-changin!! Just my two cents...Good Luck


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## OneManShow (Mar 17, 2009)

When we can get help, we pay $10/hr. Minimum wage here in Oregon is $8.40 A couple years ago I offered a kid $10/hr and he said, "I'll think about it." I told him to think about workin somewhere else. In any event we are now pretty well mechanized and do not need much labor. What I do need is someone who can run a baler, or rake, or a tedder without destroying anything-and that is where we come up way short. Most days I need two sometimes three tractors running at the same time, and I only have one backside to put in the seat. Most available kids don't know how to bale, rake, ted, or run a tractor-and when we are haying we don't have time to teach them-add to that that our insurance rates take a big jump when we hire employees and we've ended up with more problems than we started with. That said, I'm always keeping an eye out for a responsible, smart FFA kid to help out-haven't found one yet. I've had a couple retired guys help out, but they show up when they can or when they want to-the last one did a great job raking 20 acres of orchard grass, then ran our expensive rake down the side of his junky old truck-wrecked the rake and the truck- Just my dollar and two cents-On the bright side I can put our oldest kid to work pretty soon.


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