# 1946 Farmall M and 1960 NH 65 baler (at dark pics)



## rankrank1 (Mar 30, 2009)

Well this is the last of the antiquated junk in action photos such as they are...

Knotter problems cost me some valuable time today so no good action photos of the baling or bale picking up process but I did snap a couple pics at dark. Got all the bales (guessing 160 or so) picked up before dew set in. 2 truck beds full plus the 16' trailer stacked as high as I care to throw from the ground.


----------



## Trillium Farm (Dec 18, 2014)

Nice looking bales !


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Hey don't knock the old stuff... it's paid for and it'll be running long after a lot of this "modern" computerized stuff is in the scrap yard for lack of parts or "unfixable" electronic problems...

If it's paid for and it runs, (and you can get parts for it) it's good enough for me! LOL

Later! OL JR


----------



## rankrank1 (Mar 30, 2009)

Oh I am not knocking the old stuff it works fine for me as a hobbyist and is really the only thing that makes close to economic sense from a feasibility standpoint for a guy doing just a few acres of hay like me.

The ones that crack me up are the one that bale a couple acres of hay with their $25,000 dollar tractors, $10,000 dollar balers, $5000 rake, and $3000 tedder plus several other high dollar accessories like grapples and the like. They swear up and down they making money all on a couple acres of hay while they pay interest on their loans. You could not pay for that stuff in several decades haying only a couple acres.

I will freely admit I am not making any money haying, but I do enjoy doing it. That said, I am not losing money either and I am not taking money from my household budget, long term retirement budget, etc. to do it either.


----------



## SwingOak (May 19, 2014)

rankrank1 said:


> Oh I am not knocking the old stuff it works fine for me as a hobbyist and is really the only thing that makes close to economic sense from a feasibility standpoint for a guy doing just a few acres of hay like me.
> 
> The ones that crack me up are the one that bale a couple acres of hay with their $25,000 dollar tractors, $10,000 dollar balers, $5000 rake, and $3000 tedder plus several other high dollar accessories like grapples and the like. They swear up and down they making money all on a couple acres of hay while they pay interest on their loans. You could not pay for that stuff in several decades haying only a couple acres.
> 
> I will freely admit I am not making any money haying, but I do enjoy doing it. That said, I am not losing money either and I am not taking money from my household budget, long term retirement budget, etc. to do it either.


I make hay on 6 acres. Except for my large tractor, which is a 2013 model, and my tedder which is a 2015, the combined age of all my other equipment is well over 200 years.

However, as of this season I am making as good or better hay than any I've seen for sale - or that I've bought - anywhere in my area. My first cutting this year yielded close to 3 tons per acre. That's more than most grass hay producers around here take off per season. My goal is to produce 6 tons per acre per season. I won't get there with what I've got growing out there now, but this season I expect a strong enough second cutting to come close. Maybe approaching 5 tons/ac.

I also now have a custom haying job lined up. and if I had more storage I could probably pick up a few more acres nearby to make hay on also. As it is now, I'll have trouble finding room in my barns for the 2nd cutting.


----------



## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

rankrank1 said:


> Oh I am not knocking the old stuff it works fine for me as a hobbyist and is really the only thing that makes close to economic sense from a feasibility standpoint for a guy doing just a few acres of hay like me.
> 
> The ones that crack me up are the one that bale a couple acres of hay with their $25,000 dollar tractors, $10,000 dollar balers, $5000 rake, and $3000 tedder plus several other high dollar accessories like grapples and the like. They swear up and down they making money all on a couple acres of hay while they pay interest on their loans. You could not pay for that stuff in several decades haying only a couple acres.
> 
> I will freely admit I am not making any money haying, but I do enjoy doing it. That said, I am not losing money either and I am not taking money from my household budget, long term retirement budget, etc. to do it either.


Yeah, I hear ya... got some folks around like that here too... mostly the "ranchette set"... (you know the type-- buy a few acres, throw up a $350,000 brick home, a $150,000 barn, buy a barn full of new tractors and equipment, and turn a half-dozen longhorn cattle and a few horses loose on it, and bale one corner or an adjoining lot... just drive the friggin taxes through the roof for everybody else running a "real" farm, the ones that have been there for 100 years, like us...)

Got some BTO's that run all new stuff, but cannot keep up either... gobble up all the decent custom jobs, then leave the hay sit in the field for weeks after it should have been cut because they're too far behind and can't catch up, or cut it and then let it lay there for two weeks bleaching in the sun when it would have been ready in 3 days to bale, again, because they can't keep up. Then they get fighting mad because you make your own hay instead of hiring them to do a botch job at an overpriced rate...

Oh well... later! OL JR


----------

