whats better

I want to get into the haying business besides from a baler and a rake if you guys were getting started and don't want to spend a lot of money would you get a sickle bar mower or a haybine? I don't want to spend more on a discbine. I see a haybine for I think 600 on Craigslist its a new Holland. The tractor I'd be using is a Oliver 77 with a 1650D motor in it and maybe a 88 diesel which wouldn't show up until Jan or June of next year. Any other tips? I dont want to be in it to get rich just to have a job with tractor thanjs

Haybine!Keep the rake for flipping 'wet' windrows,and for combineig 2 windrows into one bigger one

Well I don't have anything besides the tractor yet but want to start buying equipment over the next few months thanks Deltared!

haybine for sure,tedders are very handy also.

Kinda depends where you are at and what you can get for a sickle mower. I started out that way in 2008. Had a JD A and a #5 mower, with a 336 baler (a guy was giving it away for parts), rake I outbid a scrapper on. I found that I could put up hay without much machinery. I also found out I couldn't cut very fast at all and spent as much time broken down as working. Out west here the hay would dry and be ready to bale almost too fast, had to rake it to put it into the baler.
It got me started, but I moved up to a 9' haybine as fast as I could afford it (would like to go to a 14 but the gates are too narrow on most places I have access too). Depends on what you have for future opportunity but when looking at the "hay business" as you put it acres are everything. The way I look at it is that you aren't interested in $/acre, or even $/ton but $/day. Haying is a short season. You need to make as much hay as fast as possible. If your opportunity is small acreages that are spread out your limiting factor is going to be travel time and setting equipment up for entering/starting fields. 3pt sickle mower is about as easy as your going to get for roading and starting fields, unless you move up to a self propelled. Of course 3pt sickles are typically 7ft, can't cover very many acres a day at 7'.
Depends on your yields and hay prices, I figure I need to net (after fuel, repairs, twine, rent) around $2,000 a year just to be able to replace (30 and 40 year old) equipment in 10 years (with equipment that will be 30 years old then). Keep in mind that the key to building any business is your reputation and relationships.

Geographic location will determine the need for a tedder. I've worked in many haying regions in the western half of the US and have never seen one.

I have an IH 990 MoCo for $350.00.

All depends on your area and what type of hay you are putting up, plus your labor force. Me, I bought a set of mounted double bar Kosch mowers, a 16 wheel H&S rake, a 271 New Holland baler, and a 850 New Holland round baler. Including the tractors, I have a tractor for each piece, I have less then $5000 invested. It has taken me 15 years to accumulate it all, and the 271 decided it isn't playing anymore.

I have a buddy, that bought my pull type Kosch mowers, for $1200, bought a H&S rake for $4000, plus his tractors and baler. I am sure he has well over $40000 invested, and I have to go over and help him when his newer equipment breaks down.

What I am saying, is you don't have to have the newest, or best stuff to make lots of hay. You DO HAVE TO MAINTAIN IT!!!!

I just bought cheap used hay equipment after waiting on neighbors to come and put my 7 acres up. 3 windows for doing hay passed and no one showed. Realized if I wanted a chance at getting good quality hay I had to do it myself.

Tractor: Oliver 77 $1000 (already had it)
Mower: Deere 1209 $900
Rake: unknown make/model $600
Baler: Deere 24t $1200

Finally got an opportunity to used it this week. Should be baling Saturday.

Showcrop would you send me an email? [email protected] thanks

Generally speaking - absolutely a haybine over a sickle mower. The crimpers help the hay dry faster, and they clog a lot less than a straight sickle.

I do a lot of hay separately with a few different partners, and even a little with our 4h club - so I use a lot of different equipment.

A discbine is where you want to be, hands down - but that's big bucks and you'd want 70+ hp. So working downward, a haybine would be next. A lot slower, but they do the job. We use a hesston ... for the life of me I can't remember the model number, but it's a 7 footer. we picked that up for 1500. I'd rather have 9' due to the speed factor, but it's proven to be a nice dependable machine.

We use a farmall A21 and sometimes a jd #5 sickle mower with the 4h club - both free. They work well when sharp and adjusted properly, in grass that's behaving, but when you get into a situation where it doesn't work well, it's a complete nightmare. Obviously the same speed concern with a sickle. And no conditioners means (for us) the grass is going to take longer to dry. Upside is maintenance is cheap and simple.

Always remind yourself though that there's a reason equipment has evolved over the years! A good reason.

So go with the haybine - but look for one that's more expensive. I mean, look at that one of course, but I'm guessing a $600 haybine's going to cost you ten times that much in parts, labor (your own), lost hay opportunities, and most of all frustration.

I've been down the road of trying to get hay equipment cheap. All you do is accumulate the rest of the world's headaches. It's always so tempting... Don't do it.

Buy the best you can afford. Reliability/dependability is king in the hay field, any hay field. Doesn't matter if you do 500 bales a year, or 5000.

Ask anybody that's done it and they'll agree - I'd rather go half as fast with equipment that is rock solid and going to work flawlessly, than go twice as fast with questionable equipment that needs a few field tweaks to keep it going, and breaks down hard a few random times a year.

Pay for reliability - it's an investment in your sanity.

^^^ this.

I use a sickle bar mower in 5' tall brome grass and it usually takes 24 hours (or less) to dry. How much faster would it dry using a swather?

You will pay dearly for the "in" brand in your area.usually New Holland or Deere.

Some old off brand equipment will get the job done on small amounts of hay if you are handy
and can do your own repairs.

examples: MF, IH or Ford balers..usually half the price.

New Idea belt rakes...or 3 point wheel rakes. Not the greatest... but they work.

Drum mowers or old sickle haybines.

If the hay is for you a " NI cutditioners" cuts and conditions but the hay is ugly...but nutricious.

Most buyers are color blind, that can save you a lot of investment (half price), but get your hay done.

Hi Buy the best newest stuff you can afford, If the NH mower has a conditioner on watch the rubber rollers they have a habit of peeling chunks off. those rollers are very expensive. Probably the same for any conditioners to. If you can't fix things your self maintenance is going to be expensive, on top of parts. Make sure anything you buy can be replaced easy if you find you can't get new or used parts, you need a back up budget just in case.
To be honest to make money you got to spend money, running old stuff down time and bad weather is the worst things out there.

I just rebuilt a bed for a new idea 5212 disc bine. it was down over a week waiting for parts, the customer got china bearings which are junk and failing in a few hours (I didn't want to use them, but customers always right!) I got probably 40 plus hours at $45hr in dismantling an old worn rusty machine, cleaning parts and getting it back in the field, plus changing any more junk china bearings that fail. I told him at the start get hay custom cut or find another machine.
He didn't want that, lost over a week and now it's cut just over a day and now sits as it rained. last week was dry. That mess has cost him some real good hay this year.

To be honest I can see you want to work with tractors and equipment, You do still have to make money(a good profit). Maybe you should consider trying to find a guy and drive for him at X$ an hour. He pays all the bills and deals with the problems with machines down and it rains and the hays wet moldy junk, that he can't sell if things go wrong. Farmings like blowing money on slots your going to loose more than you win most of the time, and alot tjhat goes wrong you can't control with management decisions.
There are lots of guys with romantic dreams and Ideas go into farming not everybody survives, when they hit the real world.
Good luck and I hope it works for you, if you go ahead with your plans.
I think your maybe a younger guy like Bryce He's figuring out a lot real quick and gaining valuable experiences to

Regards Robert

Thanks everyone looks like haybine it is

Generally speaking even a well worn haybine will outcut a plain ole sickle mower. The reel on the haybine helps keep the sickle on a haybine free from plug ups.

Your OP stated "business". The word "business" usually implies making money. If you have enough acres you can certainly make a little money haying or if you can operate as a custom operator you can make a little money. If you plan to piddle around on just a few acres of weedpatch fields then doubtful that you ever make any money. While piddling with hay can be mentally rewarding (and frustrating all at the same time) it rarely is financially rewarding.

Been piddling on 5 to 6.5 acres of hay every year since 2008 and have yet to make the first true dollar of profit and I have peanuts invested in all my equipment. I personally enjoy tinkering, patching my old junk, making old scrap iron operational for minimal investment. If you do not enjoy working for free, tinkering on old junk, and dedicating 3 to 4 days of all your extra time each hay cutting in order to a get the hay in then I would not recommend pursuing the endeavor. When hay is on the ground there is no time to go out to eat with wifey, see movies, attend family functions, watch kids sporting events, etc. Missing family events is bad enough when you are making money, but can be a bad sacrifice when you doing it all for free or losing money on a small hobby operation. Only you can answer if the sacrifices are worth it.