Large square baler ,have it custom done or lease baler

Will have about 75 acres of hay this year,what I make in large squares would be sold right away.1st,2nd,3,Rd will be sold right off field.Issue is custom guys I would have to wait till last as they have previous cust ahead of me plus one travels 20 minutes next guy is 45 minutes tractor time away. Guessing the ground should make at least 4.5 bales pure acre right now as it sits.its four year old grassy alfalfa mix. Needs fertilizer. Does it make sense to rent a baler to do this acreage? Just seeing what others options or insight you guys may have. Thanks Steve

You would have to consider the dollar values involved, as you didn?t share the numbers, it will be tough to offer an opinion. The custom guy provides tractor, fuel,baler, twine, as well as a competent operator. And any break downs are at his repair cost, and doesn?t effect your cost per bale. If you rent/lease a baler, you supply the fuel , the tractor , twine, operator time, cost of the rental, and all repair cost. Things to be considered

The big thing is when the hay is down and ready to bale and rain in the very close forcast as in a couple of hours if you have the baler you can get it baled before the rain hits but how many days untill the custom operator can get there and how many soaking rain showers is it going to lay thru? If you get that rain like that and loose the crop entirely how many dollars would you loose that you could be paying for baler with. Or if you do manage to save it with rain dammage a lower quality and possibly buyer rejecting it, how much do you loose that way. And if that happens and you get it in shape to bale will that custom operator even get there before the next big rain storm for you have to repeat trying to save the crop. It is different if you can start baling on a moments notice or if you have to wait for someboty else. That wait time could cost you way more than the cost of the baler.

Leroy makes an excellent point about timely harvest. The hang up with large square balers is , the darn things cost three times the cost of a new round baler, and the hay has the same value per ton in round or square bales. I know some buyers will tell you that they only buy in big square bales. Trouble is they don?t want to pay more per ton in the square format. You know your market, is it worth the extra cost of having a square vs round baler? You can buy a new round baler with net wrap for $50,000.00 and run it with ease with a 80 hp tractor. Big square balers cost $150,000.00 and work best tied on to a 150 hp tractor. Sounds like a pile of money to make 75 acres of hay, even with a good crop and three cuts. As you have said , not too many custom guys near you, so maybe you could defer your cost by doing some custom work

Like Leroy says the big question is in the real and actual opposed to promised availability. It greatly overweighs all the other considerations

It sounds like you hay is getting old, might be time to row crop it and rotate back into hay in a couple years.

Renting and leasing might be very different agreements. Availability of rented equipment might be a first come first served arrangement, while leasing gives you exclusive use of the machine at a much higher fixed cost per year. Crunch through the numbers to figure your cost per ton or cost per bale.

Hay is a very time sensitive crop, and Wisconsin weather is not ideal for leaving hay on the ground for several days while waiting for a baler. Selling out of the field, four year old fields and in need of fertilized indicate you are not looking to maximize yield or profit. Consider what fits your operation, time availability and personal interests the bests. Are the hay fields permanent hay ground that will be renovated soon or will they be rotated to row crops in a year or two?

Do you have your own baler now? You might consider using your own baler for the lighter 3rd cutting, maybe the second cutting too. If you work off-farm and are burning expensive vacation time to put up hay you might be ahead to rent out your hay ground and let the tenant worry about cutting, raking, baling and storing the crop.

Bruce is right. Have a custom operator come and do it. Less stress on you, repairs are his and you get a "hired man" on the deal. I did this for years with a local operator, He cut, raked, gathered, put them in my barn, for a price per bale that was cheaper than the interest would have been on the baler. He would call say we have time now or the weather looks like we can get yours done, never had an issue with him. Communication was the key to making this work.

I hire my baling done. Big rounds. Local guy, couple miles away, reasonable, and very good about coming when I need him -IF- i am willing to work around his schedule just a tad bit. Been dealing with this guy for years and have had vertually no problems. BUT, I have heard some horror stories about other people dealing with their hired baling guys. To expensive, won't come when hay is ready, you name it.

No more acres than you got, hiring would be best way to go. That is if you can find a reasonable person that's dependable. Alfalfa needs to be baled at the perfect time or you will ruin it if baled to green, wet, or to dry. So if you can't find a dependable guy, then you better plan on doing something on your own.

Sorry I did add everything I forgot to ad. The field just came available to me and it's right next door to me. I know the previous farmer didn't fertilize it at all last year. It i make it right the hay buyer has no problem buying at higher cost if . My thought if I sell it off the field less handling by my end and less storage for me. I do have a round baler myself. IAM thinking hauling ease of stacking than round bales are involved in my thinking. I just wanted to do the 75 acres in lg squares and the rest of my acres in rounds. Thanks guys

Round baler you could own pretty easy for 75 acres.

Those big square balers are a little more complicated and spendy, that is a tougher call. Cost more, and costs more repair parts. Lease or own, you end up spending the same over time. Lease looks cheaper to start with.

Probably need to do some side work yourself with it to make it pencil out.

Paul

I don't know where you are in WI Steve but in the Western Wi it was a very hard year to make hay. So waiting for someone is not an option in my mind. You got a lot of great comments, especially from Bruce. If you cannot find a large square baler guy to hire that can be there when you want him, then it would seem you would be better off investigating further the market for the type of baler you either have or can afford for your size operation.

One thought, talk to your nearby dealers (or put ad on Craig's List) and see if someone is buying a large square baler with the thought of doing custom work. Maybe you could be one of those regulars that gets priority with the large square baler guy.

A second thought, is there a market for bailage in your area. One neighbor does organic bailage with all large squares, baling and wrapping is hired. This also seems to widen his window for baling (someone can set me straight if this is not true). Of course a wrapper person has to be available also but the baler guy may have this connection if not the wrapper.

Paul

I will venture to guess you don't want smaller round bales like the 4x4 or 6x4 bales. Square balers used cost 3 times what a round baler will and up keep cost is more than that. Go price a knotter form one of the dealers. They are more cost than the maintenance on a round baler for a year. You should be able to get into a good used round baler for about 2-5,000 pretty easy. A lot of guys don't like the New Idea balers. IH and Hesston had the same baler with different model numbers on them.
We have had round balers for 20 years with minimum maintenance requirements, and minimum break downs. I do go around and feel the bearings the first day and check then daily for temperature. Warm is ok hot is not.
You should be able to bale 75 acres in about 2-3 days depending on the weather and morning start time. We bale about 20-30 acres per day depending on the amount of hay we have and the weather. We used to do about a hundred acres per year in about a week from mowed to finished hauled. None of it more than half mile away as it was all on the home place. We have a wagon that will haul about 20-25 and my semi trailer we haul about 45 on. It takes longer to put it away then it does to haul it.

Has the buyer specified he wants large squares as only way or is that his prefered but will take rounds and would size mater to him if a 4x4 bale or a 6x6 bale or does it not make a difference to buyer? That could be deciding factor. Or end up selling to a different buyer. To me the own or hire dision would come down to if you could do it if you had the equipmentand then timelenes to do it as if you have to wait through 3 or more 1 inch rains to get baled it will not be any good for feed. Factors you have not addressed and if you normally have dry weather to make hay or normly wet with just a dry stretch now and then. All things to consider. Would like the answers to these questions.