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| So I went against some advice both on here and from my Dad and friends and went ahead and bought a round baler and started custom baling this fall.... 1545 bales later I finally got to my own bales (100) so I'd call it a successful first Month in business! .... and here are pictures of my own bales getting made.... Shot of raking from the tractor cab 
Raking with my '66 JD 4020 Diesel and Vermeer VR1022 rake 
Shot of baling from the cab 
Side shot of 4020 and Vermeer 604 Super M baler 
I always enjoy looking at other's pictures and thought I'd finally add a few myself!
Edited by Dodgefarmboy 11/1/2012 21:55
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Central Iowa | Nice bales! |
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Northeast, NE | Congrats! Thank you for the pictures. I am really surprised you can bale with the 4020. I tried baling with my 4010 once and blew the pto to heck. Keep up the good work! KLo |
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western iowa,by Denison | now on to the next job!-careful,you will get busy |
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Kingdom of Callaway - Fulton, Mo 65251 | Good photos! What do you charge for baling? |
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Wyoming | Makes a nice bale. Did you stalk chop them first or was that behind a chopping head? |
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Casey IL. ( I -70 ) then south on rt.49 | I am gladto see you get your feet wet. Great job.
now keep pic. coming and stay busy. |
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north-central Indiana west of Fulton | Is it dry up there or are the pictures earlier ? Been damp here for awhile,no baling been done for some time. We just finished harvest (SB) Monday night ,and it rained for two days. Do you chop the stalks then rake or just rake ,and isn't it hard on the rake ? |
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| KLO the 4020 isnt the "ideal" tractor I had to put a new Hydraulic pump in it in order to get the door to open fast enough so I don't have to shut off the PTO before opening..... The pto in a 4020 is alot heavier then a 4010 no problems with it so far....
Olivetroad $10 baling their windrow, $11 if they pull my rake and I bale, $12if I rake it with my tractor and bale..... Should also mention its a 4X6 bale 3 wraps of Net |
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| Nar, stalk chopped first never baled behind a chopping head yet.... really chopped up fine this year sense its sooo dry!
Dave those pictures are from today... Very dry havn't had more then a tenth of rain at a time sense May..... Chop the stalks then rake a day later..... The rake is to new this year has about 1k bales on it and looks like the day I bought it except for a little paint off the tines
Edited by Dodgefarmboy 11/1/2012 22:36
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Southern IA | are you covering equipment depreciation and paying yourself for your time, I just don't see how you are getting ahead on those numbers. If you were my neighbor I'd have you busy from April to November. |
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north-central Indiana west of Fulton | Forgot to say nice pictures ,thanks ! |
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EC IA | Kind of reminds me when i started. A duetz 100 06 had about half a cab and a 605J baler. That was about 10 years ago. Got a JD 7800 and a 605M cornstalk special now. Dont think anyone ever gets rich custom baling but when farm ground is renting for 300 to 400 acre its either bale or find a job. Glad you got started and good luck. |
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| Say how many bales can you guys do in one hour? After raking of course. Just trying to get a figure in my head. |
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Denison, Iowa | I have a Vermeer M and can get a little over 40 bales an hour if stalks are good and dry. Guys in this area are charging 14-16 a bale if they rake. |
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| KLo - 11/1/2012 21:15
I am really surprised you can bale with the 4020. I tried baling with my 4010 once and blew the pto to heck.
I've got a 4010 and and a 4020. The PTO design in the 4010 is a pile of crap. Aside from upping the motor, re-designing the PTO assembly was probably the biggest improvement with the 20 series tractors. There are good reasons that those old 4020s sell for about twice as much as 4010s. It probably wasn't the baling the wrecked your PTO; As I recall there's a pin in the PTO assembly that wears/breaks and engages the 540 and 1000 rpm gearing at the same time. Not a good scenario when you're running at PTO RPMS :) |
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Buffalo IL | Great pictures and good luck. You really need to charge more, but you are trying to get started and need to build a customer base. The wear from cornstalks is more costly than hay and figure in the cost for your wrap. Great looking bales. |
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western iowa,by Denison | a 4x6 is a lot less bale then a 5x6 that I charge $10 for so I guess U should go to $12.50 on a 5ft wide bale-is there any reason you didn't go to a 5ft wide bale? |
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Driftless SW Wisconsin | Thanks for the pictures, Jonathon. And congratulations on having the guts to start on your own. You do need to make sure you are charging enough to cover equipment amortization/depreciation, supplies (fuel/netwrap/repairs), a decent hourly wage/insurance for yourself + about 8% profit after taxes. Nice to see someone take the bull by the horns and get started rather than just complaining about what everything costs! Keep up the good work. Jim |
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Watonwan County MN | Looks good! Where'd you get the baler from? No Vermeer dealers within 60 miles of here. Congratulations on the business! |
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WC Iowa | Nice bales. Did you go with 4 foot wide for transport reasons? You just don't see any around here.
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| IL Cow Man What do you think I should be charging for a 4X6 Bale? and how much more for raking?
Garvo I demo'd a 4X6 and a 5X6 when looking at purchasing..... My tractor is the limiting factor as to why I went with a 4X6 just didn't have the HP for a bigger baler.... I figure I can always trade up to a bigger baler when I get a better tractor!
Mr. Agco Jungclaus Implement in Glencoe MN they are about 15 miles north of me.... also your name sounds familiar to me..... Anything special I'd know you from?
Jim thanks for the encouragement! I figure my costs as the following.... I can bale 40 bales/hour in Stalks tractor uses 4.5 gallons of fuel in a hour so about $.40 a bale for fuel, cost of tractor is about $.50 a bale which is what I can rent a new tractor with 100 hp for, cost on net wrap is $ 1.50 a bale, Maintenance/repairs on tractor and baler is $2/bale (Guessing so far haven't had to fix anything yet) how close am I on this cost? Insurance for the tractor and baler for fire, damage, etc is about $120 bucks a year so hardly anything.... To quote Garvo "I'm not worth $10 a hour just ask anyone I work with" LOL.... I figure $20/hour for myself which is about $.50/.75 a bale depending on a few things... So I figured a cost of around $6 a bale charging $10 I bale I thought I was pretty fair in my pricing? Let me know if I should be charging myself more for anything then I am.... Thanks! |
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Watonwan County MN | I guess it depends on if you ever do business at Midway Farm Equipment in Mt. Lake? Not exactly sure where you're located but its possible we've run across each others paths. I live in Saint James. |
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Reading Mn | I think you forgot depritiation on the baler.When you go to trade you will be looking at $2-3 per bale depr on the baler usually. |
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| I live between Gaylord and Arlington MN North of the highway.... have you ever purchased a hoop barn my dad use to sell them up until this year...? Otherwise I'm not sure.... just a name that sounds familiar i guess!
Edited by Dodgefarmboy 11/2/2012 09:23
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Watonwan County MN | I got it now! You're related to the Hintgens in Saint James. My brother is married to Jody. |
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| Yep you got it! |
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west central Minnesota | I can't speak for anyone else but I bought a 604SM vs. a 605 for a couple of reasons. We put up quite a bit of baleage which gets to heavy for our skid loader if they bigger than about 4x4.5, also 4' wide bales sure make a nice load going down the road especially if we end up on the main highways. |
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frederick, MD | Looks to me like a good money maker. I used to do lots of custom round baling, after expenses I could make 4 dollars a bale profit. Round balers are pretty low maintance and pretty easy to operate. |
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northwest tennessee | +1 |
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Southwest OK | Congratulations! As others have said you won't get rich but you will stay in business. I'd say you were figuring too many bales an hour. I always divide the total hours I spent on a job by the number of bales. This would include moving to the field, changing wrap, time spent fueling up, basically from the time I left my home till I got back. I think you'll find your bales per hour are closer to twenty than forty. Don't forget to add in the fuel burned in your pickup and the wear on it. I'd say you've got a good business started, just make sure you are charging enough. If you don't you can work your way right into the poor house. Good luck! |
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Driftless SW Wisconsin | sounds like you have thought this through - I am not that familiar with new balers and rakes used primarily in cornstalks but I would agree with the other poster that your $2 for repairs is probably not enough to cover replacement parts and the steep depreciation I would expect in high wear cornstalks. Overall though, good thinking Jonathon. Jim at Dawn |
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South Of Town. | Looks good, there is always lots of competition, and somebody will always do it for less...the key is to get paid right away when the job is done...It appears from your responses, I am just a few miles to the west of you.. |
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| Thanks for the replies everyone.... If some of you think i'm not charging enough what area's of my break down did you think I was short $ wise? M Thomas Its a small world isn't it! Hopefully you saw my classified add in the Hub that would be me! |
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Fairbury, NE (Southeast) | Better charge more next year unless you are just doing in for charity. That's breakeven money at best. |
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Buffalo IL | I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier. I keep thinking 5x6 bales and your are at 4x6's. I use to think baling stalks should be less than hay until i did it. The wear on the pickup reel, the belts, and the extra wrap should justify more expense. Everyone is talking about paying yourself. I'ld be more worried about charging enough to cash flow the current payments and generate the money to be able to replace the baler, rake and tractor and keep them current and reliable. |
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Baling Corn Stalks (Pic's)
