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Alberta, Canada | We just picked up 65 acres of Alfalfa, and 110 acres for cereal silage. Up until now, we haven't made our own feed, we purchase it all baled (rounds) and we do all the hauling handling and bagging of it, both for us and others. I have spent a little time on haying equipment, but not enough to bother talking about.
So I figured this would be a good opportunity for Demo Days. Try out 16 foot New Holland, John Deere, and Hesston discbines, and possibly some balers too. Problem is, I'm just wondering what you all figure I should get out of a good demo? By the hour? By the acre? It's just a small field, but I don't want to end up using up my demos, and being stuck with 5 acres left standing.
The same goes for baling. How many bales would they averagely allow me to run through each machine? I'd like to get this 65 acres cut and baled up on demo machines, and that way I'd have the entire summer to get my choices ordered in exactly how I want it in time for the cereal silage. It's not a very heavy crop, is this realistic?
As well, what about hours on a tractor? I wouldn't use it for the whole thing, I'd use our own for 99% of it, but the Agco salesman is bringing out a Hesston 4790 big square baler out on demo, and a new tractor to go in front of it. His initial number the first day I talked to him was "I have no problem bringing it out, just tell me when and we'll run 50 bales or so through it, see how you like it, then we'll start throwing numbers around."
Thing is, it's a small field, 12-15 miles away, and I'll probably just use the one tractor to cut, bale, and load in the field. Was wondering how much help I could expect from a demo tractor. Last two tractors I demoed were a 7520 and 7720, and my only instruction was "try not to put on over 15 hours on each." Before that I demoed a TS135A for probably over 30 hours, but we were having lots of problems with it, and a TV145 before that, but they also had our TM in the shop for extensive repair work.
On a side note, what's the biggest common discbine, and who makes it?
Thanks,
-Josh | |
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Average length of a demo? Haying equipment? Tractor?
