Haybuster

[Mill Iron A]

Does anyone use a Haybuster? If so how much do you estimate that it costs you to run per hour? parts, fuel, etc.

 

[Red Cow Relocators]

Assuming that you are talking about a tractor powered hay processor, I have a vermeer that is 8 years old and it has been very trouble free. In the future I am going to replace the flail knives but other than the normal wear on them it has been a great piece of equipment. An hour of nonstop use I would anticipate using maybe 1/3 more fuel than just running the tractor and I think that might be on the high end. We use it to feed cows and bed pens and as long as the ground condition are decent it is money well spent. RCR

 

[Freddy]

Cattle waste less feed and will eat feed they other wise wouldn't ....Also use it to top dress alfalfa on top of poor feed , probably most valuable for feeding calves cause it is more palatable ....

 

[ejoe326]

We have a Teagle and that is a good question.

It is 2 years old and we bought but did not get the knives installed this year.  We put through about a bale and a half a day once we start feeding of ridiculously tight bales weighing about 2300 lbs.  I am running the baler this year so they will not be as tight.  We also used it to bed the barns.  That is the advantage of the Teagle. 

Our costs have been fuel, an alternator, and 2 air filters for the tractor because the dust is hard on stuff.  It does not use any more fuel than if we were cutting hay and it runs for a much shorter amount of time.  We have repaired a couple of tires because of where we were driving.

I do think you need to be aware of how you are putting up hay.  If you were cutting extra close or had tons of rocks and hard stuff you will want to change things a bit. 

Our savings on hay far outweighs the cost of running it.