(edited)Machinery
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If you Don't have many acres to cut you can always get a older combine will do the job..
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If you buy a lower houred used machine you should be able to keep you harvest cost under $150 per hour. Any farm size can afford a used combine if you buy a machine that is in the price range that fits your operation. .We have extra combine capacity and it has made us more money by getting the crop off in a timely manner and getting a better grade. If you do your own maintenance and buy used m...
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Tried getting custom hire harvesting several years ago, finally got our corn out at Thanksgiving! Decided to get our own combine at that point, yes, expensive but we can get it done. Would much prefer to hire it.
We have 1500 acres and run a S690 Deere. It’s a lot of combine for the acres. But the price was right. When you factor in quality or wheat or barley timelines of getting it off out weighs the cost of owning vs custom usually the custom guys don’t get to Sask Canada until late Sept. so that wouldn’t work for us. We have our combine custom inspected and maintained every fall.usually cost $5-$6000 f...
Amen!
Depends on who is in your area, I bought my own Planter and Combine cause there just too many BTO in my area that don't have the ability to do smaller farmers. I was at 130 acres and due to development I may be under 50 soon but most of my equipment is paid for and I have the equipment and time to do custom for a couple of smaller farmers when their equipment has issues, Soybeans has been easy but...
there is no acre amount anything less than like 5000 acres and probably more that justifies owning an entire harvest fleet, because that's what it is, a HARVESTING FLEET, not just a combine. by the time you figure all the fuel, labor, repairs, trucking and time value, remember you could be getting ahead for next year by doing fall field work while a custom harvester is working on your land. you ...
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Not really any people that solely do custom work here. Even if there were it'd still be cheaper for us to do our own. We run two 20 year old 2388s over 1500-1600ac and do all our own repairs. No way we could hire it done cheaper and as timely.
Appreciate your input
Depending on yields they put minimums and maximums in call a custom harvester and they will tell you exactly what they will charge I'm not going to tell you what I pay any more than I already have and I'm only Ball parking
$36 acre for soybeans combine+ 20 cents a bushel to haul... Corn varies... Some pay acreage and hauling fees some just go straight per bu fee, varies from area to area, but that soybean cost on to give you a pretty good idea of how economical hiring you're harvesting done can be
nobody is telling what it cost for custom harvest, that would sure make a difference. Does anyone figure what it cost per bushel?
Are you asking how many you need to justify owning a combine or how much can you justify to spend on combine and support equipment for 1200ac? Because the answers are different. Should be easy to justify a combine and support equipment on 1200ac though.
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Should be easy to own combine and support equipment for 1200ac. I could justify owning for only few hundred acres though.
The post How many acres are necessary to justify owning a combine and supporting equipment for 1200 acres?
I run a 9600 with a Geringhoff drive to run an 8 row chopping corn head. In beans I run a 30 foot head. The combine itself is probably worth 25,000 dollars. If your not afraid of repairs and don’t have to run shiny paint you can get by cheap with your own combine.
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"Park your trucks and trailers on the end rows and make a round." That works on a normal year, the last couple I couldn't hardly get empty vehicles up and down the end rows let alone any kind of trailer with weight on it. Ran a grain cart from one hill top to the next to get to the only "dryish" field drive on top of the field and only unloaded on the go headed up to the high ground. Left nasty...
It will handle it until your reverser box gets hot and burns out. Your better off using a 6 row. Park your trucks and trailers on the end rows and make a round.
Will 9600 handle a 12 row head?
We run a case ih 2166 with 25’ grain table and a case ih 1688 with 30’ table in beans along with 750 cart and two semis. Have 6 row head in corn. There’s only one full time custom guy in my area and from what I’ve seen he pulls in and pulls out doesn’t care much about setting his machine up. Run over 1300 acres a year just 3 of us.
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I run a 19 year old Deere 9550 on 1300 acres with some part time help. I do preventative maintenance before the season and haven’t had a lot of down time. I paid 45k for the machine a couple of years ago. It would cost me about as much per year as I paid for it to hire it done.
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I farm 1400 acres in central south dakota .. milo beans wheat.. i run a 2188 and bought another for 15k .just so i dont have down time. It worked great ... if something broke i just put the headdet on the other one.! On rainy days i would fix the broke one ..Have a 1000bu grain cart .i run a loftness bager bag my crops leave them in the field . No need for help. Do it all myself.. help would b...
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Outstanding idea. Thank you.
I also went to a salvage yard to add a hydraulic reverser off a 2388 that really helps
I have a 2188 with a 12 row I added 800 lbs on weight bracket works great in the field. I always fill the fuel tank before going down the road to help with handling.
That’s an excellent plan. Can the machines handle a 12 row corn head?
1200 acres is the answer to the question. 🙃
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Great information. Thanks you for responding!
***, for the most part yes. Thanks for the advice.
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A major consideration for me would be: "does a custom operator get it done at the right time?" If they do, it is probably cost effective to have it hired done. You can spend all the time you want with numbers, but that is the one that changes everything!
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we have been getting it custom done for years. But when the custom guy doesn't show up that's when it cost money. we didn't want to buy a combine but with 1150 acres we seem to finish our cropping mid December because of waiting.
Your points are well taken. My current career is 300 miles away. So quitting in a few months for this late 60’s person, I‘m trying to justify the costs of purchasing a well maintained 3-7 year old combine and supporting equipment and erecting storage, and yes, dealing with labor. The current custom farmer does an excellent job, so thinking owning/buying equipment could improve the farm profitabili...
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Just do your homework on that age of machine. I know of one that I believe is six years old that will be traded in this fall that if I got the story right will have well North of 3 million bushels of grain through it. I know it was well maintained, but still, that's a lot of wear and tear.
It all depends on your situation. If you feel the need to have the latest and greatest shiny paint, or have time issues, hire it done. I run less acres than you, but I just want the stuff to work, so I look for the old stuff that is solid, but not flashy, work on it myself, and expect to fix something in the middle of the season. From what I figured, my line of equipment costs me less than two ...
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Thank you!
We farm about 1500 acres and use a 7088 CaseIH combine with a 30ft bean head and a 6 row corn head, a 1000bu grain cart and three straight trucks. Takes 3 guys for beans and 4 or 5 for corn. We did the same acres for about 12 years with a 2366 CaseIH with a 25ft bean head and a 6row corn head, a 500bu cart and three straight trucks. Upgraded cart and combine made a big difference in speed of harve...
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That’s excellent advise and well taken. Thank you for saving me a bundle of $$$$!
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It depends on the size of the combine. We farm
And also custom harvest for quite a few smaller operators. Whether you own a combine or rent it it is costly. We run 2 class 8 machines on 6500-7500 acres irrigated corn and Soybeans annually. We aren’t getting rich doing it. I would caution you. There are many variables. Are you able to do your own combine maintainence in the off season? Do ...
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