| Read what a few of our customers have to say !! |
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Phil this baler is the best investment I have made... I have lots of customers who love these bales. Horse owners as well as cattle and even Buffalo owners. The waste is very minimal and the machine never misses a bale unless it is operator era. I have had some people ask me if you were going to put a net wrap system out for this machine? I have allot of Interest from farmers in are area with what other machinery this company makes and if they also make full size balers? but back to mine I wouldn’t trade for anything other than a newer model of this one. You asked me once about baling. A smaller bale at the end of a field I have had a lot more practice with this year. just stop the tractor with the engine rpm up open the tying side of the baler trip the arm release and turn the plastic dial slowly until it starts moving on its own close the door get back on the tractor and eject the bale when it is done tying. If I can help you in any way please let me know. Look forward to seeing me on your web site. Thanks Greg Sims
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To: Any small rancher or farmer considering purchasing products from Small
Farm Innovations
Two years ago my wife and I purchased a 38.5 acre hay farm/ranch in Lee
County, 60 miles east of Austin Texas. The property is mostly pasture land
with pecan trees along the fence lines. There is a house, horse barn, two
small stock tanks, a corral, and creeks on three sides. The previous owner
raised hay and horses. At one time we believe that the pastures were 100%
Coastal Bermudagrass but they had declined to about 30% due to poor care. We
are serious about raising high quality hay for a profit. With the help of
family members, we are less than a year away from achieving that goal
despite two years of extreme drought in Central Texas. My stepson recently
completed a Private Applicator License course so that we can control weeds
in our pastures.
The single biggest problem we have encountered has been getting the hay cut
in a timely manner. We have attempted to partner with three different
hay-balers who said they wanted our business but were never there for us
when we needed them. The bigger ranches took priority over a small one, so
that no grass was ever cut for us even at premium prices. We struggled with
this problem for eighteen months until we connected with Phil Livengood at
Small Farm Innovations (SFI).
Three weeks after contacting SFI, we were selling our own hay. We purchased
an IHI 900 series 3x3 round hay baler, a DM 3065 hay cutter, a 4-wheel rake,
and sprayer for use in controlling weeds. All of these work perfectly when
connected to our 32 horsepower Kubota tractor, although we will not use the
sprayer until the spring of 2010. Phil Livengood personally walked us
through the steps on how to use each piece of equipment and followed up
daily on how we were doing. We had never done any baling before and were
totally newcomers to the equipment. The rake stopped us initially, but it
took Phil just five minutes to get us back in operation -- we had not set
the rake low enough to the ground to gather hay. The 3x3 baler really is a
fine machine and had only one problem that we caused. On the third bale, the
driver had been distracted by a family member and he ejected the bale before
the twine was cut. Of course the twine trailed out into field just like Phil
had said it would. Fortunately, there were others around to stop the driver
from continuing and making a mess of things. The string was then manually
cut and after checking out the rest of the equipment, we were back in
operation within 10 minutes. There were no other issues and everything
worked flawlessly. We baled the rest of the 88 bales with no other problems.
My stepson drove the tractor and remarks how easy the operation was. Since
Phil had ridden with him on his initial baling operation and gave some very
good pointers, he was able to quickly pick up knowledge he would need to
know. He did have to construct a plastic shield on the side of the tractor,
to protect him from flying debris kicked up by the hay cutter due to the
poor quality of our fields at this time, but that was the only problem he
noted. Phil's recommendation that you rake all of your hay windrows in a
straight line is good advice. Sometimes you can get off center if you are
driving on a curve and you will not pick up as much hay.
Initially we were concerned about how the smaller 3x3 bales would be
accepted by our customers. To date we haven't had any trouble with anyone
not liking the 3x3 bales. The feedback we are getting is that the smaller
bales are easier to transport and move around, one person can roll a bale
around and can get three to four bales in a truck. Horse people also notice
these are better to put one out that will last several days as opposed to
putting out a square bale almost every day.
The decision to buy the 3x3 baler and other smaller than normal equipment
was not easy because it went against the advice of people we believed to be
knowledgeable in regards to ranching and farming in our area. Now that we
have the equipment, we wonder why we waited so long. Intuitively we knew
this was the correct direction for us or for any other small rancher. We
have seen use of smaller equipment like this on small farms in China, Japan,
Israel, Turkey and Europe.
What all the major tractor suppliers kept telling us repeatedly was that we
needed a much larger tractor and baler and that our farm was too small to
justify such a purchase. The recommendation was always to stay with a
smaller tractor and get an independent baler to cut and bale. Prior to
meeting with Phil for the first time we visited with another major tractor
supplier who again told us they could sell us what we needed for ~$70,000
but the sales person recommended we contact a baler friend of his instead.
The sales person also told us our 32 horse tractor would not lift a large
bale onto a trailer. He said that hay purchasers would expect us to load the
hay onto a trailer or a truck in the case of a heavy duty long-bed. He
explained that we would need a different tractor which his company could
supply for ~$50,000.
Since the 3x3 bales weigh 450 to 500 pounds and not 1500 to 2000 pounds, we
only had to buy a bolt-on front spear for the front loader of our tractor
for less than $200 which worked out great! We also purchased a rear
three-point spear so we can carry two bales a one time when transporting
bales from the field to our storage location. We purchased a heavy duty tarp
set up to protect the hay plus stakes to tie it down.
Easy access panels to gears/chains on the baler make it very easy to
maintain. We recently completed winterizing all of our new equipment. We
were able to do this with in a minimal amount of effort.
If you are considering purchasing a 900 series baler and other implements
from Phil Livengood at Small Farm Innovations, then please take our word
based on our personal experience, that we highly recommend Phil and his
company. We highly recommend the 900 series baler and his other farm
implements. You will love them.
Good Luck
Bill Haskell
Lexington, Texas USA
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My MRB 855 is a real hay hog with properly cured hay and windrows sized as per manufacturer's recommendations. I can bale each cutting in short order. It is easy to hook-up, operate, and maintain. My operation is small at 4.5 acres of orchard grass for my wife's horses, with approximately 1000 bales annually. The bales are sized just right for easy handling by my wife and I. The service provided by Phil Livengood after the sell was first-class. Phil is courteous, friendly, knowledgeable, and most helpful about any aspect of owning and operating this baler. I am pleased with the purchase of the MRB 855, especially with the service provided by Mr. Livengood. I would be happy to speak anyone interested in purchasing this machine. My cell number is 575-838-6227. Clint Richardson, PhD, PE Associate Professor Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering New Mexico Tech Socorro, New Mexico
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