[Dan at CLI]

Hey guys I have been around custom cutting my whole life and love it....

What are your thoughts about trying to do one stop with a machinery link combine,

Heres the numbers

30k for 1 month unlimited hours....30.000
Fuel 2.50 to 3.50 so say 3.00 at 250 gallons a day
Support equipment so 2 trucks shuffling them not sure what to figure I was going to use 7 dollars an acre.
Harvest help....put them on percentage of profit if any?

Rate to charge 30-45 an acre all it.

Could a guy make it?

Would you have better luck putting 50k on red or black at a roulette table?

Thanks in advance for your opinions....

 

[Badridge]

If you are done playing grab dick out in cutbank. Come back to Mn and sell seed for our farm. Your a good **** and miss bs with you. Happy holidays Bagnell

 

[Dan at CLI]

Still marketing peas and lentils, was just wanting to do this as a side job. See if I could make the numbers work. We need to catch up Ryan! Hope things are going well..

 

[noacres]

I'm not a CH, never have been, but I do like to follow several of them all summer while I sit in my fabric cube wishing I could smell the wheat.

It seems they are about 10 days to 2 weeks at any stop before they move on.


Only time they seem to stay at one stop is if it rains and they spend a lot of days sitting, or if the timing is off and the wheat needs two weeks to finish.


Would it be possible for you to be on the ground at your first farmer and know that 2 days from now is launch date and get the combine then, or would you need to commit to delivery months in advance. If it is the later, I don't know how you would ever time delivery to the crop getting ready.


After 7 to 10 dry days in one spot, I think you better be ready to haul / drive that thing about 100 to 150 miles north and pick up more jobs there. Which wouldn't be prohibitive unless there is contractual reasons why you couldn't take the machine out of the area you had it delivered to. 150 miles is a big day of just driving down the road, but it should get you to another week of harvesting.


If you ever got stopped somewhere and had 3 wet weeks out of your 30 days, I think you'd lose your hat and your mittens on the summer.


What would you do if you were 4 days of cutting from the end of your machine contract and have 5 days of acres left, can you keep it another day? Then it rains in the middle of that and you need it a whole other week, that's a rough spot.


Seems like everything would have to go dang near perfect for this to work.

 

[Dan at CLI]

Think Northern Harvest, Montana, Alberta or Sask

Corn harvest also lasts a very long time.....

 

[kevlar]

Harvest help... put them on percentage of profit if any?!!!!! Really? would you work for that? I know I wouldn't.

 

[goncutn]

If you only plan on harvesting for a month and the cost of rental is fixed 30k with no limit on hours for the set 30 day period then you best plan on working the full 30 days. Plan on no rain outs, no green outs, no days off, no long field moves, no machine down time, no employees doing no-shows! Better start looking now for large fields, short hauls, employees that will work on 4 hours of sleep and you will make a buck or two! If you think you could make quick 50k net in that month, then I think it may be best you get on a flight to Vegas!

 

[farminflyboy]

Combine market is really soft, that 30k will get you a descent machine right now. And after a month it's still yours. 30k a month is 1000 a day, that's a tuff pill to swallow when it rains. Also are there that many acres to have a solid 30 days of harvest lined up?

 

[kylebarrington]

Good luck getting $45/acre on the highline.

 

[Badridge]

just dreamin of cuttn

What rates are you currently seeing, down south. The last year I went I was getting triple blackjack down there and $30.00 in Dakotas. I miss it and if this relationship goes south so will I.

 

[lakeprairiefarms]

I've seen in different posts on this site some guys suggest staying with just one machine and no cart. or even a truck. So my question is! if you just go with the combine it can be loaded on the trailer and pull the platform behind do you go back to get the pickup and load that on the combine trailer or do you have to hire an extra person to help move? also if your in an area that is paying triple 21 will they hire a combine by himself with no truck to haul. do you just get the .21 per acre and .21 per bushel. I've worded this wrong but a combine has to have a support vehicle how are they moving everything 200 miles down the road. I guess 2 trips with a semi is still cheaper than hiring a full time person. Any suggestions is appreciated

 

[Dan at CLI]

When I used to cut in Aussie it was a one man band, Pull your header with your combine and had a set of forks to lift my "support vehicle" on the feeder house.

45 on the highline is realistic with a good crop but isnt the norm, along the river averaged 85 to 95 last year.

 

[farminflyboy]

Are you talking $45 hauled?

 

[lakeprairiefarms]

Those feeder houses sure come in handy! With the fuel prices and the grains being lower I'm wondering if the custom rates are going to back off a little.

 

[redline73]

Those feeder houses sure come in handy! With the fuel prices and the grains being lower I'm wondering if the custom rates are going to back off a little.

I wouldnt hold your breath. Most farmers that hire custom guys in my area are pretty much at the crews' mercy. With the price of equipment not really moving accept in the used market I dont see rates going anywhere but up regardless of the price of the commodity thats being harvested. Im getting 28$ including combine and a cart with no trucking. Trucking which I rarely do is a penny per bushel per mile. I just bring my combine and cart and the farmer usually does the hauling. Or a basis contract is signed and the elevator sends trucks out directly to me for half the price of what I'd need to haul it.

 

[goncutn]

Those feeder houses sure come in handy! With the fuel prices and the grains being lower I'm wondering if the custom rates are going to back off a little.

What world are you living in??? Do you think that grain prices have any effect on my operating costs? And diesel has only dropped slightly, so where do you think the custom harvester has room to drop!! How should I factor in that the dealer/manufacturer has increased trade difference by anywhere from 100-150 % for anyone purchasing new combines. If trade #s like these continue, expect a increase in rates of 25%, minimum!

 

[Dan at CLI]

What rates are you currently seeing, down south. The last year I went I was getting triple blackjack down there and $30.00 in Dakotas. I miss it and if this relationship goes south so will I.

Too funny, take the family down south for harvest, that will either make things worse or better, either way youll be happy

 

[Dan at CLI]

Are you talking $45 hauled?

Yes that would be hauled long distances to elevator with a heavy crop,

 

[mr4ho9]

Dan. When did you get the quote from ML? Thats what I used to get charged they rate but this year they told me $280/h 150h min

 

[erkie]

They quoted me $17000 for 15 days or $21000 for 20 days the 20 days had a five day buy back for $500 a day if you returned it early. That was last Friday at the Enid farmshow.