[jwheatley]

I am thinking about buying an '84 N-6 to run for part-time custom harvesting. I am a middle school prinicpal but have summers off. Do you think farmers would pay for fuel and a small hourly to pull in along side their operation?

 

[combiness]

Regardless of who you are, status, etc, you should expect no less from the farmers than any of the bigger, more "established" combiners should get, for a like-quality job.
Harvesting is harvesting.

 

[gleanerjunkie]

jwheatley

Im not sure what type of area you live in (farm size, crops, equipment) but if there is the demand for this service in your area then I would think that they would. I think it would be perfect for a guy who is lookin for a quicker harvest. The question is: are there those type of guys in your area?

Just a suggestion, but another thing that you might have to consider is getting a small truck. (nothing fancy) No sense in having another machine in the field if its only going to sit in the corner becasue you cant haul the grain away fast enough.

Try and talk to some area farmers and see if they might be interested. Then go from there. Good luck!!!!

Matt

 

[doorknob]

If your machine is in good working order and you have the knowledge to set it for the given crop, I see no reason not to collect custom hire rates.

If however you are in the learning process and simply wish to recover your expense till you aquire the knowledge, you may find someone to help, but you also may be turned away as there is only one chance at collecting the crop.

If you were in my area, I would likely give it a try. If you could do the job on average as well as anyone else, I would pay you the going hire rate.

 

[jwheatley]

Thanks for the feedback. Sure feels good to bounce this off some folks. Sounds like its time to pound the pavement. Thanks guys!

 

[jeremy]

I bought my first combine last year from a guy near my area. It was a good machine and he did'nt want alot for it. My plan was to cut about 500 acres to make a little money but mainly to help pay for my college. I made good money for what I had in the opperation and now I have picked up double the acres I had last year and I bought another combine. I'll run two this next year and I have a friend who hauled for me last year and he will also help me this year with maybe two trucks. My point to all this was I bought the first machine as some extra income for college and it's turned into a small buisness. You never know what will happen until you try it. If you set a goal to buy it, get some jobs lined up, and work as hard as you can at it then you should be fine. Just try to have your ducks in a row before you spend any money.