Hauling Hay into Texas

I've been offered hay loads....I always refuse them!

It is not worth hauling, I will deadhead out before I haul garbage!

 

Thanks for chiming in with your smartazz post.
What's garbage to one is treasure to someone else.
If you don't want to haul it fine that is your business,but don't run someone else's business down.

 

Uhhhh.....OK.

Hay usually pays horrible! This year has been a fluke because of the drought but in order to make it pay anything you have to cram it on the truck where it's hanging off the side of the trailer and then run oversize signs....But even then it pays WAY LESS than a typical oversized load should.
In order to get the load on the truck you wind up running out into some field 10 miles down a crappy dusty or muddy road....No thanks!

I've heard lots of guys talking about how hay is paying these extraordinary rates right now and when I looked into the rates I found that "as usual" what you have to deal with to get the rate is not worth doing for the rate that you get!

Sorry if you got butt hurt over my comments but that's my opinion of hauling hay....Based on my experience with it.

 

If all you consider is the per mile rate there's a lot of loads that pay awesome. But if you consider all the BS involved the pay per hour is crap. After years of hauling for farmers in one way or another (grain, livestock ect)...........I agree......you can keep the hay.

 

I see skateboards running round bales 2 wide and another row down the center on top to brace the over hang from falling off then straps them down. Last I knew a single round bale was going somewhere in the range of $175-250 each. Somewhere around 18-20 rolls if I remember correctly how many can fit on a 48'. Rancher has to make his money for having it cut, pay a driver to haul it and someone who will buy it if its cheap enough to benefit them, I have to agree with Black. It might pay just enough to put some fuel in your truck and buy you a sandwich. I thought about hauling sqaure bales across town on my 16' behind my pickup but it would have paid just enough to pay for the gas and no pocket profit much less the wear and tear on my truck and trailer. I like my 08' silverado to much to work it like that.

 

You need to be aware that all round bales are not the same. Some are tight and solid, some are loose and won't ride very well. You can make more bales from the same amout of grass by not bailing it tight, more money when you sell by the bail, not the ton.
Not a good idea to invest in equipment just for hay hauling, it will come to a abrupt halt sometime in the spring. Either the grass will grow or cows will be sold off, farmers cannot substain operations with the cost of hay. Think $10 a gallon fuel with no FSC, they can't go on paying $100 plus for a round bail that should cost $30 to $35 or less if they grow their own.

 

Do a good bit of hay hauling out of Michigan and Kentucky - it's small square bales in a 53' Van. They are direct customers who usually pay at delivery and as long as we communicate good with the farmer and receiver it usually goes on in 1.5 hours and comes off in about 3 hours with no wait time and no waiting for the light to turn green. Pay is usually in between $2.10 and $2.75 a mile - it isnt the $3.00 per mile that some of us have found and the rest are chasing but it works for now till I figure it out.

 

Double skateboards, problem solved. Not sure how texas is about combinations. I see odd crap in ohio.

wiggle wagons with a skateboard attached to a cab over day cab single drive. Still confused about that. Maybe just a transport in progress to buyers