How much do you tip your hay delivery guys?

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Simkie;9032710]
Hmmm. Okay, thanks for the input.

Just had over 9 ton delivered. About 430 bales. The guys who deliver and stack do this full time, AFAIK, and it’s not high schoolers with a summer gig. They also put ~30 bales up in the loft for me that were on the main floor…hay I’d brought out from MN. They RIP through it, and it took maybe 90 mins. Two hours from rolling in to rolling out with the untarping and packing up. It’s just amazing how fast they work, and how nicely it’s all stacked.

Gave them $50 each, which they are happy to accept.

I never tipped the hay guy in MN, but that was large bales delivered with the skid steer. For small bales there, we would go get the hay rack and take it home and stack ourselves.

I feel like some extra cash is nice when it’s all this manual labor (especially when it’s something I sure don’t want to do!) If the general consensus is to not tip, I guess I’ll stop fretting over whether what I have them was “enough” :)[/QUOTE]

You tip more than we do, but they do more for you.

We have been getting about 100-140 bales of alfalfa at the time, a smaller trailer load, from a fellow that raises it and has his own feed store.
The two delivering the hay and stacking it in the barn, doesn’t take long, are the same people that work in the store and are more than happy to get $20 each and something cool to drink.
Most years those are college kids making extra money.

[ladyj79]

I don’t because I either stack or pay for stacking and my guys never being hired help who aren’t part of the family. I will absolutely provide donuts or mini quiches and coffee though!

[fordtraktor]

I tried to tip my hay guy but he wouldn’t accept it. So I’ve never done it again because I felt it would be insulting.

I pay a fair delivery and stacking fee in cash without haggling so I think that works for both of us. I’ve been using the same awesome guy for 6 years now, since I moved to Indiana. I buy 7-800 bales a year usually, 5-600 first cutting and 100-200 second or third. it is nice for both of us to be repeat customers because I know what I am getting and he can rely on moving his product with no hassle to someone he knows. I don’t usually provide anything, I offer drinks but they usually come with Gatorade.

[fordtraktor]

BTW I can’t stack hay very well because 1. I have a loft so need an elevator and 2 people, and 2. I have a pinched nerve in my spine so when I do stack hay, I can’t walk for a week because of referred pain and numbness down my leg. Also, I’ve usually moved a couple hundred leftover bales downstairs in the days before my new supply of hay is delivered, so I am usually DONE and crippled by the time the new hay gets here!

[candyappy]

[QUOTE=Simkie;9032710]
Hmmm. Okay, thanks for the input.

Just had over 9 ton delivered. About 430 bales. The guys who deliver and stack do this full time, AFAIK, and it’s not high schoolers with a summer gig. They also put ~30 bales up in the loft for me that were on the main floor…hay I’d brought out from MN. They RIP through it, and it took maybe 90 mins. Two hours from rolling in to rolling out with the untarping and packing up. It’s just amazing how fast they work, and how nicely it’s all stacked.

Gave them $50 each, which they are happy to accept.

I never tipped the hay guy in MN, but that was large bales delivered with the skid steer. For small bales there, we would go get the hay rack and take it home and stack ourselves.

I feel like some extra cash is nice when it’s all this manual labor (especially when it’s something I sure don’t want to do!) If the general consensus is to not tip, I guess I’ll stop fretting over whether what I have them was “enough” :)[/QUOTE]

What others do has no bearing on what you feel you should do. We put up 600 bales one afternoon last summer for an elderly couple in our church. we loaded it on trailers off the field and then put it in their loft.

It was 90 degrees, humid and hard work and since we offered ( with 6 other people) to help I didn’t expect any compensation for it. If it had been my job I still wouldn’t expect it, but it would have been a nice surprise

Once you start something like that they may come to expect it…

[vxf111]

I dream of owning huge buildings and filling them up with hay. Dream of it.

I usually get about 150 bales at a time. The guy delivering is the farmer (or his helper). I help unload/stack. If it’s the farmer/seller I don’t tip. If it’s his helper, I give him $20.

[cloudyandcallie]

I’ll tell you this: The delivery guys appreciate any amt of money that you give them. They work hard, have heavy lifting, and are paid low wages. Any amt you tip them is appreciated.

[Hinderella]

The price that I pay for hay is delivered, but not unloaded and stacked. In other words they get throw it off the back of the truck, the rest is up to me. When I’ve asked them to do more, such as help me stack it, I tip about 10% of the delivery total. When they come and unload & stack without me I tip about 15%

[GallopingGrape]

I never tip but thats wonderful that you did!

[Classicgal]

Here it is also extra for deliveries, so I never thought about tipping.

[Simkie]

vxf, I’m actually kinda floored with how large the loft is. All that hay went up there, plus ~120 bales delivered previously plus ~30 bales of alfalfa I brought with me, and looking around…there’s room for another ~250 bales. Wowza. I love being able to buy hay once a year!

I really appreciate all the feedback on this one, guys!

[4THEHORSES]

Never tipped but always leave water and a snack in the shed. Also leave them a present at Xmas.

[csaper58]

One down side is if they start telling the whole county how generous you are, getting everyone else’s expectations up. Hay guys talk to the feed store guys here. They are all related to the UPS lady.

You may need to lock your door if it gets around you keep a lot of cash at the house.

And some folks might come to work with the flu for a $50 tip.

[jawa]

Whe. I get it delivered, I don’t tip, but that’s mainly because I help unload and stack, so figure I’m saving them time and energy. Also I pay the bill in cash.

[PeteyPie]

$20.

[pony4me]

My last delivery was 100 bales. I tipped the two guys $10 each.

[vxf111]

One of the greatest pleasures in life (for a horse person) is buying TONS of hay at once

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=vxf111;9036411]
One of the greatest pleasures in life (for a horse person) is buying TONS of hay at once[/QUOTE]

I hear ya, lol. Nice secure feeling. The same feeling I had after putting up, stacked enough cords of wood in the fall. To get through a Colorado mountain winter in my cabin that was heated with a wood stove.

I bale a fair amount of Orchard and have a very large barn to store it in. More than I need for our horses. Have plenty for sale $175 a ton in the Unionville area of SE Pa.

[evenstar]

Ooh! A real zombie post. But interesting to read.

[sascha]

If hay is for personal use, (not going through anyone’s farm books), paying cash to avoid tax nonsense is a great tip. When it’s not going through books on my end I’m not ever seeing that 13% again. How much the hay guy puts through on his end as taxable farm income is his business. Maybe it was a bad hay year, maybe not. I certainly wouldn’t know. Fellow Canucks, you did not hear this from me.