Baling and wrapping?

[Scribus]

Theres plenty doing it cheaper but thats a fair price . Plenty with higher prices sat doing nothing and the kits still got to be paid for. Intresting conversation with my contractor the other day, folks moaning hes putting to much in the bales because there selling them by the bale! They want 12 soft centred bales to the acre and i want 8 weighing like lead. Beware of the contractors trying to earn more by producing more bales than they should. Tbf to contractors i think they ought to charge more to farmers who take the p#ss by expecting them to bale banks , drop bales at the top or have skimmings rowed up behind a haybob and charge more to those farmers who always want them there yesterday but dont want to pay for 12 mths.

Good post, but those wanting soft bales are likely to suffer more damage to them and there will be more haulage, so the gains might not be quite what they had imagined.

When buying bales is there a surefire way of assessing their quality other than kicking a ball of black plastic? There is a lot of trust goes into buying silage at times.

While on the subject is it possible to check just how much wrap has gone onto a bale? I've tried counting the layers but it kinda all melds together.

 

[Werzle]

Good post, but those wanting soft bales are likely to suffer more damage to them and there will be more haulage, so the gains might not be quite what they had imagined.

When buying bales is there a surefire way of assessing their quality other than kicking a ball of black plastic? There is a lot of trust goes into buying silage at times.

While on the subject is it possible to check just how much wrap has gone onto a bale? I've tried counting the layers but it kinda all melds together.

Never tried counting layers and not sure if its possible. Buying silage is a game of chance but most decent people will not charge for ones that turn out to be mould ruined, only other way to insure against buying a ruck of sh#te is to buy a few at a time. Weather stays like this there will be plenty of failed hay crops wrapped up and sold as haylage which will be awful quality

 

[beefandsleep]

I wouldn’t buy bales unless I’d seen one opened.

 

[Werzle]

I wouldn’t buy bales unless I’d seen one opened.

I bought 3 loads of hay a few years ago based on the nice quality of the 1 bale that was opened to view, i was mugged!

 

[beefandsleep]

Oh dear.
I have an old hay tester in the attic that belonged to my great grandfather. Back in the day there was a lot of hay traded for horses and he had a lot of horses and a bit of a dealer I was told. It’s a long rod you screw together with a hook on the end, the idea being you push it into a stack and sample the middle.
I suppose nothing really changes and there’s always someone trying to pull the wool over your eyes but buying wrapped bales is always going to be buying a pig in a poke.

 

[Scribus]

Oh dear.
I have an old hay tester in the attic that belonged to my great grandfather. Back in the day there was a lot of hay traded for horses and he had a lot of horses and a bit of a dealer I was told. It’s a long rod you screw together with a hook on the end, the idea being you push it into a stack and sample the middle.
I suppose nothing really changes and there’s always someone trying to pull the wool over your eyes but buying wrapped bales is always going to be buying a pig in a poke.

Thought I'd go for a browse on this one and hey presto! -

http://www.bestharveststore.com/hay-probe-samplers-c10/

 

[Celt83]

Would you not analyse the bales before you buy them?

I sample all our baled silage here to see what added feed I need and can get away with.

I wouldn’t buy anything without getting it tested first, you know what your bidding for then.

 

[balerman]

Good post, but those wanting soft bales are likely to suffer more damage to them and there will be more haulage, so the gains might not be quite what they had imagined.

When buying bales is there a surefire way of assessing their quality other than kicking a ball of black plastic? There is a lot of trust goes into buying silage at times.

While on the subject is it possible to check just how much wrap has gone onto a bale? I've tried counting the layers but it kinda all melds together.

You can check the thickness,cut say a 3 inch square out of a bale with a very sharp knife,you can then peel them apart.in reality if you count how many turns the wrapper is doing and check the actual width of wrap going on the bale you can work it out easy.width should be around 600mm,16-18 turns for 4 layers,24-25 for 6 layers,obviously halved if its a twin spool wrapper.

 

[Wellytrack]

Anyone with a bit of sense is £7.25 or £7.50 baled, netted and wrapped with 4 layers. Contractor supplying the wrap and diesel. Every extra 2 layers adds £1. Don't know how much film on film is, only 1 contractor in our area offers it.
What sort of prices are you hearing?

Anything between £6.5 to £8 for 4 layers.

Had a customer tell me another two layers was only 30 pence more with another contractor which I told him is impossible.

I’m chopping with freshly sharpened knives and running the pressure well into the red with each bale and charging £7.00.

Probably should be more.

 

[d williams]

You can check the thickness,cut say a 3 inch square out of a bale with a very sharp knife,you can then peel them apart.in reality if you count how many turns the wrapper is doing and check the actual width of wrap going on the bale you can work it out easy.width should be around 600mm,16-18 turns for 4 layers,24-25 for 6 layers,obviously halved if its a twin spool wrapper.

Our twin spool is 22 turns for 6 layers on a 125cm round

 

[wdah/him]

7.50 for four layers, £8 for small numbers. no one is asking the price they are asking when can u do it. every 2 additional layers are £1. seems to be same all round with one man charging £8 for most and £9

 

[Boohoo]

Anything between £6.5 to £8 for 4 layers.

Had a customer tell me another two layers was only 30 pence more with another contractor which I told him is impossible.

I’m chopping with freshly sharpened knives and running the pressure well into the red with each bale and charging £7.00.

Probably should be more.

You'd need to get the price up a bit, unless you're doing big lots and being paid when you finish.
30p for extra wrap sounds like a made up story to get the price down, nobody could be that stupid. £1 for 2 extra layers isn't even enough. Does it even cover the cost of the wrap? There's definitely nothing in it to cover the lower work rate, the hassle and the extra expense of using more wrap that'll have to be paid for long before the customer pays

 

[Wellytrack]

You'd need to get the price up a bit, unless you're doing big lots and being paid when you finish.
30p for extra wrap sounds like a made up story to get the price down, nobody could be that stupid. £1 for 2 extra layers isn't even enough. Does it even cover the cost of the wrap? There's definitely nothing in it to cover the lower work rate, the hassle and the extra expense of using more wrap that'll have to be paid for long before the customer pays

I’ve been baling in 200 bale lots mostly so far this year. That will change to 30 bale lots soon though.

Yes, and stopping to reload more often, and more trips to the store, more boxes to hump, more cardboard rolls and boxes to ‘dispose off’ (l leave nothing behind - ever, net rolls and it’s wrapper too).

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the work, if I did I wouldn’t do it, but I know for a fact of contractors doing 20000 bales and you would be lucky they have a single knife that isn’t smashed let alone have a spare sharp set ready at all times like I do.