Cotesi Bale wrap

[Chips]

Been quoted a price on a pallet of Cotesi bale wrap and wondered on peoples experience of it . Last year I used Zeus and wasn't impressed , when we ran out the contractor used some silotte and you could visably see the difference , the Zues looked 12mths old in comparison . Some bales if they are going to be used before winter we only put 4 layers on and had no problem in the past however with Zues no end would rip when being handled and so ended up wrapping everything in 6 layers and thus was false economy . They are telling me the cotesi is 7 layer and so will be fine .

 

[Anymulewilldo]

Our baling man has been on Cortesi for the last few years. Keeps a good seal, doesn’t rip anymore than the others. (Generally bad handling rather than bad wrap here) I’m using 2 year old silage at the moment for the heifers. Coming out like fresh season gear. Absolutely beautiful so I’m quite happy with it

 

[sheepdogtrail]

Our baling man has been on Cortesi for the last few years. Keeps a good seal, doesn’t rip anymore than the others. (Generally bad handling rather than bad wrap here) I’m using 2 year old silage at the moment for the heifers. Coming out like fresh season gear. Absolutely beautiful so I’m quite happy with it

There you go @Chips. If @Anymulewilldo is feeding 2 y/o silage without any degradation, I would say it is worth a try.

 

[Suffolksucklers]

We used cortesi last year,.noticed no difference to silawrap and bales seemed to keep ok. Only put 4 layers on everything

 

[ploughman1963]

@Chips - for what its worth, as an ex-wrapping contractor, I would not put less than 6 layers on anything. It was once explained to me how wrap is effectively like a string vest and it relies on layers on top of one another to cover up the microscopic holes. It is not an airtight seal - air can get into the bale. If you go from 4 layer to 6 you reduce the amount of air getting into the bale (or preserving gases from fermentation getting out) by half. Go to 8 layers and you reduce by a further 50%. It is reckoned that the loss in feed value by going 4 layers rather than 6 pays for the extra wrap - and then you have the odd bale lost because 4 layers of wrap doesnt like being handled too often / roughly - 6 layers is soon justified in my opinion.

 

[Henarar]

@Chips - for what its worth, as an ex-wrapping contractor, I would not put less than 6 layers on anything. It was once explained to me how wrap is effectively like a string vest and it relies on layers on top of one another to cover up the microscopic holes. It is not an airtight seal - air can get into the bale. If you go from 4 layer to 6 you reduce the amount of air getting into the bale (or preserving gases from fermentation getting out) by half. Go to 8 layers and you reduce by a further 50%. It is reckoned that the loss in feed value by going 4 layers rather than 6 pays for the extra wrap - and then you have the odd bale lost because 4 layers of wrap doesnt like being handled too often / roughly - 6 layers is soon justified in my opinion.

That would be a progressive time dependent process wouldn't it ? therefore bales with 4 layers that are used in say 4 months would get no more air than bales with six layers used in say 8 months [he did say he was using them quite quickly]

obviously more layers is going to be better but it is also more expensive in both wrap bought and the cost of disposal, there has to be a trade off point,
If you wrap say 500 bales in 4 instead of 6 layers the money saved is not to be sniffed at, if it is worth the loss of quality [if any] depends on the results you get

 

[Chips]

Sounds like it's worth a try then .
We used bales almost as zero grazing during the summer , with plenty fed within 2 months , thus I think the saving off 4 layers is worth it ,but no doubt anything going longer gets 6 layer . Agree then the saving in waste pays for the wrap , that certainly is the case for me at least moving from pit to bales .

 

[balerman]

Sounds like it's worth a try then .
We used bales almost as zero grazing during the summer , with plenty fed within 2 months , thus I think the saving off 4 layers is worth it ,but no doubt anything going longer gets 6 layer . Agree then the saving in waste pays for the wrap , that certainly is the case for me at least moving from pit to bales .

It’s only £1 / bale saving! I used to think that until I started using 6 layers,waste silage would slowly build up in ring feeders using 4 layers.With 6 layers,no build up at all.That’s before you account for higher d value etc.FWIW i was told 7 layer wrap is of no benefit to the end user,just easier to manufacture.