Moisture meter
- Thread starter Pluggyp
- Start date
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
Delmhorst
Strawgalore
Member
- Location
- South Cumbria
To go on the baler or a hand held ?
Strawgalore
Member
- Location
- South Cumbria
That's because half the bale is dry and the other half is wet ,
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
Straw bales will be like that though due to straw being run on / green bit etc etc.
If you can guarantee that they were all dry then they will need checking, but it's really not unusual to get readings varying by even 40-50% a few inches apart in dodgy bales.
All the handheld ones work on the same principle, it's just cost / length of probe that changes. Longer isn't better - they break easier so can give false readings.
For machines on the baler, Delmhorst is good value but only samples a small area of the bale. PFC / AGCO hay boss etc use the same principle (electrical resistance) but sample a wider section of the bale. When baling straw in the morning, you can bale and they will test 10% with handhelds and baler mounted models, but go back 30 mins later and they will read 20%. This is because they measure electrical resistance and the water is being 'squeezed' out of the bale.
The only way to get an accurate reading in this scenario would be to use the microwave system imported by Big Bale North.
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
Baler mounted ones just save you getting on and off so much, but once it's baled they're worthless. A handheld one is much more versatile - just stab the bale a good few times and use the average moisture function.
Probe moisture meters give a guide, they are cheap to buy but that cost must then be offset against your tractor and baler being stationary for around an hour per day whilst your probing bales, also probing a bale in multiple directions will give varying moisture reading as will bale density and battery charge.
Baler mounted
Option 1, Pad - reads the moisture if it touches the sensor, no good if the wet is inside the bale or stem, can be affected by weather, sun/overcast and humid. I have personally seen a system reading 10% out from a starwheel/microwave combination.
Option 2, Harvesttec Starwheel - uses electrical conductivity, sends a pulse 9 times per second through the profile of the bale reads stem moisture as well as surface moisture, range 7-70% accuracy +/- 1%
Can be used to operate integrated bale traceability and automatic application equipment.
Option 3, Microwave - as accurate as conductivity system, reads the profile of the bale, I believe working range is 6-36% accuracy +/- 1%, rear mounted as microwaves affected by baler frame.
Option 4, Harvesttec has now combined both starwheel mounted behind the balers knotters, and microwave mounted in the balers pre-compression chamber (CNH/AGCO only)
With modern high capacity balers the moisture inside the bale will cause heat and damage, but yes the outer few cm's will dry
Happy to answer questions
Baler mounted
Option 1, Pad - reads the moisture if it touches the sensor, no good if the wet is inside the bale or stem, can be affected by weather, sun/overcast and humid. I have personally seen a system reading 10% out from a starwheel/microwave combination.
Option 2, Harvesttec Starwheel - uses electrical conductivity, sends a pulse 9 times per second through the profile of the bale reads stem moisture as well as surface moisture, range 7-70% accuracy +/- 1%
Can be used to operate integrated bale traceability and automatic application equipment.
Option 3, Microwave - as accurate as conductivity system, reads the profile of the bale, I believe working range is 6-36% accuracy +/- 1%, rear mounted as microwaves affected by baler frame.
Option 4, Harvesttec has now combined both starwheel mounted behind the balers knotters, and microwave mounted in the balers pre-compression chamber (CNH/AGCO only)
With modern high capacity balers the moisture inside the bale will cause heat and damage, but yes the outer few cm's will dry
Happy to answer questions
- Location
- Welshpool Powys
Strawgalore
Member
- Location
- South Cumbria
Iv got 2 hand held dramanski's , Iv not managed to break the first one in 10 years , I prefer them to any other Iv come across ,
- Location
- southern riverina Australia
Depends how much you want to spend..http://www.gazeeka.com.au/products/model-870.php
benferg
Member
- Location
- North Canterbury, NZ
When you are baling into the evening dew a baler mounted probe is way easier.
But when it comes to testing st the start of a day a hand held is easier.
It really depends on how good you are at picking moisture as you start.
But when it comes to testing st the start of a day a hand held is easier.
It really depends on how good you are at picking moisture as you start.
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Those are the ones the fire brigade use, if they ever test hay for heating, so I'm guessing they are pretty reliable.
http://www.dry-it-out.com/Draminski-Hay-and-Straw-Meter
- Location
- southern riverina Australia
I prefer to use my hands. Never start raking till it breaks with minimal twisting, then rake next morning and bale that evening for rolls and mid morning for squares . There's nothing like experience. Contractor i use for squares uses in baler meter to tell him when to stop, not when to start. The pressure gauge in a big square baler will let you know if your to high for a start. If your undecided if its ready or not, then guess what.....It probably isn't!
But with any probe it's only as good as the bale that you probe, baler mounted give you a live reading as you make the bale, with some intergrated into the balers own screen, if you ever get the chance to sit in a tractor with a baler fitted with starwheels or microwave system you will be very surprised how the moisture changes along a swath that your eye thinks looks even, and the first bale that you probed seemed okay
- Location
- Huntingdon, UK
There is no way your balers are stationary for an hour a day probing bales, an experienced operator will only probe 2-3 bales per day, the pressure reading on the he baler tells you anything you need to know.
The moisture meter on a baler will tell you a bale sooner thats all, (depending on where they are mounted obviously).
It then becomes irrelevant if the bales are left out in a thunderstorm.
Out of the last 5 balers we've brought, 2 had HarvestTec starwheels, 1 had Krones own system, the 2 most recent we've gone back to probes as no benefit from more expensive systems.
The moisture meter on a baler will tell you a bale sooner thats all, (depending on where they are mounted obviously).
It then becomes irrelevant if the bales are left out in a thunderstorm.
Out of the last 5 balers we've brought, 2 had HarvestTec starwheels, 1 had Krones own system, the 2 most recent we've gone back to probes as no benefit from more expensive systems.