Plastic or net ?? McHale Baler

[Mr Mackay]

Our man who bales has the latest McHale Combi baler . He wondered if we wanted to wrap our 1st cut silage in plastic instead of net??
To be honest I hadn't considered it , but as long as its comparable to net costs , and robust enough to allow us to carry the bales back to base via Traileyre , then I might give it a go?
(Have been told the plastic will add extra coverage to the silage and improve the shape of the bale due to the extra tension on it? )

hhmmm.
Thoughts please , and not the daft ones either

 

[Northeastfarmer]

If it's the same price as net then may as well give it a go

 

[Spudie]

Think it's dearer than net or so I'm told

 

[Wishful Thinker]

Same price as double wrapping over here. Meant to do same job as double wrap though.

 

[Chae1]

How do you open bale without cutting all plastic off? Then ending up with loose bale.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Same price as double wrapping over here. Meant to do same job as double wrap though.

You mean 4 layers plus plastic instead of net being equivalent to 6 layers with net?
I can tell you it definitely isn't.
My contractor was spun that argument but you haven't got the extra layers on the edges which is the most vulnerable part.

Also my fields were covered with bits of plastic that got left in the bales when they went in the feeder then into the dung heap. Glad to go back to net here. It seems easier to get all of it out of the bale.

 

[M-J-G]

How do you open bale without cutting all plastic off? Then ending up with loose bale.

That is the issue

I did some to see how it worked, fu*kin nightmare, pretty much impossible to put them into a ring feeder.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

That is the issue

I did some to see how it worked, fu*kin nightmare, pretty much impossible to put them into a ring feeder.

No problem at all with a grab, easier than net except for that last little bit wrapped into the bale as it cuts easier. Pick them up the other way instead of end on. I'll try and find a pic.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

No problem at all with a grab, easier than net except for that last little bit wrapped into the bale as it cuts easier. Pick them up the other way instead of end on. I'll try and find a pic.

Here you go

 

[M-J-G]

That stuff looks pretty stemy, with chopped leafy grass they just end up in the feeder with half of the plastic with it.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

That stuff looks pretty stemy, with chopped leafy grass they just end up in the feeder with half of the plastic with it.

Not if the plastic is hooked to the grab and your grab will crowd back over far enough. I cut the plastic before going in the field when feeding out in the autumn. Don't need to get off at the feeder then just tip in, open the grab and drive out with plastic attached to the grab.

 

[Chae1]

Sounds complicated. So will need to buy a grab to put bales in?

Simple 2 tine fork works fine at moment. Same one I use to handle bales of straw.

 

[M-J-G]

Not if the plastic is hooked to the grab and your grab will crowd back over far enough. I cut the plastic before going in the field when feeding out in the autumn. Don't need to get off at the feeder then just tip in, open the grab and drive out with plastic attached to the grab.

I'll take your word for it, but it sounds like a lot of faffing about with one bale at a time.

I wouldn't entertain the idea again

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Fair enough if you don't think it'll work for you. It works well for me, saves getting off the tractor so much or fighting with cows/bull round a feeder when removing wrap.
And I just use my dung grab - don't you have one of those? Poor man's bale splitter.

 

[M-J-G]

Running about with one at a time doesn't really appeal.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

Running about with one at a time doesn't really appeal.

Put 2 on front and 2 on back and put in 1 to once? How do you put multiple bales in a feeder at once whilst removing net wrap?

 

[M-J-G]

I take the plastic off at the stack, drive to the field with 4 bales and take the net off over the feeder. The only time I set any bales down is when I'm changing the back two to the front.

The cows wreck them otherwise.

 

[Poorbuthappy]

I take the plastic off at the stack, drive to the field with 4 bales and take the net off over the feeder. The only time I set any bales down is when I'm changing the back two to the front.

The cows wreck them otherwise.

Each to their own, I wouldn't want to go back to fighting through the mud and cows to take off the net. But as I say, whatever works for you. Be boring if we all did the same - where would tff discussion be and how would we be able try anything different.

 

[v8willy]

Our man who bales has the latest McHale Combi baler . He wondered if we wanted to wrap our 1st cut silage in plastic instead of net??
To be honest I hadn't considered it , but as long as its comparable to net costs , and robust enough to allow us to carry the bales back to base via Traileyre , then I might give it a go?
(Have been told the plastic will add extra coverage to the silage and improve the shape of the bale due to the extra tension on it? )

hhmmm.
Thoughts please , and not the daft ones either

Traileyre, thats a trailer with spikes isn't it? Seems little point using a combi then spiking them? kinda defeats the purpose.

 

[Mr Mackay]

Traileyre, thats a trailer with spikes isn't it? Seems little point using a combi then spiking them? kinda defeats the purpose.

Ha , very good !!!
We use his combi to bale only as we wrap and stack in the yard - with a McHale 991 BE remote control ( sexy)hence the Traileyre !!
I was curious about the statement that you could use less bale wrap on the unwrapped bale with plastic instead of net .
I have spent half my life wrapping for customers and know that 750mm wrap covers a 4 ft bale once , at 8 turns (well 7 and a bit really) and we wrap ours 16 turns ,so its covered 50% overlap ,twice. so to use less wrap , I would have to decide to put 8 turns on instead of 16 , as putting 14 or whatever would be pointless!!
Anyroad , having seen some 15 micron?? plastic on our silage instead of net , its interesting but being as I need a robust covering for a bale (as theres nought worse than a busted bale on a traileyre ) I doubt its something we will bother with for our silage !!


Here endeth the lesson