Portable moisture meter

[Agri Spec Solicitor]

Does anyone use a portable moisture meter to help decide if hay is fit to big bale?
The sales people I have contacted say if reading 18% or less it is ok to crack on. I know it is an inexact science but does such a meter inform the decision to go / no go or is it too inexact to rely on?
Hay making is not my day job so I am not experienced enough to be confident. Last year was great but normally I always want one more day.......We do have a wrapper so whichever way it goes we can cope.
Any views appreciated.
Baler is a JD 568 which can be made to have a fairly soft core.

 

[Rob5150]

They are ok for giving a rough figure, I would not make the decision to bale based solely on its reading though. I have one (not a cheap one either) and the reading varies quite a bit when testing the same sample repeatedly.. I just use for making a rough note of the dm when I’m baking silage, for hay I judge by gripping a handful with both hands and bending it, if it breaks between your hands then you know it’s dry, anything more than half the stalks breaking and I crack on, it’s not an exact science and it’s based on experience more than anything. I don’t know if that’s helpful or not

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I know a lot will disagree but imo a hand held is a waste of time infact a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands , thats a hand held, have no experience with baler ones

 

[Agri Spec Solicitor]

Thanks for the guidance. Much appreciated.
I think I might just buy one and in 5 years time I will have some decent data to help me!
I agree it is just going to assist to a lesser extent and the usual tests are still the main ones.
Oddly enough one of the things I watch for is how the hay flows and floats through the rake, as opposed to being heavy and dropping like a stone.
Thankfully our experienced helper does most of the the raking and we value his opinion.
The meter also measures temp and that might assist when we bring it in to the barn.
Thanks again.

 

[Longpod]

Used a Delmhorst moisture meter for years. A very handy piece of kit in my opinion.

https://bigbalenorth.com/product/product-category/accessories/

 

[yellowbelly]

Does anyone use a portable moisture meter to help decide if hay is fit to big bale?

You need to be very careful.
A probe will measure 'surface moisture' but won't give you much idea of moisture trapped internally (or the 'nature' as we call it round here). There's more 'nature' in earlier cut grass and that's why it's much harder to make good hay earlier in the season.

The sales people I have contacted say if reading 18% or less it is ok to crack on.

18% is plenty keen enough. Corn tipped in a shed, with no facility to blow air through it will likely heat up a bit and grass packed tightly in a bale will do the same. I'd be happier to use 16% as your guide.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

You need to be very careful.
A probe will measure 'surface moisture' but won't give you much idea of moisture trapped internally (or the 'nature' as we call it round here). There's more 'nature' in earlier cut grass and that's why it's much harder to make good hay earlier in the season.

18% is plenty keen enough. Corn tipped in a shed, with no facility to blow air through it will likely heat up a bit and grass packed tightly in a bale will do the same. I'd be happier to use 16% as your guide.

As above . Totally pointless tool . It wilm tell you when it's been in the shed 3 weeks that you have baled it right or wrong . Or if you used it in the field your shed may have burnt down

 

[A Sales representative]

http://harvesttec.com/h2o/

Please take a look at the link, it’s for a baler mounted system that uses electrical conductivity to measure the moisture through the outer 150mm of the bale as it’s being made, the info is displayed on either an android or Apple device.

 

[Clever Dic]

Best and totally reliable when measured against an oven dry matter test in my experience is the gazeeka product from Australia.
http://www.gazeeka.com.au
It uses microwave technology from the mining industry and it in my experience has been totally spot on .I have it fitted to my main hay baler a Claas quad 4000 and when tested against oven tests it has been within 1/2 %..
Only down side is they are about 5k
Electrical conductivity testing methods on a baler I have never found good enough and lead you into thinking the hay is dry enough when it certainly is not. It does not measure moisture trapped inside nodes or stems sufficiently well.
eurobale.co.uk

 

[A Sales representative]

Best and totally reliable when measured against an oven dry matter test in my experience is the gazeeka product from Australia.
http://www.gazeeka.com.au
It uses microwave technology from the mining industry and it in my experience has been totally spot on .I have it fitted to my main hay baler a Claas quad 4000 and when tested against oven tests it has been within 1/2 %..
Only down side is they are about 5k
Electrical conductivity testing methods on a baler I have never found good enough and lead you into thinking the hay is dry enough when it certainly is not. It does not measure moisture trapped inside nodes or stems sufficiently well.
eurobale.co.uk

Unfortunately microwave systems standardly don’t work inside a bale chamber unless you do some special engineering and then microwaves systems can be made to work inside the baler.. as for accuracy I’ve seen the test data for both types, run them side by side and know that microwave systems have their own issues, ultimately the most accurate moisture meter is the microwave oven but they are not normally field portable

 

[Clever Dic]

Unfortunately microwave systems standardly don’t work inside a bale chamber unless you do some special engineering and then microwaves systems can be made to work inside the baler.. as for accuracy I’ve seen the test data for both types, run them side by side and know that microwave systems have their own issues, ultimately the most accurate moisture meter is the microwave oven but they are not normally field portable

No it does not go in the chamber the transmitter is on one side of the bsle chute and the receiver the other. It has actually proved very robust I have had it 2 years,I have used in bale chamber electrical conductivity systems and just find in seeds hay at the point of baling they are very misleading. In the past Ihave baled on the basis of their reading and found 5 days later the reading very diffrent when sweated in a barn not so with the microwave as it reads all the moisture between the 2 points.IMHO anyway.

 

[michael N123]

I know a lot will disagree but imo a hand held is a waste of time infact a very dangerous tool in the wrong hands , thats a hand held, have no experience with baler ones

Your better off using your actual hands

 

[TripleSix]

I think you can get a probe that plugs into a Protimeter grain moisture meter if you have one of those already