Round baling hay

[neilo]

Plenty of hay is made in quadrants these days, and brought in & stacked ASAP. Those are baled an awful lot tighter than any round or small bales, without any of this nonsense about ‘having to breathe’, etc.

If it’s not fit then it will heat as all the grass sugars get burnt, losing feed value. We all have to take shortcuts occasionally of course, but for heating/curing/‘breathing’ to be considered normal is just ridiculous imo.

 

[M-J-G]

Plenty of hay is made in quadrants these days, and brought in & stacked ASAP. Those are baled an awful lot tighter than any round or small bales, without any of this nonsense about ‘having to breathe’, etc.

If it’s not fit then it will heat as all the grass sugars get burnt, losing feed value. We all have to take shortcuts occasionally of course, but for heating/curing/‘breathing’ to be considered normal is just ridiculous imo.

That's ok in optimum conditions or if its like straw, but we'll rarely get that here and hay that can be stacked in a shed straight away has a lot of its sugars burnt before baling anyway.
We bales hay in May this year and even after a week of tedding it was still needing to sit outside, but it's beautiful green stuff and I wouldn't class having it as ridiculous.
Particularly since most others up here are just doing theirs now and it will be pretty unpalatable for sheep.

We sometimes bale hay in quads but it comes inside and sits inside individually for a while.

A lot of hay in quadrants up this way will be treated these days.

 

[steveR]

The heat rises to the top and spoils the top bale , the other way the heat can escape , all hay will sweat a little

Don't bale them rock hard either as hay likes to breath ,

I agree, yet teh big square bales are like house bricks they are so dense

 

[Bury the Trash]

I agree, yet teh big square bales are like house bricks they are so dense

yes and a soilid as a block stack is harder to check on after .
its a fact that most fires in storage are caused by big squares nowadays, ask the fire brigade.

mainly because the pressure is on to take them in as they dont shed water of course.

with rounds however sure you are of them at baling ...it dont hurt to leave them out for a while to ascess them.

over night and into the next day after theyve been baled ,push your hand in ( mine arent so dense that i cant do that without a bit of a wiggle , or a metal spike in one or 2 and if they are as cool a cucumber inside they will be fine to take in and stack ie it was fully fit.

i also monitor mine in the shed for a week or 2 , by feeling for heat and smell. until im happy that they are totally stable.

 

[7610 super q]

Baled some slightly suspect wheat straw once. Half the shed stacked bean can style, the rest stacked as they come out the baler. Bean can bales came out like cardboard, the others not. Make of that what you will. I've never stacked anything bean can style since.

 

[andybk]

Got one field of hay left to bale, we usually do it all small squares but have filled the lofts sooner than expected this time. So it’s going to get round baled, it’s nice and dry good hay, should I turn the baler density down from what we use for hayledge as we usually try to get as much as we can in a bale? And if I was to wrap it (black wrap) would this reduce the quality or make it to mouldy or anything? It won’t be chopped just straight baled up.

cheers

Always try and make a bit of round haylage for ewes pre lambing , wrapped so doesnt get contaminated with cat mess (toxo) last 2 years it got a bit dry so basically hay , but wrapped it anyway , most came out like it went in , any yeasts or moulds on a few was just on outside and fed ok .but i would look to use it up the first year doubt it would keep like proper silage/ haylage

 

[Henarar]

its a fact that most fires in storage are caused by big squares nowadays, ask the fire brigade.

mainly because the pressure is on to take them in as they dont shed water of course.

Need a way of stitching them, they wouldn't hurt then, same as conventional bales didn't

 

[egbert]

Plenty of hay is made in quadrants these days, and brought in & stacked ASAP. Those are baled an awful lot tighter than any round or small bales, without any of this nonsense about ‘having to breathe’, etc.

If it’s not fit then it will heat as all the grass sugars get burnt, losing feed value. We all have to take shortcuts occasionally of course, but for heating/curing/‘breathing’ to be considered normal is just ridiculous imo.

^^^^this
If it's fit, its fit.
If it ain't, leaving rounds out can fix it, or giving them space in the stack to their mass isn't too big i suppose.

I do mostly rounds, and stack em on end often, depending on where the stack is.

If I'm pushed for time in catchy weather, I might leave across a big shed one layer deep, and put a hand in a few days later. If they're unreasonably heating, stick em through the wrapper.

The round baler and the wrapper have changed hay making in't western hills.

 

[steveR]

We used to say one day extra for round baler when its fit for the small one , roughly speaking, just make sure its very well dry thats all.
As ever its the weather that's key.

Really!

I am just the opposite... Same as with a bit of late baling as teh dew comes down... Bale it up and leave to sweat...

 

[nails]

^^^^this
If it's fit, its fit.
If it ain't, leaving rounds out can fix it, or giving them space in the stack to their mass isn't too big i suppose.

I do mostly rounds, and stack em on end often, depending on where the stack is.

If I'm pushed for time in catchy weather, I might leave across a big shed one layer deep, and put a hand in a few days later. If they're unreasonably heating, stick em through the wrapper.

The round baler and the wrapper have changed hay making in't western hills.
[/QUOTE
If you wrap bales that are already heating they will likely go mouldy, the damage is done, same as leaving silage bales too long before wrapping.

 

[nails]

Really!

I am just the opposite... Same as with a bit of late baling as teh dew comes down... Bale it up and leave to sweat...

Same here . Ever since we round baled hay in 82 i reckon you can bale a day ahead of little square baler. It is all down to density hence ricked hay would be going in far greener than a lot realise today.

 

[steveR]

Same here . Ever since we round baled hay in 82 i reckon you can bale a day ahead of little square baler. It is all down to density hence ricked hay would be going in far greener than a lot realise today.

About the same era as you @nails... 1985/6 I think I bought the first Krone I ran a small baler for a few years after that, but laziness saw that moved on quickly soon after!

 

[michael N123]

As tight as possible a day before it’s hay at 6 layers of wrap

 

[Bury the Trash]

Really!

I am just the opposite... Same as with a bit of late baling as teh dew comes down... Bale it up and leave to sweat...

yes ideal for cattle,they will eat any old shitt

however, i value my lungs these days and i dont want my sheep to be pulling hard at a mouldy bale either.

 

[Henarar]

Same here . Ever since we round baled hay in 82 i reckon you can bale a day ahead of little square baler. It is all down to density hence ricked hay would be going in far greener than a lot realise today.

sometimes to green in a lose rick, Dad cut a hole right down through one here with a hay knife and chucked it out to let the heat out

 

[Bury the Trash]

certainly its up to the individual.
I know how i like to make my hay after more than forty years experience.

i certainly dont need to ask or take the advice of some geezer whom i know nothing of on a forum,
seems to be lesson for the op , looking back at the advice some have said, and he then bales when its not fit then put it right indoors , shitting himself for the next for the next 3 weeks whilst it gets nice and warm , and the steams rising .

Seriously though the i bet the poor guy doesn't know whether he needs a shite or a haircut now

 

[Bury the Trash]

baling hay when the dew comes down ? what twaddle.

could be we've been invaded by townies lol.

 

[7610 super q]

Funny old stuff hay. Dabbled on and off for 35 years. Dad was absolutely furious when a contractor turned up at 9pm one night and preceded to bale till way after midnight when the dew had descended. " It'll be rubbish hay ". Actually it turned out to be lovely stuff.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Need a way of stitching them, they wouldn't hurt then, same as conventional bales didn't

stack them up then its just the top ones wet , is next best thing,trouble is they take water so well, and its moving them about twice extra work and diesel wear and tear,
Unlike our belt baler rounds, with net , its like a thatch absolutely ideal imo. such a good modern invention.

 

[egbert]

If you wrap bales that are already heating they will likely go mouldy, the damage is done, same as leaving silage bales too long before wrapping.

Not at all. they wrap just fine.
Some energy must be lost having heated, but the option of leaving them unwrapped and heating further would be plain stoopid.

I've bought, from a pal who was chasing horsy money and cocked up, some week old round bale 'hay' that was near red hot - £5 / per bale I recall.
I managed to get em on the wrapper, and some cows lived very cheap that winter.

I've done 1200-1500 rounds a year for 30 years or more, so I'm getting the hang of it.