[AT] Small square hay bales?

[Robinson]

     When I bale hay I tend to make fairly large "very" 
tight bales. I haven't ever weighed any of them but suspect 
most run around 70 to 80 pounds or more out of the baler. 
Maybe I'll go weigh one this evening after I get done 
planting some hay.
     I was just curious what size small bales any of you 
that bale are making? What length do you shoot for? And how 
much do they weigh.
     How about some of you that buy hay?
     I have heard a few people complain about bales being 
too heavy for them. I know that they are getting too heavy 
for me...      I am going to shorten mine a little this year 
to get the weight down but don't want to go too short. I 
still want them tight. I hate bales that are sloppy and keep 
falling apart and a tight bale holds feed value better.
     I am finding that a lot of my hay buyers are ladies and 
some have trouble with the weight.

     I'm planting about another 15 acres to hay this week. 
We disked it deep using son Scott's 1755 Oliver and my 16' 
IHC disk then I went over it with the Deere 4020 and a 24' 
field cultivator with a harrow mounted on the back. I 
drilled on just over a bushel of oats per acre then I went 
back an planted about 10 pounds of orchard grass per acre. 
Today I will seed about 5 pounds of timothy per acre on it. 
I had to make 3 seedings as there is just too much variation 
in seed size. I could have had the seed folks mix it and 
done it in one trip but I just don't like doing that. I have 
seen too many cases of different seeds separating in the 
hopper and not seeding uniformly when there is a lot of size 
and texture difference. I used the grain drill to seed the 
oats but my drill was purchased for drilling soybeans and it 
does not have a grass seeder on it. I have a fertilizer/lime 
spreader that does have a grass attachment and that is what 
I used to seed the orchard grass and will probably use it 
for the timothy. Long ago I added a hitch to my drill so I 
can pull a cultipacker the same width as the drill behind it 
and the other spreader already had a hitch on it. That 
cultipacker does a nice job of firming the soil around the 
seed and helps leave the ground more level. I drilled the 
oats north and south and the orchard grass east and west, 
the timothy will go north and south again. Not only does 
that allow me to see where I have been but should also help 
with uniformity. All of these seeding trips have been a nice 
  spring workout for my Farmall Super MTA.
	I'll bale the oats off of it just as they start heading out 
so that they don't surpress the grasses.

     I grew up with dry chopped hay, not a lot of lifting 
involved and a good way to feed but not a marketable product.

-- 



"farmer"

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net