[AT] Small square hay bales?

Ralph Goff alfg at sasktel.net
Thu Apr 8 10:45:18 PDT 2004


I could only guess at the weight of my bales. Of course they vary depending
on swath size, speed of travel, dryness or moisture content of the material,
etc. I've had straw bales that are as heavy as good hay. And vice versa.
I've never adjusted the bale length on the baler but they are generally
twice as long as they are wide. Makes better stacking that way. Of course
with that old New Holland it seemed that sometimes there were never two
bales the same length. Building a stack was something like a jigsaw puzzle.
Finding the right length bale to fit the space was sometimes a challenge.

Ralph in Sask.
http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/lgoff/latestpage.html
----- Original Message -----
From: Robinson <robinson at svs.net>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 8:55 AM
Subject: [AT] Small square hay bales?


>      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
>
>
>
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