[AT] Small square hay bales?

Grant Brians gbrians at hollinet.com
Thu Apr 8 21:36:05 PDT 2004


Spencer, I take it that you don't have a New Holland baler? All of the
balers sold here in California have a scale and remote hydraulic pressure
adjustment. This allows keeping the weight pretty constant throughout a
baling session. As Tom Armstrong mentioned, 16 bales to the ton is the
standard here, although when I was feeding my own hay and a lot younger, one
year I put up mostly 12 bales to the ton (about 165 pounds each.) That  was
a bit hard on the back, but the baler was perfectly happy! Just plunked them
out. One thing that is a consideration here that may not be elsewhere,
nearly all hay is handled by machine. This means that it is critical that
bale tensions are sufficient to not crunch or break apart. Not too high, not
too low....
    Also, we bale mostly at night now. The reason is that with the low
hunitity here, if you bale as the dew is coming down, then the leaves stay
on the hay and the stalks are still pretty dry which preserves the highest
quality level. It helps keep the moisture content even throughout the bale
that way too. I cannot imagine baling in the conditions that you guys in the
midwest and East experience with the humid air. Oh well, different strokes
for different areas to mix metaphors!
        Grant Brians
        Hollister, California
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Spencer Yost" <Spencer.Yost at piedmontsystems.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 08, 2004 9:30 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Small square hay bales?


> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
>
> On 4/8/2004 at 9:55 AM Robinson wrote:
>
> >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.
>
> For length, cross stacking is what I care about.  36" is the  width of two
bales but in practice two bales side by side are about 37-38".  Since
tension and packing changes length once they are out of the chute, exact
length is tough.  I set the baler up to create bales that measure 32" in the
chute.  That way I seem to get 36-39" bales depending on temp, and other
factors.  I swear even air humidity will change how hay packs.
>
> Like you, hay bales seem to be getting heavier as I get older.   I guess
the grass is better quality these days and just heavier (-;  However, denser
is better received by most customers but consistency is tough in this regard
unless you get off the tractor 20 times a day to compensate for these
changes in temp, humidity, windrow size, etc.  Many of my customers are
horse women and most of them, not all, prefer bales to be a bit looser and
lighter so they can handle them easier.  So I just stick with one setting
and let the heavier bales go to those that want them and the lighter bales
to those who want them.
>
> >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
>
> My Massey Harris Drill, turned all the way down in rate and hopper size,
drilled grass seed perfectly - About 45 -50 pounds an acre in one seeding.
You might have been able to drill it.  Also, separation isn't a factor if
you don't overfill.   I just bought a pasture maker mix (orchard, bluegrass,
timothy) added clover and additional orchardgrass to it, mixed it, but then
only filled the hoppers about two thirds full.   About the time it looked
like it might have started to separate the hopper was empty.   In addition,
the round clover seed was the only seed that acted like it would try to
separate a bit.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Spencer
>
>
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