[AT] Loose hay

[robinson at svs.net]

	Back at the keyboard again...
	I can still recall clearly my father lecturing me when I was about 10 about 
never jumping into a pile of hay. He gave a lot of very graphic details about 
the injuries someone he knew got from jumping out of a loft and coming down on 
a pitchfork that was left stabbed down into the pile. I have no idea how 
accurate the story was but it worked...   :-)
	We never made hay stacks outside when I was young but an uncle did. Actually 
quite a few folks in this area did.
	When I was quite young my father used a dump rake and then my mother used the 
9N with the buck (sweep) rake and scooped up several piles and brought them to 
the barn where my father pitch-forked it into a Letz Mill which chopped it up 
and blew it (slowly) into the loft. The mill was always ran with the McCormick 
10-20. We later used a side delivery rake and an Allis field chopper and an 
Allis blower, both bought new in about 1948 or 1949.
	My uncle, my father's BIL, used a side delivery rake then pulled a hay loader 
behind his truck (maybe a 1 1/2 ton truck) with a tall rack on it. He then 
backed the truck up to the barn and forked it in the loft. Later cuttings were 
stacked outside, just pitched from the truck and stacked as high as he could 
get it. He topped it off later as it settled.
	I recall a neighbor using a double chain corn elevator to run the loose hay up 
to make a tall pile.
	I made outdoor stacks of loose hay (not in huge quantities) for several years 
until about 5 or 6 years ago. I would rake it with a side delivery rake and 
then Diana would drive a tractor pulling a wagon and Scott and I would pitch it 
on the wagon which had a rack and then we would just pull it next to the pile 
and we would fork it off. While not just exactly easy it was rather pleasant 
work.
	Some folks use a tall post to stack hay around. The hay stacked outdoors was 
normally cut last and fed first. The indoor hay was saved for later since it 
would keep better.
	Now I bale everything. I am still working on methods of handling it easier (on 
a very low budget). Current plans call for oversize pallets which will hold 
about 36 bales or so each. They will be smooth on top and sized so that I can 
put a layer on a wagon and stack them as they are baled. Those will be lifted 
off with a fork lift and stacked 2 pallets high and then sat up in the lofts. 
The fork lift must have a good cage.   :-)    From the edge of the loft they 
will be moved into position in the loft with a hand pallet dolly like used in a 
lot of factories. The loft floors will get a layer of 1/2" OSB to smooth out 
the surface for easier rolling. That is not the most efficient use of space but 
I just don't want to be climbing on and hand stacking bales in the lofts, at 
least not for all of it. I may also place some pallets outside, maybe in groups 
of 4 pallets stacked 2 high and with some extra bales making a gable shaped 
top. They would be covered with plastic tarps. That would put about 300 bales 
to a covered stack. I have visions of a good sized hoop barn in 2006. I have a 
number of buildings I could put some bales in but they are all high handling 
labor. I have become weary of high handling labor.   :-)   I have kind of 
decided that I might replace one rental house and a business building in the 
next county with a large hoop barn, a good big tired fork lift, an addition on 
my shop and a bit of a minor house remodel here.   :-)
	There are a number of good ways to handle hay but for cash sales most of it 
really needs to be in small square bales.

-- 
"farmer", Esquire
At Hewick Midwest
      Wealth beyond belief, just no money...

Paternal Robinson's here by way of Norway (Clan Gunn), Scottish Highlands,
Cleasby Yorkshire England, Virginia, Kentucky then Indiana.


Francis Robinson
Central Indiana USA
robinson at svs.net