lesson learned: putting up square bales

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

As we are always looking for ways to work smarter we tried a new scheme this year for putting up square bales. We had a three person team (again) and the person running the baler had two on tractors, one driving a truck, and six stacking on trucks. The three of us were able to stack as quickly as the six person team with less effort.

We were able to acquire a large quantity of pallets for the very reasonable price of "come and get them and they are yours!".

Pallets were staged in stacks throughout the field after baling operations started.

One person drove the tractor with pallet forks on the front and a pallet on the forks. We discovered that three bales per layer and three layers (nine bales per pallet) worked best on the uneven ground. Could go four layers if the ground is even.

Move pallet to location of people and they do not have to lift high.

Drop pallet for loaders to finish final layer and tractor goes to get new pallet.

Areas with good density of bales the pallets can be left on the ground.

At the end it was one person on the tractor moving bales to the barn and stacking them still on the pallets. Easiest we have EVER done it!

If we had to stack on a trailer we could have loaded the pallets directly on a flatbed and kept going. None of us were too terribly worn out at the end of the day.

Kept track of fuel consumption this time, 60HP tractor used .5 gallons of diesel per hour. Not too shabby!

[Seahawk]

That sounds very ingenious. Did you take pictures, David?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Paul,

We DO need to take photos. I have pallets stacked in front of one row and round bales in front of the other row. Scared of theft as hay appears to be going up in value right now....


Nota,

We paid our helper a rate per hour, provided all drinks (gateraid, tea, water), and paid for lunch but not breakfast or supper. But you are very correct, know what you are getting before getting involved! Hard work is what it really is!!! We have been lucky in having repeat helpers over the past three years. Always had trouble with getting good help in the years before. Paid them at the end of the day and never saw them again. Same way then as well, we provided one meal plus pay.

Also, treat workers as independant contractors, they are NOT employees and they understand that going in.

[bell]

that's awesome....is good to see cows are going to get a square meal

[GH85Carrera]

A friend of mine with a ranch bought a square baler that was almost new real cheap at an auction. After one use he figured out why it was cheap. He went out and bought a round bailer and it is easy to move those round bales with his truck and the spike. He has a few dozen longhorn cattle and 6 horses to keep fed in the winter.

[oldE]

Hmmm.
Still sounds like a lot of work.
We have an extra bale chute on the baler and tow a wagon behind as we bale. The wife drives the tractor, I load the wagon with the bales as they come off the chute. We load two wagons and haul them to the barn, where we use a conveyor to get them into the mow.

I suspect your storage area is ground level and more spacious than ours. We put about 300 in our barn for the horses and do up another few hundred for some friends. I like those ones, I don't have to unload the wagons.

Yeah, I'm a lazy SOB.

Best
Les

[Jim Bremner]

[img]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads20/pot1340039501.jpg[/img I was going to use my profits for a sweet slantnose cabriolet!

[Jim Bremner]

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Glen,

Does he still have the square baler, selling at a cheap price???? :-)

Round bales are easier to pull out and drop. Per tonne they are cheaper to feed, people will not pay as much money for them by weight as they will for square bales. Horse people prefer square bales as most do not have any equipment to handle the round bales. Round bales can get moldy and make your horses sick. Not as big an issue when you are feeding cows and other slaughter animals that you do not expect to live for more than a few months to a year. Not as big a deal when you are keeping Angus and such overbred breeds who will not be abel to live and produce for more than five or six years, as a generalized statement.

Our horses go up to 30, the cows are still producing up to about 20. Square bales are easier on their health.

Also, round balers require higher horsepower tractors which translates into more cost to buy and run. I'm on the shoestring end of the scale....


Les,

I hear ya! Still, that is tough work and you are handling them twice even with a thrower if you were to invest in one. Conveyor is definately the way to go! Our main hay barn has no electricity and is about 1/2 mile from the house. I can get about 2,160 bales in the barn using this stacking method or close to 3,000 using the method you are using. Yes, ground stack (on pallets to raise the hay up) and clear run to the roof. Only purpose of the barn is for storage.

I agree completely with you!!! I prefer the bales sold as they come out of the chute and loaded by someone else!


Jim,

Wrong type of bale but I bet they bring more money!!!!!

[azasadny]

Originally Posted by Jim Bremner

Square grouper!

[pete3799]

This is how we do it.
Most are going to round bales though.

[on2wheels52]

re putting up hay, I've found it's best to be the guy on the tractor.
But the palletts sound like a great idea; use what works for you.
Jim

[Hugh R]

Pallets sound good. I lifted hay bales onto trucks/trailers a few times 40 years ago. Brutal work.

[oldE]

Originally Posted by Groesbeck Hurricane

Our main hay barn has no electricity and is about 1/2 mile from the house. I can get about 2,160 bales in the barn using this stacking method or close to 3,000 using the method you are using. Yes, ground stack (on pallets to raise the hay up) and clear run to the roof. Only purpose of the barn is for storage.

You are definitely doing it the best way, but....

I wonder if you were able to build a sled which could be pulled behind the baler and would allow someone to load a pallet with 9 bales then release it and drop another pallet onto the sled to be loaded as you moved around the field?



Sorry for the quality of the quick sketch. This would allow you to get your hay onto the pallets with one person on the tractor and one other person stacking on the pallets. No walking around the field to pick up hay.

I told you I was lazy!
Best
Les

[widgeon13]

Lesson I learned on handling bales of hay, wear a long sleeve shirt. Wish I could remember what I was paid fifty year ago to do this kind of work. Hot dirty work!

[targa911S]

all that then ya gotta stack in in the barn too.

[lin7310948]

i spent a couple of summers bucking and hauling green pea hay in the dayton washington area in the summer of 1959 and 1960. it was used for dairy cattle feed at that time. bales were bound with wire and weighed in the 100 t0 125 pound range. it was really hot and dusty work and we were paid 15 dollars per day..6 a.m. til 6 p.m.. had to wear leather chaps..jeans would not last a day before wearing holes in the knees and thigh areas..literally would spit mud when working inside due to the dust!

[72doug2,2S]

Sorry, I'm getting hay fever just reading this.

We need more cow bell.

[cashflyer]

I remember being on my grandmothers farm as a young kid and watching my father and uncles loading trailers full of square bales. That was in Frankfort, Indiana.

I haven't been back on a farm since she died in the late 70s. I miss that place.

[Amail]

Having never been near a farm, I find this stuff fascinating! I love learning about big doin's that I know nothing about.