bale sizes make a differance

[bigbull338]

the guy started cutting our hay monday.an we started baling wed,baled 9 bales blew a cylinder.took it in to get fixed,baled 9 more the other cylinder blew.everything is going great now,finishing baling 1 place today.it should make 90 5 by 6 bales more or less.now to the fun part.we made 210 4 by 6 bales in 1 cut last year.the 5 by 6 bales will 1800lbs thats 1.5 4 by 6 bales.so that means 2 things less hay to move stack an feed.but the bales will last alot longer.an its cheaper to run the big baler or the 4 by 6.the next 40ac field should make 40 bales more or less.wich means that we wouldve had about 190 4 by 6 bales vs 130.

 

[ChrisB]

Not to nit-pick but all things being equal a 4x6 bale should weigh 80% of what a 5x6 bale should weigh. So for every 4 5x6 bales you would have 5 4x6 bales.

 

[bigbull338]

well from what i know an have learned about going from 5 by 6 bales down to 4 by 6s is why we went back to baling our own hay.i know our cows was eating 12 4 by 6 bales a week last winter.where as if the bales wouldve been 5 by 6 bales they wouldve ate 7 maybe 8 5 by 6s a week.so i know theres more than the 300 or 400lb differance yall are thinking.

 

[J&D Cattle]

Chris is correct on a volume basis. Comparing different bales sizes is almost like apples and organes. To many variables. Hay type, moisture content, baler type, how they're packing the bales, etc...

No doubt though there will be less to move and they will feed longer. It's just hard to move those big bales on the road around here so we stick to the 4X5's.

 

[bigbull338]

the field ended up making 84 bales.so thats the same as 126 4 by 6s.still have 40acs left to bale.so we should enough hay to get through the winter when we are done.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I make 5.5'x5.5' bales and really like them as there aren't as many to handle. Only downside is if I need to haul them someplace other than near the farm. During daylight hours I have some extensions built so I can haul them doubled on the trailer but that is 11 foot wide so you have to be careful when and where your hauling. Id like to pick up a 4x5 or 4x6 baler to make bales to sell someday in the future.

 

[bigbull338]

the 5 by 6s are heavy son of a guns.using a 55hp 4x4 with loader to pull a 4 bale hay hauler plus 1 on the loader.an it was all the tractor wanted.so backed off an just hauled 4 on the trailer.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We actually weighed our hay this year, or about every other one. They are 4x5.5, and averaged 1050, with the lightest being 980, and the heaviest 1198. The nice thing is this year we will be able to tell how many pounds we feed. It was always a guess before.

 

[dun]

We actually weighed our hay this year, or about every other one. They are 4x5.5, and averaged 1050, with the lightest being 980, and the heaviest 1198. The nice thing is this year we will be able to tell how many pounds we feed. It was always a guess before.

You've go to remember that the weight of the bales will go down through the summer.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We actually weighed our hay this year, or about every other one. They are 4x5.5, and averaged 1050, with the lightest being 980, and the heaviest 1198. The nice thing is this year we will be able to tell how many pounds we feed. It was always a guess before.

You've go to remember that the weight of the bales will go down through the summer.

I was thinking of that Dun, how much more do you think they will lose? We weighed them about two weeks after they were baled, before we put them up. We can weigh them when we feed them, but I think that in the COLD winter, we will not want to drag the scale out to weigh them going out to the pasture :mrgreen:

 

[dun]

We actually weighed our hay this year, or about every other one. They are 4x5.5, and averaged 1050, with the lightest being 980, and the heaviest 1198. The nice thing is this year we will be able to tell how many pounds we feed. It was always a guess before.

You've go to remember that the weight of the bales will go down through the summer.

I was thinking of that Dun, how much more do you think they will lose? We weighed them about two weeks after they were baled, before we put them up. We can weigh them when we feed them, but I think that in the COLD winter, we will not want to drag the scale out to weigh them going out to the pasture :mrgreen:

I would think around 5-10%, depends on the moisture when baled and if stored inside or out.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We should get our moisture back next week with test results. They are stored outside, that is why we insist on netting. We do put them on old pallets this year, to see if that reduces wastage at the bottom. Each bale we weighed we spray painted the weight on the netting, so just for curiosity sake I might weigh a few to see what our loss is...

 

[thommoos]

When I was making a 6x6 bale , (I was only able to feed once a week), the biggest thing I noticed was the cows were able to fill up and stay full with the bigger bales. I actually have less waste with the bigger bales. I think it has something to do with the lack of extra space in the hay ring. where the smaller bales I have more waste.

 

[bigbull338]

i know with these 5 by 6 bales the cows should eat 1 every 1.5 or 2 days depending on how much hay we put out.i talked to a buddy of mine that thinks the bales might weigh 2000 based on what his hay weighs.