hay questions

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jt

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would like to know what some of you expericenced in baling hay think about something..

i am in north louisiana and on last tues had my hay field cut.
thurs about 130 it very lightly rained, probably nothing more than like a dew

about 5 it was good and dry so they started baling.

sat evening i moved about half to the barn with no problems.

this morning (tues) i go out right after daybreak and start moving some more of it.. had to move it about 250 yards so i was just moving it on my frontend loader 1 at a time. after about 100 yards i noticed what i thought was dust coming off the bale, but in fact it got thicker as i went and turned out to be smoke. it was only coming from the front end of the bale where the wind was hitting it. this happened to every bale i moved after i noticed it.. the first 2-3 i didnt really pay attention to and hadnt noticed it.

i stopped moving hay and decided to check this out further first. it stopped smoking very quickly, and didnt ever smoke much.. after the hay had set for half and hour or so, it was no longer hot on top. i know hay goes thru a heat, but how long? and what am i up against here.

the man rolling my hay has done it for many years, and rolls a bunch of it..

any info appreciated..

thanks

jt
 
Two possibilities:

1. Mold spores coming out of the hay.
2. Hay got too hot--spontaneous combustion.

Be careful about putting hay in barn if either is the case. Also, if mold, definitely don't feed to horses.
 
Running Arrow Bill":1tzcl845 said:
Two possibilities:

1. Mold spores coming out of the hay.
2. Hay got too hot--spontaneous combustion.

Be careful about putting hay in barn if either is the case. Also, if mold, definitely don't feed to horses.

it got hot as i moved it.. but cooled afterwards, at least on the out side.
and stopped smoking. kind of weird.. if i had not been moving it so far on my tractor, i never would have known it..

i will not be putting any more of it in the barn.. put some in there saturday..

i guess it will be alright to feed to the cows??

jt
 
It will all right to feed to cows if it doesn't burn first.

I don't know how long you need to keep them out of the barn before they are safe from catching fire but someone here will know. Seems like a neighbor had some stacked outside where they were touching each other for quite a while before the whole mess went up in flames.
 
Don't put it in the barn for a couple of weeks.
I keep my hay inside and used to try to get it in ASAP.
Found out that if you let it cure a couple of weeks it actually stays better than if you put it inside right away.
The bales will stiffen up a little and will have less mold at feeding time.

Plus the old rule "Don't put hay in your barn if it's on FIRE!"

Hillbilly
 
hillbilly":3kq6gdzc said:
Don't put it in the barn for a couple of weeks.
I keep my hay inside and used to try to get it in ASAP.
Found out that if you let it cure a couple of weeks it actually stays better than if you put it inside right away.
The bales will stiffen up a little and will have less mold at feeding time.

Plus the old rule "Don't put hay in your barn if it's on FIRE!"

Hillbilly

how long is hay at risk of catching on fire?

jt
 
I've only been handling hay for 3 yrs. so take it for what it is....

I was "told" it was best to leave it outside, uncovered, not touching for 3 weeks.

When I went to put it away a couple weeks ago I had moved a couple bales pretty fast and had to get off to do something. By habit I put my hand on the end of the spear as I walked around it and it was VERY hot. Not enough to burn my hand but hot.

I decided to let it set another week and it was fine when I put it away.

Roy
 
They sell "compost" thermometers at the hardware stores that have about a 2 foot metal probe for around $10. We just poke it in there wait until the needle stops rising. If it's 10°F warmer than the air temp (assuming it is done the warm part of the day) we wait until the next day and check again.
 
What was the temp like that early in the morning, it's been really cool here lately. Could it have been moving the bales around might have loosened them enough for the heat inside of them to reach the cool air if it was cool causing steam to form? Just a possibility.
 
I've already tossed my copy, but the latest issue of Drovers has a piece on hay temps, curing, and calling the fire department

dun
 
jgn":1a16pxht said:
What was the temp like that early in the morning, it's been really cool here lately. Could it have been moving the bales around might have loosened them enough for the heat inside of them to reach the cool air if it was cool causing steam to form? Just a possibility.

low 70's.. confusing to me.. after i got off yesterday, i went back out there and ran my arm into the top part of the bale as far as i could and it was not hot.. ??

you could be exactly right.. it could have been steam?? i dont know. what i do know is that it was hot. the puzzling part to me is.. if it really was smoke, they should have went on and burned up by now??

i figure at this point they will be ok??? time will tell.

thanks

jt
 
Everyone who bales hay should have a hay moisture probe. They cost $150 (? been awhile) and shows the temp and moisture %. Your hay bales should be less than 16% or so. I check/test the bales every day when I first start baling to get an idea of the curing, once I'm satisfied I bale for the rest of the day. I don't have any alfalfa so can't say on that. Let the bales go through their sweat before moving them, a couple days or so depending on weather. I'm pretty good at estimating with my hands but I still use the tester to be sure; I use it religiously.
 
Use the two hand test works 100% of the time, besides I don't have 150 dollars. Lets see 1400 dollars for tractor clutch 30 dolllars a day for diesel bad and hurting back , sleeping in recliner because of back. No help available because hay is to close to working for a living. One old fat wore out man cutting,raking and baling hay priceless.
I HATE HAY.
 

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