Hay tarps
- Thread starter blueridge
- Start date
Help Support CattleToday:
Bez>
Well-known member
blueridge":1pg0iqi8 said:
Do a search on these boards - tarps have been beat to death - I use them to cover about 500 round bales - they work.
Bez>
C HOLLAND
Well-known member
Mine is under a tarp for the first time this year.
I also had 2 bundles of cross ties and I made rows for the hay to sit on, I put the ties end to end with a gap between of 2 feet and they are on 3 foot centers. I can come in from either end and pick up or drop a bale of hay. I have rows long enough to put 10 bales and my tarp covers 3 rows (30 rolls and it cost me $55.00 and it will probally last 4 years if you put it up when not in use.
I figure if you save 10% of the hay each year by covering it, the savings will cover the tarp and cross ties.
JMO for what it's worth.
I also had 2 bundles of cross ties and I made rows for the hay to sit on, I put the ties end to end with a gap between of 2 feet and they are on 3 foot centers. I can come in from either end and pick up or drop a bale of hay. I have rows long enough to put 10 bales and my tarp covers 3 rows (30 rolls and it cost me $55.00 and it will probally last 4 years if you put it up when not in use.
I figure if you save 10% of the hay each year by covering it, the savings will cover the tarp and cross ties.
JMO for what it's worth.
blueridge":2fytgzkc said:
You get the right kind, and yes, they are good, and there is no spoilage. How long they last depends on the kind of tarps, climate, and the wind factor - no wind, very few problems. Lots of wind, cheap tarps, and that is a whole other story - grommets tear out, holes are rubbed in the tarps from the wind whipping them, etc and so on. I would imagine humidity plays into this as well, but I don't know exactly how that works, because we don't have high humidity up here.
In the past we used "hay gard" tarps. Last for years and the hay is as sweet when you pull it out as it was when you put the tarp on it. After 7 years they don;t stand up too well to a brush hog though.
dun
dun
I was thinking that buying tarps that cover a smaller number of balses -- say 25 -- of the 50 or so that I will need, would make it where I could keep some at each pasture for the winter. I am no tilling two new pastures this september and want to stay off of them as much as possible with the tractor. Soil compaction can be a big problem here in the upstate.
