Hay Wrappers?

[ERNIBIGB]

Anyone ever wrap hay for Haylage/Silage? I need input on the various machines used. I am thinking about buying one and have limited experience. Pros/Cons on individual and tube type please. We are feeding some that was done last spring and the cattle love it to the point I think they would eat the plastic wrap if given the opportunity.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I have done it for the last couple of yrs I think we did around 800 bales this yr
I have wrapped Oats,Millets and Rye and the cows love it all
Jed and I bought our own wrapper last yr it is a single bale wrapper which I prefer because it gives me more feeding options as to when and how much I have to feed over a inline wrapper plus there is less chance with spoilage on the single wrapped bales if you get a tear which you will

If buying a new single wrapper I would get the type that the plastic wrap goes around the bale instead of the bale table spinning they looks like the are more efficient and the one I seen you could also use two rolls of plastic on so it sped up the wrapping process

I think McHale was the brand I seen
if you go to YouTube and search fro sileage wrapping there is 100s of videos of different type of wrappers
Vermeer,Kuhn,Mchale all sell them and I am sure there are several others
ours is a Parmiter which got bought by another company but they all are basically the same machine

 

[turklilley]

I wrap some each year. As stated the cattle love it. I wrap some hay also if I can't get it dry before the rain. I don't own a wrapper, a friend wraps mine. I like the tubes, it is cold enough here in winter it is not a problem having the end open.

 

[tripleBfarms]

anybody ever use the 3 point version? Just wondering how well they work.

 

[1wlimo]

anybody ever use the 3 point version? Just wondering how well they work.

They are good for use in a yard. Bring in bales place on a wrapper, wrapper tips them off so you can move them and stack. The more basic machine require and operator, but pay more and they become automated,

Will work better for you if you wrap in the yard, trailed are better wrapping in the field.

 

[Stocker Steve]

If buying a new single wrapper I would get the type that the plastic wrap goes around the bale instead of the bale table spinning they looks like the are more efficient and the one I seen you could also use two rolls of plastic on so it sped up the wrapping process

I think McHale was the brand I seen
if you go to YouTube and search fro sileage wrapping there is 100s of videos of different type of wrappers
Vermeer,Kuhn,Mchale all sell them and I am sure there are several others
ours is a Parmiter which got bought by another company but they all are basically the same machine

What is roughly the cost of a single bale wrapper vs. an inline tube wrapper?

 

[sizmic]

1/2, roughly. We have an in-line, there are advantages to both. Don't forget the added expense of a "bale hugger" if you want the single wrapper. You dont want to go poking holes in your newly wrapped bales.

Sizmic

 

[john250]

Anyone ever wrap hay for Haylage/Silage? I need input on the various machines used. I am thinking about buying one and have limited experience. Pros/Cons on individual and tube type please. We are feeding some that was done last spring and the cattle love it to the point I think they would eat the plastic wrap if given the opportunity.

I have a neighbor with a Class system which spits out a wrapped bale. $80 K is what I heard, pretty good source. Neighbor is feeding organic dairy cows, and I guess feed quality pays better for him than it does for a commercial beef cow guy like me. I'll never show a profit on any high expense bale making system, but I do have a barn where I store dry hay.
It used to rain here--to the point where a 4 day window of "no rain" was rare. I bought more reliable conventional equipment, bigger, and now I can usually count on getting a cutting baled up dry. Breakdowns must not happen. I just don't see the economics of wrappers in my situation. I don't have extra labor, for one thing. And I don't need another machine to maintain.
My hay will run 80 to 100 RFV. Angus cows love it. Holsteins would probably starve.
Look at what you need to feed the cattle you have.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Wrapped hay for beef cows would be hard to justify, but I was focused more on backgrounding stockers.
There must be systems for a lot less than $80,000?

 

[shorty]

I bought a new 3pt Kvernland wrapper 10 years ago for $5800 and a used bale hugger for my skid loader for $900 , We wrap 400 to 500 bales a year and it works good for us . best is to have 2 guys , one running the wrapper and one on the loader , I have done it by myself but it makes for a lot of climnbing up and down . If you're doing a lot more a tube wrapper would be faster but you're looking at 15-20K or more . It costs us about $3.50 for plastic to wrap a 4x4 bale , It makes good feed.

 

[kjonesel]

This has been an excellent post. I should have gotten a neighbor to wrap some alfalfa that we had to round bale wet but it was only 12 bales and the gain would be hard to justify so we baled it loose and have musty hay.

 

[Angus Cowman]

you don't HAVE to have a bale hugger (we have one and seldom use it )
we yard all our haylage and then wrap it in rows
we have one person/machine wrapping and one hauling the bales to the wrapper

 

[ERNIBIGB]

I got a good buy on a used Tubeline Wrapper and have wrapped around 600 rolls so far.(400 for others) We would be in even more serious shortage if not for the wrapper. I cut the first cutting (mostly ryegrass) mid to late April and got it wrapped. Had very limited second cutting and now with drought the sudan is not even going to make much hay. Hopefully there will be something to cut later and either wrap it or bale it dry. With the wrapper I am much less dependent on weather. I am convinced that ryegrass cut early and wrapped for silage is the most economical feed for calves considering the cost of grain based feed.
With the machine I got I can pretty much run it from the tractor I feed it with after the initial setup.

 

[springgardenfarm]

I have a twine baler and was thinking about looking in to a single bale wrapper for the hay instead of tarping it or hauling it to the barn.can someone give me some info as to where I can start or if it was even feasible.

Thanks