Hay Wrapping

[angus9259]

I'm looking at buying a bale wrapper for my hay instead of using tarps. Anyone have any experience? The wrapper sits on the three point - looks like it pulls off a spool of plastic. How much does it actually cost per bale for the plastic?

 

[Jogeephus]

About $1.00 per bale if its tube wrapped probably $1.50 if its ball wrapped.

 

[angus9259]

It'll be ball wrapped. That doesn't seem so awful bad. The "wrapper" is $2150.

 

[jedstivers]

Your talking about wrapping dry hay right? If so SRBeef has one, you might pm him with your questions.

 

[dun]

Other then the wrapping, think about how you'll dispose of the used wrap.

 

[SRBeef]

It'll be ball wrapped. That doesn't seem so awful bad. The "wrapper" is $2150.

I don't think there is a 3-point mounted "ball" (100% wrapped including the ends) bale wrapper out there especially not for $2150.

I suspect what you are looking at is one like I use:

These are a couple pictures from my wrapping last month of a portion of my winters hay. This year I am leaving a gap between bales and using up whatever pallets I can find for under a portion of my bales. These ones that are wrapped and up on pallets will be the last ones I feed next April.

These wrapped bales have definitely cut down dramatically on wasted hay especially from late December through the end of the WI hay feeding season May 1. I would not wrap over the corners as that traps water in side.

Cost of the plastic depends heavily on how much/how many wraps you put on. And there is definitely a knack to operating the machine efficiently. But you will learn. If you keep it to about 2 wraps average there is not that much plastic used. I just cut through it and the netwrap with a good sharp razor knife and the plastic plus the netwrap will compress into a volume about the same as a coffee can. I then put this in my recycling containers.

I plan on switching to black plastic film which is better for these open ended bales.

Other questions?

Jim

 

[angus9259]

Other then the wrapping, think about how you'll dispose of the used wrap.

Indeed. No free lunch.

 

[angus9259]

Jim, what you post is correct.

The other problem seems to be time - how much longer it would take to individually wrap each bale - and space - they are stored single layer.

How many bales do you put out per day?

 

[Angus Cowman]

About $1.00 per bale if its tube wrapped probably $1.50 if its ball wrapped.

Jo if your getting complete bales wrapped for a $1.50pr bale (plastic cost) then I need you to ship me some plastic cost this yr for wrapping 4x4s was running right at $4pr bale in plastic cost alone

 

[Jogeephus]

About $1.00 per bale if its tube wrapped probably $1.50 if its ball wrapped.

Jo if your getting complete bales wrapped for a $1.50pr bale (plastic cost) then I need you to ship me some plastic cost this yr for wrapping 4x4s was running right at $4pr bale in plastic cost alone

Didn't do any this year but that was what I paid last year for plastic. Hard to believe it went up $3 a roll though. At $4 a roll and $1 for wrap ends up being $5/roll that could be put toward a hay barn.

 

[hillrancher]

SRBeef, have you ever made haylage with your wrpper. Reason for asking I have bought one simular for haylage, haven't used yet. Dealer clames it will do it.

 

[SRBeef]

SRBeef, have you ever made haylage with your wrpper. Reason for asking I have bought one simular for haylage, haven't used yet. Dealer clames it will do it.

No, I have not made any baleage with it. I have also heard you can do it by wrapping over the corners then pushing the bales together very tight. I would suggest you try it as a small scale experiment before doing a lot. You also need to get the bales up on a dry surface if you are going to try that. I am wrapping to try to minimize waste and make it easier to feed in the snow and ice.

I am very particular about removing net wrap completely even in the snow and ice. I don't want my cattle eating plastic. Wrapping the OD with the plastic really makes the netwrap easier to remove.

Here is a picture of typical conditions for much of the winter in Wisconsin:

I do not have nor am I likely to ever have a hay shed. Wrapping makes feeding a lot easier and faster when bales are covered like this in Jan and Feb and sometimes into March. I just pickup a wrapped bale on my loader spear and drop it and the ice and snow come off. There is little or no waste and I can easily get the netwrap off.

Without wrapping the netwrap is often frozen on and into the bale sometimes requiring me to cut a fair amount of hay away to make sure I can get all of the wrap off.

The down side to wrapping is that it takes me 10 or 15 minutes per bale to take each bale off of the trailer, wrap each one and place it in line when I am working by myself. I am getting better and developing a system for wrapping as I take them off of the trailer but it is slow. This year due to time limitations I only wrapped maybe half of my bales - these I will use the second half of the winter.

The first couple bales I fed earlier this month were left over from last year and in surprisingly good condition given all the rain we have had and sitting outside for over a year.

Jim

 

[hillrancher]

Thanks, SRBeef;
You already answered the next question the time required to wrap and place. I bought some of the black wrap also the white bailage wrap. Will try both when haying time comes.
I also will be working alone, and do not have enough birthdays left to make a hay barn pay out.
SRBeef it take lots of tractors and help to use a bagger. I helped do a few hundred bails this year it was time burning.
Thanks again SRBeef.

 

[Angus Cowman]

About $1.00 per bale if its tube wrapped probably $1.50 if its ball wrapped.

Jo if your getting complete bales wrapped for a $1.50pr bale (plastic cost) then I need you to ship me some plastic cost this yr for wrapping 4x4s was running right at $4pr bale in plastic cost alone

Didn't do any this year but that was what I paid last year for plastic. Hard to believe it went up $3 a roll though. At $4 a roll and $1 for wrap ends up being $5/roll that could be put toward a hay barn.

we were wraping for baleage so maybe that is the cost difference as we were probably puting more on for an airtight seal than just wrappinf a bale for weather protection
rolls of the plastic were costing around $80 pr roll and If I remeber correctly we were averaging 20 bals pr roll

 

[Jogeephus]

I only do it to make baylage when I have to. Not for weather protection - don't need it for that. I hope I never have to use it again but its nice to have when weather paints you in a corner.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I only do it to make baylage when I have to. Not for weather protection - don't need it for that. I hope I never have to use it again but its nice to have when weather paints you in a corner.

don't ya just love that aroma of sileage on a cold day
it is kinda like a good breakfast will stick with ya all day and then some :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[angus9259]

Well, this all answers my questions - too pricey per bale for me to pursue since I'm still paying in the $100 a ton for hay range. It's hard to spend $4 to bale wrap em before equipment depreciation and time when a small bale only costs $20 and a big bale $50 to begin with. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Well, this all answers my questions - too pricey per bale for me to pursue since I'm still paying in the $100 a ton for hay range. It's hard to spend $4 to bale wrap em before equipment depreciation and time when a small bale only costs $20 and a big bale $50 to begin with. Back to the drawing board.

I would say just wrapping the surface wouldn't be too expensive
I guess the determining factor is how much your wrap cost pr roll and how many feet are in each roll
for a 5ft bale it would take 19.625ft pr wrap around the bale
if wrapping 6ft bales it would take28.26ft of plastic pr wrap

 

[dun]

Well, this all answers my questions - too pricey per bale for me to pursue since I'm still paying in the $100 a ton for hay range. It's hard to spend $4 to bale wrap em before equipment depreciation and time when a small bale only costs $20 and a big bale $50 to begin with. Back to the drawing board.

Maybe you could lease/rent a machine or hire it done. Not only look at the upfront cost but what is the value of the spoiled hay each year that you could save

 

[Caustic Burno]

It'll be ball wrapped. That doesn't seem so awful bad. The "wrapper" is $2150.

I don't think there is a 3-point mounted "ball" (100% wrapped including the ends) bale wrapper out there especially not for $2150.

I suspect what you are looking at is one like I use:

These are a couple pictures from my wrapping last month of a portion of my winters hay. This year I am leaving a gap between bales and using up whatever pallets I can find for under a portion of my bales. These ones that are wrapped and up on pallets will be the last ones I feed next April.

These wrapped bales have definitely cut down dramatically on wasted hay especially from late December through the end of the WI hay feeding season May 1. I would not wrap over the corners as that traps water in side.

Cost of the plastic depends heavily on how much/how many wraps you put on. And there is definitely a knack to operating the machine efficiently. But you will learn. If you keep it to about 2 wraps average there is not that much plastic used. I just cut through it and the netwrap with a good sharp razor knife and the plastic plus the netwrap will compress into a volume about the same as a coffee can. I then put this in my recycling containers.

I plan on switching to black plastic film which is better for these open ended bales.

Other questions?

Jim

I have been to a goat ropin, rat killin and a county fair and ain't never seen nothing like that.
That is as neat as sliced bread.