Pullin' strings from a round bale

[CattleHand]

Wow you guys work harder in the cold than I ever do. If its stuck to ice we just gut what we can get and move on. It will warm up eventually and we can get it then haha. I liked what Jo said about preseving the knife blade. Smart idea instead of just cutting across the bale.

 

[msscamp]

If it is cold or wet - and she has done a good job - let her ride back to the house with you in the cab!

Bez+

My, my, my - aren't you just a knight in shining armor! :roll:

 

[TexasBred]

I will share my way of getting the strings off. When not frozen cut on one side of bale while lifted off the earth and go to the other side and bunch with a enough slack to tie in a knot then pull off and I use and empty feed sack to put twine in. If frozen will roll them behind truck or in front of tractor loader to bust the snow and ice loose pick up do the same as above most of the time the string will come off.

I keep a good sharp carpet knife on the tractor. Rake it across the bale, take the loose ends of the string and tie them all together and just leave til the hay is gone then pick it up and remove from pasture.

 

[AngusLimoX]

For you cold weather twine fighters - I normally put up a few weeks of "go fast" round bales in the fall.

Our bales remain formed once the twine is off, so I take the twine off when it is mild and set up a row, 60 or so bales in my case.

When it is minus 30 and the wind is howling, I just go to that row, never leave the cab to feed.

Also use them when "something comes up" and I can fire a bale over the gate to hold them until things settle.

Gravel and Coverall is in my future, but somewhere down a very long list!

 

[Angus Cowman]

Pulling strings from bales.

Spear the bale - lift it from the wagon - drive to the place you want to place it - lower it so the wife can cut the strings - then let her pull them any darned way she wants - if she thinks she cannot pull them because of ice - lift the bale and drop it first - then let her cut them - either way make sure she gathers up all the strings and puts them all in a feed bag - you do not want her to leave them in the field - they play heck on the front axle seals on a 4WD tractor.

If it is cold or wet - and she has done a good job - let her ride back to the house with you in the cab!

Bez+

Bez
It sounds like you and I have pretty much the same technique
I pull up to the gate she gets out and opens it I drive thru she closes it we get to the pasture we are feeding in I stay in the truck and let the bale down with th Dew eze and she gets out and cuts the string I keep an eye out to make sure she gets them all off
I let her back in and then unroll the first bale then we repeat tthis process about 12 times a day

We don't have to worry about the ice unless it is coming down while we are feeding as we store all our hay in barns

If we are in the bull pen I might lower the bale before we pull thru the gate so she doesn't have to worry about them fighting and pushing

THIS IS THE BEST WAY I HAVE FOUND

 

[IluvABbeef]

Pulling strings from bales.

Spear the bale - lift it from the wagon - drive to the place you want to place it - lower it so the wife can cut the strings - then let her pull them any darned way she wants - if she thinks she cannot pull them because of ice - lift the bale and drop it first - then let her cut them - either way make sure she gathers up all the strings and puts them all in a feed bag - you do not want her to leave them in the field - they play heck on the front axle seals on a 4WD tractor.

If it is cold or wet - and she has done a good job - let her ride back to the house with you in the cab!

Bez+

Yep, sounds like you, like dad, had to replace a broken seal on one of the axles, rendering the tractor uncapacitated for a few weeks. At least it broke in the summer when bale feeding ain't necessary.

 

[lavacarancher]

I think I will withdraw this one. I found a better way.

 

[Jim62]

And you ain't gonna tell us what it is ??

 

[SRBeef]

Just my opinion but if you will take your knife or razor and cut downward across the string it will keep your blade from dulling so quickly and there is less problems cutting the string from it pulling. ie cut down from the one oclock rather than 3 oclock.

I've been buying these utility knife blades with a U shaped cutting area - I think they are for cutting linoleum or carpeting. They seem to stay sharp longer than the regular utility knife blades when cutting bale wrap. They would probably do the same for twine also. jmho.

 

[MistyMorning]

My current method is to get inside the dam bale feeder and cut and pull the strings from in there and hope to God I get an airlift out there sometime soon! :shock: Mud season!

 

[jw]

Just my opinion but if you will take your knife or razor and cut downward across the string it will keep your blade from dulling so quickly and there is less problems cutting the string from it pulling. ie cut down from the one oclock rather than 3 oclock.

I've been buying these utility knife blades with a U shaped cutting area - I think they are for cutting linoleum or carpeting. They seem to stay sharp longer than the regular utility knife blades when cutting bale wrap. They would probably do the same for twine also. jmho.

I used to use those roofing knives, then a sharp pocket knife, but later learned to use scissors with about a three inch blade. They seemed to work very well because you didn't have to worry about cutting the hay.