shed water after hay is baled

[Angus Cowman]

There are two people that love net wrapping.

1. The person baling the hay. I can bale/wrap 2 rolls with netwrap to you baling 1 that is tied with string.

2. The person hauling the hay. Netwrapped hay hauls so much better.

As to the water-shedding abilities, the concept of netwrap is to allow water to run off better. There is a difference, but not that much.

I will agree that you can bale 3 bales with net to 2 bales with twine but not 2 to 1

 

[Angus Cowman]

http://www.qcover.com
Cheapest and easiest hoop structure I could find to put up. I just finished a 36'x60' structure that will easily hold 180 rolls, more if I try a little harder. All materials ended up under 10 grand. Gov't cost-share put it under 5 grand. It took me two Saturdays to set all the posts and build the pony walls. Took one Saturday to put up the frame and cover. That's about $2.30 cents a square foot to store hay. If I fill it every year for ten years, my cost comes to about $2.66 per roll of hay. Pretty reasonable I think.

I had a 42 x 80 pole barn style hay barn built last yr labor and material was $11,600 and some change and I can stack 408 4x5 bales in it

I feel a barn pays for it self in hay loss if you save 10% of loss pr yr it doesn't take long to pay for a barn when hay is costing $35 and up per 4x5 bale

 

[Jogeephus]

How the heck are you doin', Jogee? You folks over there gettin' any rain?

Other than I'm getting older and more forgetful, we're doing fantastic! This is the first year in the last five that we have had good rains so far. Cows don't even come running to the gate anymore. I hate to admit this, but I even left a gate open the other day and it stayed open for two days and the cows never left the pasture. Its amazing what rain can do.

 

[grannysoo]

I will agree that you can bale 3 bales with net to 2 bales with twine but not 2 to 1

If you've got a good thick windrow, 2 to 1 is correct. If those windrows are thin, then 3 to 2 would be correct.

 

[mnmtranching]

I buy hay from and old guy that stores the bales in a shed. Boy it's nice having the truck come with the nice green hay and no spoilage.
If you store outside, you got to figure at least 10% more bales to allow for spoilage.
I've bought plenty of net wrap, outside bales. I'm not at all impressed. But then again I don't like the string wrapped outside bales either.
I can tell you for sure, when buying outside Big Round Bales. Get the biggest, hardest bales you can. Those big and hard bales shed the water better and absorb by far the least from the ground.
Storing outside hay on sand or gravel on a hill or mound helps a lot.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I will agree that you can bale 3 bales with net to 2 bales with twine but not 2 to 1

If you've got a good thick windrow, 2 to 1 is correct. If those windrows are thin, then 3 to 2 would be correct.

I put 18 wraps of twine on and 2 wraps of net in 8 hrs I can bale around 360 with net and 240 with twine in good hay that is a 30 bale avg per hr with twine and 45avg with net and your clutch leg sure knows it has been used :lol: it might make a difference if your baler only has one tie arm for the twine where mine has 2

 

[bird dog]

Sorry to hi-jack this thread but it looks like a good place to ask my question. Whom builds a reasonably priced pole barn in the Central Texas area. Are any of these big firms that travel around all over the state better than others or are local guys the way to go. Also what eve height should I ask for two stack 6 x 6 bales two high?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Sorry to hi-jack this thread but it looks like a good place to ask my question. Whom builds a reasonably priced pole barn in the Central Texas area. Are any of these big firms that travel around all over the state better than others or are local guys the way to go. Also what eve height should I ask for two stack 6 x 6 bales two high?
Thanks in advance.

I would go with a reputable local contractor, talk to the lumber co, they probably have a few they can reccomend

I would go 14ft to the bottom of the truss

Also you might check the prices on a steel structure since steel has came down it might be competetively priced again and will last much longer

 

[dun]

Also you might check the prices on a steel structure since steel has came down it might be competetively priced again and will last much longer

I just checked this week on steel vs a standard pole barn. Standard Pole barn 100X32 for 13k, standard steel the same size for 27k

 

[novaman]

An old timer once told me that you may as well put up a hay shed. He said you're paying for it whether you put it up or not. I have to agree with his logic. Problem is trying to afford the shed :lol2: .

 

[1982vett]

An old timer once told me that you may as well put up a hay shed. He said you're paying for it whether you put it up or not. I have to agree with his logic. Problem is trying to afford the shed :lol2: .

Affording the shed...Ok, let's think about that. If you can save say 10 - 15%, quantity and quality. Depending on where you are and your conditions, now I realize that if you are in an area where the only water you hay gets is from irrigation you might not need a barn. But let's say you bale 100 acres of hay a year. Don't need to go into how many bales per acre. If you store your hay in a fashion that will save that 10 - 15 percent loss from rot and quality loss you now have to bale only 85 - 90 acres to have the same amount of useable hay.

That is 10 - 15 acres less wear and tear, fuel and oil, time and fer-t-lizer :shock: and you have 10 - 15 acres for the other cattle to utilize or maybe more hay to sell.

Now if you are buying and storing small amounts for short terms. By all means, a little work and scrounging of materials to fix a well drained area and covering with tarps or plastic is probably going to be more economical. I used to store close to 200 on crossties, light poles, and even used palets before I had access to barn storage. Had close to a $1000 tied up in Bale Bonnets to shed the water. They were worth every penny.

 

[GinnyGreen]

"Round bales naturally shed water. The bulk of the loss comes from the bottom of the bale. If you stack your rolls on wooden pallets you will be amazed at how much hay is saved"

I would use plastic pallets instead just because wooden ones don't fair very well just because they can deteriorate from water and insects.