unrolling hay
- Thread starter ERNIBIGB
- Start date
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For me, it's not necessarily about the $ value of the hay you save, it's about the hay itself. I'm kinda at the limit of the amount of hay that I can even put up or find to buy. I could probably run more pairs if I absolutely knew I could either find the hay or conserve the hay to feed them. Even a 15% savings could translate in to several rolls.
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
That's the funny thing about the cow business. Every operation has it's own obstacles. I have more hay acres leased than I do pasture acres. People either don't want to lease me the ground to run cows on, or I can't compete with row crop farmers. I sell hay so that's a positive. Costs me about $50 to put up a clean, quality roll 4x6 with 13% protein for my cows. And on the hay I sell I have to keep it under $40 bc people wont pay over $50. I can get as much for a 4x5 roll as I can a 5x6. Customers just want "roll of hay w/o weeds". I really need more pasture and cows. Be glad to ship you some hay Bigfoot but it would cost you a small fortune, lol. I run myself crazy trying to be efficient. One of these days I'm gonna figure out that it ain't worth it. But I love a good challenge.
jedstivers
Well-known member
When you roll it out they don't wast much at all unless you are rolling out a lot more then they can eat. Most of what I see left are the big steams that they would leave in a ring anyway. I think they waste more in a ring than by rolling unless it raining or going to be bad then I'll set a lot in the woods or now I'm using tires instead of rings. I also like loading old cotton trailers with it. They have the bottom 18" cut out of the sides.
I'm feeling somewhere around 50 bales a week right now.
I like that thing JMJ is running and another thing that would do similar but cost less is a bale unrolled that spins using a hydrolic motor. You can very the size of the windrow all you want. You can also use them to put a wrap on the hay to store it outside.
I'm feeling somewhere around 50 bales a week right now.
I like that thing JMJ is running and another thing that would do similar but cost less is a bale unrolled that spins using a hydrolic motor. You can very the size of the windrow all you want. You can also use them to put a wrap on the hay to store it outside.
i unroll 4 bales a day for my herd. they eat every drop of it and you can only tell where they ate because of all the crap laying around.
I've tried several methods including a bale processor (slow and best with 2 tractors)
used a regular hay unroller .. ( easier for them to lay in it and also is a complete b!tch to line up the tines in the exact center)
the best and what I use everyday is a hay spinner. if you spin one way it throws the hay all over.. the other way and it windrows it in a 3' tall pile. like i said.. they waste almost nothing, and every calf, cow etc..all get to eat what they want.
I've tried several methods including a bale processor (slow and best with 2 tractors)
used a regular hay unroller .. ( easier for them to lay in it and also is a complete b!tch to line up the tines in the exact center)
the best and what I use everyday is a hay spinner. if you spin one way it throws the hay all over.. the other way and it windrows it in a 3' tall pile. like i said.. they waste almost nothing, and every calf, cow etc..all get to eat what they want.
jedstivers
Well-known member
Here's the one that can wrap a bale.
I have been wanting to make a homemade one just to spin it off. Would like to have one on my loader so I could hold bales above my cotton trailers and spin loose hay into them. Could mix different hay that way.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=60435
http://www.umequip.com/hay-handling/round-about/
I have been wanting to make a homemade one just to spin it off. Would like to have one on my loader so I could hold bales above my cotton trailers and spin loose hay into them. Could mix different hay that way.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=60435
http://www.umequip.com/hay-handling/round-about/
Ebenezer
Well-known member
Unrolling hay has more positives than just lower % waste. Spread it out and it lets all sizes and classes eat rather than just the boss cows. We look at soil samples and observe for locations in those pastures that are weak on production. Hay is a net gain on N, P and K so we apply fertility where needed; where we unroll, cows eat and deposit. And we do not have to buy and fool with rings and muddy donut holes in the pastures.
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
Beefy":1zi76kgl said:
Beefy do you have the super slicer? Or the truck mounted version?
John SD
Well-known member
Ebenezer":14pk5rag said:
Unrolling has always been my preferred method of feeding. I've never owned a bale ring
In later years, I used my Stur-D double bale fork to feed with the dozer tractor. I could pack 2 bales at a time to a fresh feeding spot in the pasture and roll the bale out with the dozer. IMO, it is a good deal to spread out the manure/pasture nutrients :idea: A lot of bale processors have been showing up in recent years and folks seem to like them. Have to have a pretty good sized mfwd tractor to drag them around in deep snow like we have now though :shock:
Dusty Britches
Well-known member
Ebenezer":2wfc1ryi said:
My neighbor and I have the same conversations - I unroll, he feeds in rings. When I used to feed in rings, I noticed the hay rotted, and the donuts in the pastures attracted wild hogs throughout the year. I told him that and his response was - that's why I disc it under at the end of the season. But the hogs still hit those areas. I explained that I unroll for various reasons and he said that they waste less in the rings. My response - define waste. Just because it doesn't all get eaten, doesn't mean it was wasted. I just pulled soil tests and the areas I unroll needed less fertilizer.
greybeard
Well-known member
I bet the areas where the hay rings were also need less fertilize.
greybeard":1gpi5spp said:
From fall to spring I'll lay waste to a pretty big swath of ground with my hay rings. I run a cultivator over it, with a big drag. I never seed it down, I just hit it a few times with 24D. It'll be the best pasture on my place for a few years.
HDRider
Well-known member
kjonesel
Well-known member
I would like to know how the super slicer would work on 2 year old bales stored outside. This past winter I have been unrolling bales with a skidsteer with forks. What I have is leftover wheat hay that was stored outside and infested with rats. I have been putting it all over the pasture and intend on working it this spring and reseeding it completely. It has some steep grades and I figure the straw would serve as mulch. The cows have utilized it as bedding and surprisingly ate quite a bit of it. What is surprising is how the rats have shredded the material within the bale, some bales have literally no stems over 3" long. After the cows pick through and then trample it their is very little left. A neighbor stopped and told me that years ago they would "plow" their pastures in preparation of reseeding in the spring by overwintering hogs and spreading the corn over the whole pasture.
joeu235
Active member
My first thought about the DewEze is "That's pretty cool"
My second thought is "Looks like more stuff to break down'
My second thought is "Looks like more stuff to break down'
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
kjonesel":2dz35cuc said:
It would work fine.
JMJ Farms
Well-known member
joeu235":ep3r8g65 said:
It's actually a very simple machine.
