Favorite footing for hay storage

[JB]

I think it’s finally happening, my very own hay storage “run-in”! Currently there is gravel, but the area needs to be leveled and widened a bit. It will hold hay most of the Winter, and will have my trailer in there for the rest of the year.

So - gravel and pallets? Gravel and plastic and pallets? Is concrete something I should consider sooner rather than later, or is that just a nice to have but totally not necessary?

My hay is currently stored, at the farmer’s, on pallets sitting on gravel. I’ve never had a problem with mold on the bottom of a bottom bale even when getting it in February after being baled in May. These are 900-1000lb netted rounds, if that makes any difference. But I also can’t guarantee how many more years I’ll be getting hay from this farm, so I need to consider smaller, string-wrapped rounds, and even small squares.

So what’s your all-out setup, and what is your “it will do just fine” deal?

[S1969]

I have gravel with pallets, but some years ago nailed plywood on top of the pallets – so much better. And mainly because the pallets are not filling up with hay/chaff, etc. and getting mildewy. When I feed it out I sweep up the chaff and throw that out on top of the hay. So it’s a clean, dry, level surface when I get each load delivered.

Obviously if you need to drive in there/onto the surface - this will not work.

[Simkie]

What sort of equipment is bringing in the bales?

Pallets over concrete and pallets over screenings worked equally well for me with regard to keeping the hay dry, but the skid steer REALLY dug in and tore up the screenings when the bales were delivered. I’d spent a lot of time leveling and tamping and that was a sad, sad day.

[kande04]

We put plastic down on gravel and stack the bales on that. Whenever anyone has plastic tarps or sheets to dispose of I add more layers. Pallets would probably be better, but the tractor has to be able to move around in there and we don’t want to have to pick up pallets.

[DMK]

can you build a raised floor? I had an open front shed that was raised from 6" to about 30" (back to front). I just put hay down on the raised plywood floor, left a gap in the back and on the sides and NEVER had a problem, even bringing in a 100 bales in summer humidity.

Plus the underside was useful for storing extra fence boards, etc.

[JB]

Right now it’s just our pickup that brings the hay, 2 bales at a time. So I’d back in, dump the bales, and pull out.

We could certainly add thin plywood to the tops of the pallets - not a bad idea if there are small squares in the future.

This will be 12-14’ x 36’, driving in from the short side.

It sounds like we’ll be fine with gravel for a good while, even forever.

[Palm_Beach]

Gotta love the round bale wrassling. I’d keep away from plastic and tarps, they can collect water and moisture.

[ElementFarm]

we have gravel with tarps, and pallets on top of everything. We use a tractor to move bigger bales in there, so we do have to move pallets around, and in the spring, we empty out everything, throw out the mildewed chaff that’s in/below the pallets, sweep everything out, and start again. We’ve never lost a single bale to mold.

[JB]

Tarps (or, even better, plastic sheeting such as used on the ground under crawl spaces) on the ground can do a good job keeping ground moisture from rising to the bottom of the bottom bales.

I’ll just stick with gravel and pallets for now. The pallets will keep air flow along the bottom so I’m not really concerned about ground moisture, especially since that’s how the bales are currently stored in the farmer’s barn.

[EquineJunky]

In my hay storage run in, I have screenings raising the ground, a layer of plastic, mats, then pallets. Even with that, with all the rain we’ve had this year, I was having a problem with moisture coming up past the plastic through the seam where two mats joined. That moisture was of course being pulled up into the pallets over the area. We pulled that up this year and put down ANOTHER layer of plastic. It’s covered with hay now so can’t look to see if the moisture problem is solved yet. I do wish I had a layer of plywood on top of the pallets as I’m getting tired of wrestling pallets up and digging chaff out at the end of winter before putting the next winter’s hay in. Need to add that to the ‘wish list’.

[JB]

It definitely sounds like adding plywood to the pallets will be in order if we ever end up having to go to squares. 1/4" plywood wouldn’t be too bad an expense.

[Horseman15]

I store mine on a concrete floor. Under the concrete is gravel with a moisture barrier under that. I’ve had no issues, even with the hay dust that’s filtered down to the floor.

[JB]

@Horseman15

I store mine on a concrete floor. Under the concrete is gravel with a moisture barrier under that. I’ve had no issues, even with the hay dust that’s filtered down to the floor.

Ah, that’s a very good consideration if we do end up putting concrete down, thanks! Is that moisture barrier standard for concrete, or just for particular situations? It’s been so long since we had the barn aisle concreted I don’t begin to remember if it was done there.

[Horseman15]

@JB

Ah, that’s a very good consideration if we do end up putting concrete down, thanks! Is that moisture barrier standard for concrete, or just for particular situations? It’s been so long since we had the barn aisle concreted I don’t begin to remember if it was done there.

Use the same moisture barrier you’d use for a garage or basement floor in a house.

[JB]

Right, just wondering if it was standard practice to put that barrier under concrete, or if it’s something to request. I couldn’t tell you if it was put under our garage concrete floor, or the concrete in the barn aisle

[Madhouse]

For an outside concrete slab you would need to ask for a vapor barrier - definitely a must do.

Out of the box alternatives:
Bituminous/asphalt (different terms for the same thing) does not allow moisture through and in some areas it’s cheaper than concrete.
I use an EPDM rubber roofing membrane over gravel - I can drive on it without puncturing it. It typically comes in a 45 or 60 mil. Most commercial roofing contractors will sell used membrane for cheap.

[diceuf]

I have plastic pallets on top of gravel, then a sheet of water barrier plastic, then wood pallets on top of that. Water actually runs under my hay shed, but the hay stays dry.