Logistics of feeding large square bales indoors? Other options?

[Small_Change]

With it becoming harder and harder to find the help required to handle small square bales during hay season (we cut, bale and stack our own), I am starting to look for alternatives. Switching to large squares would require much less manpower to bring hay in, and might be something for us to consider in the long term. I just wonder how much day-to-day work it adds, as small squares are much more convenient to handle at feeding time. Would anyone share how they manage it in their barn?

Also, does anyone have experience with bale bundlers? I don’t know the correct term for them, but the equipment bundles small squares into stacks that can be moved with a tractor, again negating the need for a group of people to stack hay. This might be the best of both worlds, as it still allows you to feed small squares?

We have a wonderful group of hard working people who try their best to help each year, but because they are hard workers, they all have other jobs and can’t just wait for the call to come help when hay is coming in. We pay well, are incredibly appreciative, and treat anyone who comes out very well, but each year it is tougher to find people willing to sweat and throw bales.

[clanter]

call Liz Blizter, she owns Hay USA. She used to sell the hay handling equipment as a part of the business, if she does not now she can at least tell you who to talk with

http://hayusa.net/index1.html

Liz is a straight shooter, really a great person…she bailed us out several times during the droughts here…

[sherian]

my barn has end 10’ roll up doors, just drop a large square inside the door, peel off flakes, flakes break in half easy and stack pretty well in a wheelbarrow. Actually less work for me, since I am not slugging 70lb bales every day.

[Scribbler]

What do you mean by large squares?

Around here commercially grown Timothy comes in 100+ lb 3 string bales. The hay dealer stacks it and there it sits, no harder to break off flakes than a 50 lb 2 string bale.

I can’t move these and don’t try.

One hay supplier specializes in 330 lb square bales that go into a stall in a big net and typically last about 10 to 14 days. This is intermediate between a square bale and a round bail in function.

[betsyk]

The barn where I board feeds large squares in winter (the really large squares, 3’x3’x8’maybe). They move the large square to the hay area of each barn with the skidloader, cut the strings just so, so it doesn’t sag, and then pull off the big flakes into a Rubbermaid cart. Sometimes it’s a pain to pull off parts of the big flakes for a pony or a horse who doesn’t need much, but they make it work. The large squares work really well for turnout areas, because they can put a stack of flakes in the back of the gator and toss (shove) them off as they drive through the pasture. This is a big farm with approx. 100 horses, 50+ stalls, and guys who don’t want to work any harder than they have to. If the large squares weren’t more convenient, they wouldn’t use them!

[DunByMistake]

I buy from a guy who has a bale bundler. IMO, it is the future of hay - for small squares anyways. I tried it last year and got my coach to go that way too. She too was having trouble getting people to load and unload. Getting hay is the absolute worst part of horses to me. I was usually able to rope a couple of my brother’s friends to help but it’s a terrible job.

The bundler gives the best of both worlds. You have the convenience of moving hay with machinery in large squares plus it is easier to secure the load on a trailer and safer in my opinion. Then the convenience of small squares at feeding or traveling. The first year we did it, my SO got 5 ton of hay by himself in about 4 hours. Hay guy loaded onto trailer with tractor, SO drove home and unloaded with a skid steer that has forks. Was able to stack about 3 bundles high. I can not describe the joy of coming home to a barn full of hay and not having to move any of it.

I know the bundlers are expensive and require an extra trip around field to bundle, but well worth it in my opinion. I don’t know if you also sell hay but your customers will appreciate it also!

[crosscreeksh]

@sherian

my barn has end 10’ roll up doors, just drop a large square inside the door, peel off flakes, flakes break in half easy and stack pretty well in a wheelbarrow. Actually less work for me, since I am not slugging 70lb bales every day.

This!!

[crosscreeksh]

We switched to the big squares years ago. At our advancing age…Oklahoma “small squares” were 70 pound, 3 wire bales. A challenge to move it into our barn and a pain to deal with them every day. We get 1200 pound big squares…loaded on our trailer by the seller (it takes about 10 minutes to load 12)…unload the same way at home and I designed all of our new barns with large hay stalls, each with a 12x12 exterior sliding door for easy loading. We brace one end of the bale against a wall and use a big hay hook and a rope to keep the bale from flopping down…it opens like sliced bread…one flake at a time. In Ok. a big bale cost $40…here in Tx. they run $60…if you figure each bale = 24, 50 lb. bales our hay is costing the equivalent of $1.66 to $2.50 per bale…you can’t match that or the lack of labor required!!

[Mallard]

@sherian

my barn has end 10’ roll up doors, just drop a large square inside the door, peel off flakes, flakes break in half easy and stack pretty well in a wheelbarrow. Actually less work for me, since I am not slugging 70lb bales every day.

Yes… A friend has this setup at her 20+ boarding barn and it works well for them. Her bales are 3x3x8.

You do need a tractor that is capable of lifting these large bales.

[Bluey]

Our neighbor puts up small alfalfa bales in bundles of 21 bales.
He delivers and stacks the bundles in our barn.
We cut the bundle and push each small bale off to feed them.

A friend uses the big square bales.
He brings one into the barn with his skidloader and puts it in a handy spot.
He then peels off what he needs for each horse.

[gumtree]

Large squares are the most economical way to go. 3X3X8 650-850 lb bales around here. They are by far the best way to bale hay economically and in areas with short weather windows. The flakes on the larger bales usually weigh around 20+ lbs each. Which is what we feed each horse each day. Bit of a PITA if using hay nets. The aisle in my barn was wide so we would just strap to the FEL and drope by the door and push it into the barn. They are generally packed tight so even with the strings cut the bale does not fall apart. If I wanted to, needed to use half flakes. I take my an electric chain saw with no bar oil and cut the bale in half. Stating at one end and work in as the flake are used. But I don’t need to do that much.

In my neck of the haying woods. Small squares are being baled less and less each year. People aren’t willing to pay the real cost. The profit margins are too thin. The weather windows problematic.

I had use of this bale bundler. Makes short work of getting hay out of the field and into the barn. It straps 21 bales into a bundle. Then skid loaded on to wagons and skid loaded into storage. Skid loaders are not cheap. esp the ones that can lift the bundles high to stack. The bundler cost around $70,000. $100,000 into that equipment alone. Got to make and sell a LOT of hay to pay it off. Sold it.
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This is what comes out the back.
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[Highflyer]

We switched this year-- it’s definitely less convenient, but there weren’t any great choices. We have a bank barn so store a couple in the loft at a time and bring down 3-4 days worth at a time using a flat handcart. The horses we have in the barn are weanlings and semi-toothless retirees and just get a half flake each-- I’ve found that I can sort of fold the flakes in half and they split pretty well. If it was icy/ snowy and I had to, I could probably do that and drop them through the hole straight into the barn aisle like we do with the straw/ small bales.

[gumtree]

@Bluey

Our neighbor puts up small alfalfa bales in bundles of 21 bales.
He delivers and stacks the bundles in our barn.
We cut the bundle and push each small bale off to feed them.

A friend uses the big square bales.
He brings one into the barn with his skidloader and puts it in a handy spot.
He then peels off what he needs for each horse.

I suppose it depends on the type of hay being baled and how tight the producer baled them.

We stacked bundles 3-4 high and the bottom bales were fine. Bales weighed around 45± lbs on average.

[gumtree]

@Bluey

These are about 500 bales in those 21 small bale bundles our neighbor hauled here last summer, along with his skidloader and put them in the barn for us.
I cut the strings and push down one off the top stack with any broom handle.
Those are, on the bottom, two bundles deep in front, three in the back.
You can stack three up, but it will mash the bottom bales a bit, two is good enough:

I suppose it depends on the type of hay being baled and how tight the producer baled them.

We stacked bundles 3-4 high and the bottom bales were fine. Bales weighed around 45± lbs each on average.

[billiebob]

The hay supplier we started using at work has a bale bundler and that system is great, especially if you can’t get a bunch of people together to unload and stack bales. It saves a LOT on labor costs. You do need an appropriately sized skidsteer or tractor to unload. I was able to unload and stack about 3500 bales in probably about 10 hours by myself (not at the same time, we got about 300/load and it took me 30-45 minutes per load to put pallets down, stack, and clean up).

[Bluey]

@gumtree

I suppose it depends on the type of hay being baled and how tight the producer baled them.

We stacked bundles 3-4 high and the bottom bales were fine. Bales weighed around 45± lbs each on average.

You are right, our bales average about 68 lbs.
Being alfalfa, they are tight bales, which really helps them not get out of shape if piled on too high, other than being heavier than grass hays it is more weight on the bottom ones.

3 high is ok, never tried 4 high.
That is a lot of weigh on the bottom ones.

[hosspuller]

Small squares are needed for my personal use and are easier to sell. (Producers in this area are getting out of small squares) Even if I make large bales, I’d have to buy some small squares. Last season, I had a hard time getting help to make small squares.

As mentioned before, making hay is all about timing. It’s not always on the days people are available. So …I am moving to a bale accumulator and grapple. I’ll have to make two trips across the field instead of one… baler and wagon. Depending on how many bales the OP is doing… the systems are $8K and go north of $100K. If the OP is a small producer, I’d be willing to share my knowledge. (PM me )

[hosspuller]

@hosspuller

Small squares are needed for my personal use and are easier to sell. (Producers in this area are getting out of small squares) Even if I make large bales, I’d have to buy some small squares. Last season, I had a hard time getting help to make small squares.

As mentioned before, making hay is all about timing. It’s not always on the days people are available. So …I am moving to a bale accumulator and grapple. I’ll have to make two trips across the field instead of one… baler and wagon. Depending on how many bales the OP is doing… the systems are $8K and go north of $100K. If the OP is a small producer, I’d be willing to share my knowledge. (PM me )

PS … The difference between a bale bundler and an Accumulator and grapple system is the cost and end product. A Bundler takes small bales and bundles them into a large square bale. High cost and complex. Easy to stack. An Accumulator makes flat packs of bales that the grapple picks up. Easy to use. Less cost and simple

[SusanO]

I have gotten 3x3x8’s and 3x4x8’s. They work for me as I have a side of the barn with a deep overhang that I store my flatbed trailer under. I just leave the bale on the trailer and peel flakes off and feed them. The 3x3’s are a whole lot easier to deal with than the 3x4’s. Usually these are coming from bigger producers that tend to make better hay. I wish I could find some withing driving distance these days.

Hay growers around here do not have the equipment for the big bales. If they are a big producer they tend to bale round bales and “reprocess” the round bales. I.e. they have a machine that unrolls the round bale and feeds it into a square baler. This tends to make bales that have loose messy hay and are hard to feed when you cut the strings.

I have also gotten bales in the “bundles”. I love hauling it this way and I am now considering that I need a bigger tractor. I got some fabulous hay that was hauled in from Wyoming and the bales were 75 pounds each, I could not find anybody to unload and stack those bales. I finally got two college kids to help. What a mess!!! They couldn’t pick up the bales very well and dropped and ruined a lot of the bales trying to unload and stack it. And it was expensive hay too. If I had had a bigger tractor I could have picked up the bundle and set it down inside the barn with the bundle intact. And not needed to hire help.

[Bluey]

@SusanO

I have gotten 3x3x8’s and 3x4x8’s. They work for me as I have a side of the barn with a deep overhang that I store my flatbed trailer under. I just leave the bale on the trailer and peel flakes off and feed them. The 3x3’s are a whole lot easier to deal with than the 3x4’s. Usually these are coming from bigger producers that tend to make better hay. I wish I could find some withing driving distance these days.

Hay growers around here do not have the equipment for the big bales. If they are a big producer they tend to bale round bales and “reprocess” the round bales. I.e. they have a machine that unrolls the round bale and feeds it into a square baler. This tends to make bales that have loose messy hay and are hard to feed when you cut the strings.

I have also gotten bales in the “bundles”. I love hauling it this way and I am now considering that I need a bigger tractor. I got some fabulous hay that was hauled in from Wyoming and the bales were 75 pounds each, I could not find anybody to unload and stack those bales. I finally got two college kids to help. What a mess!!! They couldn’t pick up the bales very well and dropped and ruined a lot of the bales trying to unload and stack it. And it was expensive hay too. If I had had a bigger tractor I could have picked up the bundle and set it down inside the barn with the bundle intact. And not needed to hire help.

We can pick the bundles with our tractor on the pallet forks, but our neighbor said they would do better with his skid loader with the hugging arms.
It was also handier to turn around and stack bales in the barn than the longer tractor would have been.
That is why he hauled that skidster in a trailer, the bundles in another.

If you get a bigger tractor, study what all kinds of grapples there are out there that will fit most kinds of bundles or big bales you may buy, that may be different every year.