Stacking hay on concrete floor

[DHCarrotfeeder]

I have a gravel floor pole building for hay storage. The floor tends to stay damp year-round. The building is both great and poor for hay storage.

First we laid down a fresh layer of stone dust and a layer of oak pallets. Knowing the humidity would be there, I added a layer of OSB (plywood) to make it easier/safer to walk on and to clean. The first two years it worked great. This year we lost the entire bottom layer to must (mold). Obviously there was no air circulation on the bottom layer and the plywood is less dry.

It should go without saying that roof leaks are not acceptable. I have a couple and I bought a huge heavy canvas tarp to cover the hay in those areas.

This winter I’m pulling up all of it and installing a blower fan to push out interior air from the building. In addition I’m adding another layer of pallets on top of the plywood to enhance circulation.

I think the big reason for experiences to vary is the dryness of the hay and the humidity in the building. I’m considering one of these: https://www.microdaq.com/data-loggers/humidity.php to get a better understanding of the situation.

As for critters, I’ve only seen some tunnels in the gravel itself. They tend to stay out of the pallets and stuff.

[avjudge]

[QUOTE=danacat;8958871]
I use pallets with cheap plywood on top. Not fond of using a tarp over pallets because my feet inevitably fall through and get stuck between the pallet slats.[/QUOTE]

My sister just twisted her ankle badly while getting a bale from a stack stored on pallets. I think I like the plywood-on-top idea!

[poltroon]

I have also had decent luck with a layer of straw flakes and rock salt under the hay. But the trick is really - will moisture come up through the floor. As fordtraktor wrote, concrete that is poured correctly with a moisture barrier below it will be much better behaved, as it may if you have good site elevation. Just a plain slab over moist soil will suck the moisture right up into your hay.

Although this isn’t maybe the first choice practice, sometimes I’ve come to the conclusion that losing the bottom bales is in fact the most cost-effective option. It isn’t a nice conclusion but it’s not always the wrong one. Similarly, really cheap hay or straw bales on the bottom may also be cheaper than plywood etc, though of course weighed against the fact that one hopes to get many seasons out of the plywood.

[Obsidian_Fire]

I have always stored my hay on pallets but before I stack hay I put bait blocks under them. Not doing it now as we have 4 barn cats, but at previous barns it worked just fine.

Anyways, hay is expensive and losing any of it is not really okay, in my book. So I put down a waterproof tarp, lay my pallets on top of that, and then stack my hay. No worries.

I don’t like the plywood over the top of the pallets as I’ve had bottom bales go musty in our damp climate, where on an open pallet they did not.

A previous barn laid a thick waterproof plastic down, over a clay floor, stacked hay directly on top of it, and never had any mold/must issues even after hay was stored for over a year - but lay it directly on the clay and your bale would be a goner in a week flat.

[froglander]

I only have room to store 20-30 bales at a time. I have double stacked pallets directly in the concrete in our detached garage. I am in Florida where summers are hot and humid and so far hay has survived 6-8 weeks at a time. (I had people tell me in the summers they won’t store more than a weeks’ worth at a time)

Something I read on COTH lead me to leaving all the loose hay that collects inside the pallets as it could help absorb moisture?

[BarnField]

Rubber stall mats! They work great for me. They are easy and fairly cheap from the local farm store. Then, pallets on top of the rubber mats, and then the hay on the pallets.

I also considered the previous idea of just using the first layer of bales as a sacrificial layer, losing them to mold, but then I have to figure out how to get rid of all that as trash, and besides, you could still have mold work its way thru the 1st layer of bales and into the 2nd layer…

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=BarnField;8961188]
I also considered the previous idea of just using the first layer of bales as a sacrificial layer, losing them to mold, but then I have to figure out how to get rid of all that as trash, and besides, you could still have mold work its way thru the 1st layer of bales and into the 2nd layer…[/QUOTE]

Damn expensive choice. Not only are they used only once, they are hard to move, become junk, ruin the air quality in the building and form a population of mold spores, and waste a resource a hay farmer worked hard to create. If you’re going to do it, at least buy straw.