Stacking square bales cut side up -what is this?! Aghasted!

[Bicoastal]

I’ve seen horse keeping on both coasts for maaaaany years but only now have I encountered stacking square bales cut side up, or on their side such that the strings are parallel to the floor and not touching the “floor.” The cut hay sits vertically. Kind of like a brush jump I have only ever seen square bales stacked flat such that the strings are on the floor: the cut hay sits horizontally parallel to the floor. Cut side up is totally new and foreign to me. Maybe this practice evolved with small square bundles.

The theory is better air circulation within the bale. Would the same theory not also apply to moisture wicking up into the bale?

So I want to know what is more common. Stacked with the flat side down or stacked with the cut sides up and down?

• Bales stacked cut side up
• Bales stacked flat

[trubandloki]

My hay storage is elevated off the ground, we stack our small square bales as you describe as flat.

I tried cut side up when I was putting bales on the ground, but I still lost the whole bottom layer so it did not really help anything. I think the bales are packed so tightly there really is not any increased air circulation that way.

[Highflyer1]

We always alternated rows to have as few gaps as possible. (Stacking super high using an elevator.) Now we get the big bales and I don’t miss it!

[candyappy]

If you are stacking on the ground( even with a covering of some sort) then you can minimize the waste because only the cut side will be affected, your strings won’t break and most likely you can still use most of the bale in the event it draws up moisture.

I store my squares in a loft now( thankfully) so we don’t need to do that.

[trubandloki]

@candyappy

If you are stacking on the ground( even with a covering of some sort) then you can minimize the waste because only the short side will be affected, your strings won’t break and most likely you can still use most of the bale in the event it draws up moisture.

OH, so you are offering up a third stacking option? Stack them tall on an end?

[candyappy]

@trubandloki

OH, so you are offering up a third stacking option? Stack them tall on an end?

No. Guess I needed to say the cut end? I thought it was enough that anyone who was experienced with hay would know. I will edit it.

[trubandloki]

@candyappy

@trubandloki

OH, so you are offering up a third stacking option? Stack them tall on an end?

No. Guess I needed to say the cut end? I thought it was enough that anyone who was experienced with hay would know. I will edit it.

I am confused how you can still use most of the bale if the whole cut side is on the ground.

I have lots of experience with hay and when I stacked on the cut side I still lost the whole bale because each flake was still wasted.

[usernameTaken]

The person I learned to stack hay was pretty strict about how it was done, this was many, many years ago and I was young and impressionable it seems. First row was on end. The important part was that the CUT side was what touched the floor - was told this was for airflow. After that each row was on side and each row alternated which way the strings were going - was told this was so the stacking was tight. We always stacked in a loft so none of it touched the ground. I always wondered if it made a difference and yep, fast forward a lifetime and I still do the first row on end. I don’t know why. I don’t always bother looking at which end is the cut end though. I suppose I’m slipping in my old age

[tabula_rashah]

I stack mine on wood pallets. Bottom layer is flat, strings on floor. Next layer on it’s side. Repeat layers. This is the way any farm that delivers and stacks for me does it too

[fordtraktor]

THIS. Bottom row = cut side down. other rows string side down, alternating direction of stack.

I am a 3rd generation hay producing family member, this is how we have always done it. Rounds are stacked flat side down.

[B_and_B]

Until recently we used to stack in a hay loft so the cut/string side down debate wasn’t the important one because the loft floor was dry and warm. What was the important thing was side and top airflow. It is so, so tempting to shove those bales hard against the walls and roof. After all you can stack more, higher, and faster! Nope. And Nope. A slim pre-teen should be able to squeeze in between the stack and the wall all the way around (that was how my stacking was judged at age 12, not that I recommend that practice, you can get into real trouble if the stack shifts). Airflow is the all important factor. Unless you need to burn the barn down…
I’m not sure cut/string side would have that much of a difference in airflow in terms of spontaneous combustion, but it might be better for quality. An interesting thing to study!

[Bicoastal]

So far I’m seeing there’s lots of ways to skin this cat, from folks with lots of different experiences.

I know this is COTH , but let’s leave the
judgement for those who don’t stack any hay for their animals to winter over.

[Bluey]

We stack loose small bales first row on the side because if we put strings or wire down, they may rust/break laying against the concrete or hard packed dirt floor.
All other rows are flat, strings down.

Now that we get 21 small bale bundles, they come with all bales cut side down and we handle the whole bundles, three high and seven wide at once, lifting them with the pallet points on the tractor to move them around.

[Calvincrowe]

I’ve stacked hay for 45 years. Always string side/flat down. I stack mine on pallets over concrete(dirt a few times too) with heavy duty tarp on top of that. With 120lb three string bales, I’m not trying to flip bales 12 feet in the air on my stack top!! Those suckers are ridiculously heavy!!

[pony_grandma]

Would they stack this way if they rock salted?

[2DogsFarm]

Same here
This also provides a solid & safe platform for you when you have to get bales from the top layer.
In my barn this means over the 10’ rafter height.
My hayguys are artists, they stack a near-perfect “staircase” for me.
I never worry about stepping into a hole

@pony_grandma Yes w/salt.
But I haven’t salted for years & current hayguys don’t either

[Bluey]

This is what those 21 small alfalfa bale bundles look like, single bales, standing up, seven to the row, three rows, easy to handle for most reasonably sized subcompact tractors.
We never had those absorb any moisture on the bottom bales standing on the side in all the years we have stacked with them on the side.
We had one year some rusted wires that had been stacked flat.

Those bundles are what most here are selling, fit just right on semis, flat trailers and easy to take apart and move by hand if necessary:

[Simkie]

My hay guys stack cut side down. It’s all they do, load and stack hay, and I figure they know what they’re doing

I’ve never lost a bale, but it’s in the loft. When I move it out of the loft–I store a week’s worth of hay on pallets in the barn–I stack it strings up for ease of feeding.

[endlessclimb]

Many of the accumulators drop them on the field cut side up. If you use a bale claw to get them off the field, they’re going in the barn cut side up, too - unless you want to touch the bale to make it string side up.

I’d bet it depends on if you stack with machinery or by hand. By hand it’s easier to buck them string side up.

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

By hand it’s easier to buck them string side up.

The guys who deliver & stack my hay use hay hooks–they never touch the strings stacking by hand.