At the barn where I board, I supply my own hay. The pasture is good, so we don’t usually feed hay during the summer. Last winter, I just bought about 30 bales at a time throughout the winter, but this year I’ve been saving up to buy the whole winter’s supply, about 150 bales, at once, to hopefully keep the price down, and to have less hassle with having to go pick it up every few weeks. I’ve been offered an empty semi-trailer for storage, which will be fine when it’s cold, but I’m worried about having the hay in there when it’s hot. Has anyone done this before? I can wait until the temps drop to buy the hay, but I know I’m likely to get better prices now.
Should be fine to store hay in as long as there are no leaks! I would never do it with feed though, especially in hot weather!
the barn where I grew up did this. Two semi bodies, filled with hay. It’s been working for the BO for 20+ years now. Not pretty, but effective. You will want to build some sort of stairs and platform for access though, they are kind of high to jump in and out of.
Yep, they do this at my barn as well.
Our previous barn has used an old semi trailer for hay storage for years.
I have seen this and it works great, it is also really nice for sawdust/bedding if you can get it blown full of nice stuff. It saves a lot of the “storing in the barn” issues.
It may be your best option, in the situation you are in. BUT, hay is best stored where it gets some airflow, if possible. Especially if it is fresh off the field. Older hay, less of an issue with this. But if it is freshly baled, it can still have some heat in the bales, and needs to cool. So, if it is fresh, and the weather is good, leave the doors open to allow some wind to blow in, for as long as you can.
You can fit more than 150 in a semi trailer. You might be able to not stack them as tight AND back from the doors so that you can leave the doors open to allow for some ventilation. If you are handy, or know somone who is, you could add vents along the top of the trailer to help with air circulation.
We bought a shipping container that was no longer sea worthy for pretty cheap. It is being used to store tools and my husband’s tree stands and duck hunting decoys, and beach chairs/umbrellas. We had a people door put in the side of it so it’s easier to access the items kept near the back, stuck a couple of battery powered lights along the wall and wired a light and outlet for a small generator.
It’s a very economical, although ugly, way to store stuff water tight. We have used it for the last 12 years, and will use it for a few more until we ger our equipment barn built.
What NancyM said…
We have one, too. I open up a back door and the man door every afternoon just for more airflow, and yes, it is ugly. 
I am thinking about painting it to look like a cottage.
We have over 100 bales of 2014 hay in it for emergencies. They are not stacked super tight and it fills up less than half the trailer.
Not to be negative, but just a word of caution - try to find out what kind of cargo was shipped in the semi-trailer/container and/or if it has been throughly cleaned. Semitrailers/containers and rail boxcars are frequently used to ship hazardous chemicals. Sometimes the chemicals leak or are spilled and can contaminate the containers. Same is true for reuse of wood pallets - wise to know what they were used for and/or if chemicals were spilled on them.
