Baleage with small square baler

[farmboy1950]

I'm hoping to start leasing about 30 acres in August and by then it will be too late to plant hay and get a cutting off. So I am planning on planting a mix of oats ryegrass and crimson clover and harvest the end of September or the beginning of October. The only problem is I only have equipment to do small square bales and October isn't really hay making weather. However my brain remembered and old mcormick ad from the 50's on making silage with a baler. They sold a kit that would make the baler make smaller bales. They would then bale the hay wet and stack it in something like a bunker silo and the occasionaly run over the pile with a tractor since the baler had already compressed it didn't as much packing as chopped silage would. They would cover the stack with plastic or something of the sort. I was thinking of doing the same thing so I would have feed for my grass fed steers over the winter. Otherwise I'll have to buy my feed in.

 

[flusher]

Small square bales? How small is small?
My MF124 small square baler can spit out short bales measuring 14"x18" x 30" long merely by adjusting the metering arm. Don't know which baler you have but I imagine it could do the same. Why would you want smaller bales?

 

[farmboy1950]

I'm planning on using a John Deere 336 baler. IN the video about it the man said that a bale of hay with 40-55% moisture will be to heavy for a man to lift as it will be over 150 pounds. I'm planning on using a skid loader with forks or something like that and lift several at a time. Judging by what the really small bale looked like they weren't more than 20 in. long. Also the balers they were using were the old b series mcormick balers I don't know if those balers had a way to adjust the length of bales like the new ones do without the kit to make the smaller bales. Thanks

 

[tessiers]

Wet hay is hard on a baler. It compresses harder than dry hay, it picks up harder, feeds harder. Make sure your baler is in tip top shape. That is why there are silage special balers, heavier construction, bearings, shafts ect. As far as ensiling, air is the enemy, if you can keep the air out you will be OK, trouble is that is hard to do with bales unless they are exactly the same size, imagine a hay hole in a loft, same thing with wet bales. Heat is the first sign of decomposition, I would watch carefully for excesive heating for a while, I certainly would not store it around my barn. If you are maticulous in your stacking and wrapping I think you can do it. When I am considering something new I always ask myself why is nobody else doing this, if it was so good in the 50's why didn't it catch on. I would not put all my forage into an experiment, however I would try some, especially if it is going to be wasted anyways. I am quite interested in how you make out, I have always been interested in ensiling grass, just never found the right method for our farm, we too only have equipment for small squares. I do have an old crop chopper and if things go right I plan try some heap silage this year, mixed reviews on wether or not this will work, a neigbor has been doing it several years with good success.

 

[Halftrack]

I assist the neighbor with his hay making endeavors and last December 2nd, we made silage hay that was mostly oats and some grass. He makes his hay into large square bales,(3' x 3' x 6') and then has them wrapped near his feedlot. These were extremely wet, better than 75% moisture, but made pretty good feed. The bales are wrapped in a long line, usually about 80 bales in length. The custom wrapper puts about 7 layers of plastic around the bales which makes a tight package. Had this been done in warm weather, the bales would not have made feed, but with the cooler/cold weather they stored alright. The big issue is that the package is air tight with no poke throughs or rodents to chew through. I don't know if you have a custom baler or wrapper in your area, but you might check, obviously won't be a busy time of year for them. Most skid steers will handle a 1000 lbs, if you have enough cattle to use a bale in a few days. If you look at the twine used on those large bales and how tight they were packed, I would wonder if a small square baler with regular twine would survive the attempt. I would hate to have the hay ready, and find out the baler can't handle it. Good luck!!!

 

[Tx Jim]

farmboy1950
Where do you live? I've planted oats for grazing & baling for many years. I usually plant by Sept 10-15th. Oats generally finally are tall enough and have established roots well enough by Thanksgiving to turn cattle in on them. Baling would require a lot more growth. As stated you better have that 336 in prime condition and I certainly wouldn't want to attempt baling 75% moisture,150# bales with my 347.