Stacking Hay bales

[foreman Etexas]

Foreman,

Thanks, just didn't know when is the lastest time to leave it alone. Not sure if you leave it, is there a point the grass startes to get too thick or useless. I wish I could explain what I am trying to say on paper here. or can it grow until I get to it no matter how tall it gets? Make sense?

Yes sir, sure when it gets to tall it starts laying over.Not sure what grass you have but thats just my thinking. I mean if you just have to cut then go ahead but is it really worth the chance of it getting wet or just wait another week or so.Alot of people try and cut every 28days(if they had rain)so the stickers dont come up. If you got rain itll grow,mite look into why some spots are thinner(is it just the lower areas that are thicker) maybe need to seed(re-sprig)or do a soil test (mite need lime,potash,etc.).Just my 2cents,not a pro

 

[dmay]

Since you state you are new to haying, I wonder if you know that a light shower is often not a problem for downed hay. Many areas of the country experience a morning dew. This is the equivalent of a light rain. Top of the windrow gets wet but the hay will still dry nicely if weather is hot and sunny throughout the day.

If you are worried about weather just split your field in sections and do one section at a time. You mention you have 7 acres and only evenings to work at haying so maybe try cutting/baling half at a time.

As for stacking hay, when I was on 80 acres and stacking in an uninsulated 40x60 dirt floor barn I found the answer to storing and keeping fresh green hay was good airflow. I added roof ridge vents and gable vents and kept the vents open year round. I then would stack on large 8ft x 8ft pallets I made out of 2x4s. I made sure I left a 1 ft gap all around each pallet for airflow. I would stack twine up, 9 rows high.

Later when I started using a NH1002 bale wagon, I would simply dump the stack on the dirt. I still maintained airflow separation between each row of bale wagon stacked hay. By this I mean I would create three long rows leaving a gap between the rows. Bottom row would get dirty but never moldy. Just brush the dirt off and hay is good. Airflow was the key to avoid mold.

Sold that acreage and moved. Today I store hay in an insulated and heated barn with concrete floor. Airflow in summer comes from 3 roll up doors. I stack directly on the floor, twine up, 7 rows high. No issues at all.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Darrell,

Thanks for the info, appreciate it. Didn't think about a space between sections of hay but it makes sense for the airflow.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What are you feeding the hay to? If the hay goes to seed then the quality drops and it gets tough and some hay gets bitter. I start cutting (when the weather allows that is) before the hay goes to head but by the time I am getting finished the hay is going to seed so the first fields are always lighter as its early but its the joys of haying 100 acres by myself.

If your going to split the cutting what I would do is check the forecast, cut the hay the one day and leave the cutter hooked on, the second day finish cutting then switch to the tedder and ted the first section. The third day ted the second section then hook to the rake and rake the first section and so on so forth. It will save you time switching between implements. If you can start cutting on Thursday or Friday you can take advantage of the weekend (assuming you get weekends off) where you have more time. Or start cutting on Wednesday so that you will be baling on saturday and sunday since that is the process that takes the most time.

 

[Gods Country]

We have a tarp on the dirt floor with pallets. All hay gets stacked on it's side.

 

[5030]

You can never fool Mother Nature...

Myself I like her help. I try to start mowing just after a rain or just before the rain quits. Lubricates the mower, makes crimping easier and the moisture on the stalk and leaves causes a quicker stabilazation of juice and hence a quicker drydown. I know it's mowing well and the forage is damp enough when there is a haze behind the mower. Don't always work that way but sometimes it does.

And I agree, a light rain on downed forage don't hurt at all. It's just like a heavy morning dew and I never get into any field (except to cut) before noon. It's a nice retiree's occupation.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Robert

Good ideal about the spliting.Hooking and unhooking that cutter is hugh pain in my butt. I hate messing with it, either I am doing something wrong but everytime I have my small jack out there to help hook it up. Hate it but it has to be done. I try to wait and do the whole field b/c of that reason but the weather is beating on me so spliting may be the way to go. Maybe I don't have enought experience with it yet - the cutter. Now I love my tedder/rake and baler. So much easier to hook and go. I even built a longer baler chute to my tag trailer so I can stack as the wife bales it while I am drinking my soda. The days of jumping out of the truck at every bale and throw in on a trailer and back into the truck is over with.

 

[Dill]

I love going out and mowing right when the downpours ends. One of the great things about a discbine. Might as well let the sun dry the hay instead of just having the sun dry standing grass, like I used to have to wait for with the haybine. Now if I just had a cab I could mow while it was raining.
I immediately ted it after I'm done mowing. Even got some 2 day hay last weekend, that doesn't happen to much around here.

Oh and if you think the bale chute is good, try a kicker. All of our hay is a one man baling show.