500lb Square bales?
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RickB
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Your typical 3x3x8 big square bale will run around 800-950 lbs, depending on crop & moisture. The baler can be set to make a shorter bale that would weigh less.
KWentling
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We buy our grass hay in 3x3x8 bales and last years averaged 1380 lbs. on a certified scale. And yes the hay was dry. These guys put up thousands (not a typo) of tons of it.
Kim
Our 3x3 baler makes bales that weight about 100# per foot, so a 5 footer would work for you. The problem with these balers is that they are ~$80k new and require some serious hp to run.
OP
AKfish
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Ouch... I was kinda hoping someone would come back with "you betcha - here's a model that cost's right around $30K-$35K brand-new and only takes 80hp to run".
And good used ones can be had for ~$12k...
Guess that's a "pipe dream", huh?
Thanks for the reality check!
AKfish
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Can we see that weight ticket.
We sent over 1000 to the states last year and averaged 850lb with moisture 14-16% from hesston and NH balers .
RickB
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That's why I said "your typical 3x3x8 bale" not "every 3x3x8 bale ever made".
There's always a nitpicker lurking to post an exception to a more typical response.
KWentling
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After I posted that I thought I should have said something to the effect that not all bales would be that dense. But still based on that a 500 lb. bale is going to be pretty short or awful loose.
I'll look in the truck and see if I still have a weight ticket. Not likely as we had no reason to keep it but I'll look for the nonbelievers. Last year was their first year with this 3x3 baler and it was averaging within 50 lbs of what their 3x4s balers were making and those were not loose bales. They were impressed. With the amount of hay they put up they know how to get the most out of their equipment. They ship many, many, truck loads of hay every year and winter cattle for other ranchers too. We have hay left this year,fewer horses, and lots of grass so far, so I don't know if we'll get hay this year or not, (wife's the horse nut) but if we do I'll be sure to post (if I can figure out how) the weight ticket if I can't find last years.
Kim
I'll look in the truck and see if I still have a weight ticket. Not likely as we had no reason to keep it but I'll look for the nonbelievers. Last year was their first year with this 3x3 baler and it was averaging within 50 lbs of what their 3x4s balers were making and those were not loose bales. They were impressed. With the amount of hay they put up they know how to get the most out of their equipment. They ship many, many, truck loads of hay every year and winter cattle for other ranchers too. We have hay left this year,fewer horses, and lots of grass so far, so I don't know if we'll get hay this year or not, (wife's the horse nut) but if we do I'll be sure to post (if I can figure out how) the weight ticket if I can't find last years.
Kim
