Check your hay

[cowboydoc]

A good friend of mine had a barn fire yesterday. It was started by some square bales of hay that we had put up about two weeks ago. The hay was very dry and wasn't wet in the least. It actually should have been baled the day before but I couldn't get over there with the square baler for him. The fire marshal and insurance inspector were out and looked at it and couldn't find a reason why the hay would have caught fire other than spontaneous combustion. Be sure and check your hay even if it is dry. I sure learned a new one.

 

[slowzuki]

We've probed some of the questionable stuff with a long thermocouple but it is all baled so late with such low protein it isn't showing any sign of heat.
Ken

 

[slowrev]

Cowboydoc,
What kind of hay ? Grass hay or clover and alfalfa type of stuff ?

 

[cowboydoc]

It was a grass/alfalfa mix. This was all probed too. None of it was high in moisture or heat.

 

[slowrev]

hmm, Maybe he had a smoker in the barn ? Maybe the hay is getting a bad rap.

 

[cowboydoc]

Yea that thought was also brought up but the fire marshall didn't agree. He said it was a smoldering fire from the bottom of the loft. A cigarette would have started from the top.

 

[slowrev]

maybe a butt was thrown down and hay stacked on it ?

 

[Cliff_Johns]

When I was about 6, our barn burned. Started in the hay mow. No reason was found, and no one had been there in a week. It was a huge old pennsylvania barn. Very sad, but out in the country, all they could do was save the house and the milk house. That fire was what eventually caused us to stop farming. There was insurance, but it can't cover the total losses involved.

Cliff

 

[alan40]

I was looking out my window about 3 years ago and saw smoke. Threw the boy in the truck with a shovel and headed down. A round bale against the barn was smoking pretty good. Luckily it was on a down hill slope and I got it to roll away from the barn. Called the guy he showed up the next day. Not even worried about the hefiers in the barn.
Proberly why we don't get along. My wife was brought up on a dairy farm and won't even talk to him.
Sorry about your friends barn and the lose of the hay.
Take care

 

[slowzuki]

I read the other day a fist sized chunk of bad hay in the middle of a mow can heat enough to light her up.

By dividing up the size of your piles and increasing airflow one can really reduced the risks involved. The bigger the mow, the worse the heating can be from the layers of insulating hay.

Ken