Hay Bale Bundle

[Xfaxman]

I didn't know about small square hay bale bundles until late last year when we bought a 21 bale bundle for the horses.

The bales are stacked on edge and strapped with steel bands.:

We bought two bundles this month. The bundle on the trailer is laying down, the one in the truck is standing up:

Unloaded the trailer first with the forks and put the bundle on two 4' square plastic pallets close to the back wall.

Unloaded the truck and set the bundle on the 8' long dolly:

My wife pushed it over to the first bundle and pulled the tarp over them:

Sure is easier than unloading each bale and putting it on the stack.

 

[Dougeye]

Takes a bit of equipment on the farm:

Bale Baron | Marcrest Manufacturing Inc.

But if you have the equipment to unload, it does save work. Depending on the bale weight, the bundle is going to be in the 1,000 pounds plus range.

We feed about 1,000 seventy pound bales a year, and I think I handle each bale too many times...

 

[Hay Dude]

Krone makes a large square baler that makes bundles of small bales. I have looked at them and they are not gaining a lot of popularity despite the scarcity of labor to stack small squares in barns.
I think the 4x5 round bale will eventually take over once the current generation finally tires of handling and stacking the small squares.
The round bale feeders are really helping the round bale sell itself to the horse customer.
The round baler is so much cheaper. Still need a chore tractor to move them around....

 

[Xfaxman]

We have always set out 5x6 round bales for the horses, but have to have square bales for camping trips and when an injured horse needs to be stalled for recovery.

 

[Dougeye]

Where I am the overwhelming majority of people feeding horses are women, and most don't have the equipment needed to handle rounds or big squares, so small squares are what they want. It's the three stringers that I don't understand, too small for mechanical handling and way too heavy for many people to move around. We end up with them sometimes, but I sure don't like it. And yes, it's getting harder and more costly every year to get unloading and stacking help. But we carry on...

 

[Hay Dude]

We have always set out 5x6 round bales for the horses, but have to have square bales for camping trips and when an injured horse needs to be stalled for recovery.

View attachment 662970

Most of my customers are now doing this, too.
They are using a tractor to set round bales, or having me deliver them directly to the feeder and place the hay hut over the bale. They supplement the round bales with a small quantity of square bales for feeding overnight in stalls or road trips.
In MY area, small squares average about $8. Round bales (delivered) are about 1/2 that cost, so they are an appealing alternative.
I also have one clever customer who has me deliver their round bales and placed their feeder just a slight downhill grade from the barn where they roll them downhill into their feeder. No tractor needed.

 

[EddieWalker]

A few of the people that I bought round bales from are now only doing square bales. The profit in square bales is significant higher, and apparently, the demand is there.

For me, it's a never ending search to find a source of good horse quality round bales as close as possible to where I live, that isn't charging more then the feed store.

Why put a tarp over the bales inside the barn?

 

[Hay Dude]

A few of the people that I bought round bales from are now only doing square bales. The profit in square bales is significant higher, and apparently, the demand is there.

1. For me, it's a never ending search to find a source of good horse quality round bales as close as possible to where I live, that isn't charging more then the feed store.

2. Why put a tarp over the bales inside the barn?

1. That is my quest. To make higher quality round bale hay. I see the same market for them. I can price good dry round bales in the $4-5/35lb small square bale range, which is 1/2 the price of small squares ($8-$10) and I can deliver them in bulk, or right into the feeder.
2. Just a guess, but maybe roof has small leak??

Related: round bales are a difficult sell to the really discerning horse customer and I actually can understand why. Let’s face it, a round bale is a BIG bale. When I’m making them, it’s pretty easy to understand how a dead mouse or snake could end up in the bale and ruin it. Small bales are small, so if a mouse or snake ends up in a small bale, the buyer will smell it or see it in the flakes and can toss that bale, only losing $5-$10.
The few round bale buyers I have who own horses and don’t get freaked out about a small dead animal in a round bale 1-2 times per year. They understand the horses will probably just stop eating in that spot and/or I will replace that bale for them at greatly reduced cost. I mostly sell round bales to owners of easykeeper horses or people who aren’t raising Thorobreds and need perfect hay

 

[Xfaxman]

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Why put a tarp over the bales inside the barn?

To keep the bird poop off of the hay bundles.

 

[hosspuller]

My area is like Dougeye's Horse people without the equipment to handle large rounds. Or the desire for suitable equipment. Because of the labor required, producers are quitting the small square market. That gives me, a small producer with small squares , a niche to fill. What ever my horses don't eat, I sell at a premium.

 

[Xfaxman]

Well we (she) decided the two bundles were taking up too much floor space. So I said I could stack #1 on top of #2.

Rolled #2 out to show where #1 was:

Brought the shop crane to the barn on the tilt trailer, put a ratchet strap around the bundle with a chain over the top through the crane hook, picked the bundle up from the plastic pallets and put it down on the piece of flake board seen on the shop crane frame here:

Rolled it out to the aisle, stuck the forks in that opening from the other side, then removed the shop crane.

Raised it up, rolled bundle #2 under it, let #1 down, backed the V417 up, got out to take a picture and #1 fell off the back and landed on it's side partly on the tilt trailer. Used the ratchet strap and the V417 to get it mostly vertical. The bales are not packed very tight, so the bundle is not square now.

Got a come along and drug it onto the trailer:

Slid it up farther and got the trailer latched:

Parked it in the cow barn:

Rolled #2 to the side of the storage area:

 

[Hay Dude]

Hay Hut round bale feeder advertisement on CL kind of sums it up.
I was asked to become a dealer, but I think I had to buy 15-20k in inventory to become one.

 

[Xfaxman]

That is the reason we built this barn with an open end. The horses and round bale can be out of the weather:

 

[TheMan419]

There are so many options to put up small squares wo manually handling them. Accumulator/grapples, stack wagons, bale baron (and competitors) the small square is not going away. If it does it will be replaced by a 3x3 large square.

The round is simply a tough item for us horse folks to deal with.

 

[EddieWalker]

View attachment 663111

I've looked at these hay rings and wondered how well horses can get to the hay in the middle? Currently I'm using a hay cradle that keeps the bale off of the ground. It's expensive and supposedly galvanized, but it's fairly lightweight and I know it's days are numbered. Would you buy one of these plastic PVC type hay rings again?

 

[Xfaxman]

Smaller horses can't reach the middle when nearly empty. We lift the ring and roll it out of the way at that point.

We used to use the metal rings, but they always rusted through. Would definitely buy the poly horse ring again if needed. We have had that one in the picture above since June of 2011.

This is a poly bale ring for horses:

Don't use the cattle poly bale ring for horses, it is taller, they will stick their head under the top rail and it rubs some of their mane hairs out:

 

[EddieWalker]

I didnt.know there where different types. Thanks, I would have bought the wrong one.

 

[Hay Dude]

There are so many options to put up small squares wo manually handling them. Accumulator/grapples, stack wagons, bale baron (and competitors) the small square is not going away. If it does it will be replaced by a 3x3 large square.

The round is simply a tough item for us horse folks to deal with.

3x3’s died here about 5 years ago. They kind of came on the scene quickly and died off. I haven’t seen many 3x3’s lately.
All those accumulators and small bale handling pieces of equipment you mention are very expensive to own & repair. Ask me how I know....
I don’t think the small bale is going away, either, but 25 years ago it was 90% of the hay market. Now it might be 50% and it’s dropping more each year. Small squares are an effort to find in my area anymore.
People are buying round bales here in steadily increasing numbers because they’re cheaper by the ton and easy to roll or place in the many different round bale feeders with a little planning. They are not as sensitive to a few rain storms if they have to sit outside, where a square configuration bale is ruined.
I have 3 customers nearby who buy a round bale, one at a time, and I place the bale in the feeder for them. They love it. Drive my small truck or my tractor right to the feeder and bam, it’s in the feeder and done. I probably deliver 75-100 bales per year this way.

 

[Xfaxman]

Couldn't help but wonder what a bundle weighed, so I found out.

Bundle #1 is on the tilt trailer in the cow barn:

Took the crane scale and two chains down there with the V417. Weighed the chains:

Zeroed the scale:

Used the chains to lift the trailer and bundle:

Weighs 2,858 pounds:

Here is the empty trailer, found the pictures from 2017, 1,756 pounds:

So the bundle, tarp, ratchet strap and anything else on the trailer weigh 1,102 pounds.

That means the bales are only about 52 pounds each.

 

[Xfaxman]

View attachment 663040


Well we (she) decided the two bundles were taking up too much floor space. So I said I could stack #1 on top of #2.

Rolled #2 out to show where #1 was:

View attachment 663041


Brought the shop crane to the barn on the tilt trailer, put a ratchet strap around the bundle with a chain over the top through the crane hook, picked the bundle up from the plastic pallets and put it down on the piece of flake board seen on the shop crane frame here:

View attachment 663043


Rolled it out to the aisle, stuck the forks in that opening from the other side, then removed the shop crane.

Raised it up, rolled bundle #2 under it, let #1 down, backed the V417 up, got out to take a picture and #1 fell off the back and landed on it's side partly on the tilt trailer. Used the ratchet strap and the V417 to get it mostly vertical. The bales are not packed very tight, so the bundle is not square now.

Got a come along and drug it onto the trailer:

View attachment 663047


Slid it up farther and got the trailer latched:

View attachment 663049 View attachment 663048


Parked it in the cow barn:

View attachment 663051

Update on the crooked bale bundle.

Pulled the trailer out, removed the tarp and was able to straighten it in the trailer by pushing on the top of it with the V417.

Put a pallet against it and put the Monster Grapple over it:

Clamped down an lifted it:

Set it on plastic pallets in the cow barn:

Now I can use the tilt trailer if needed.