New to the Haying.....Barn sizing help

[mdjohn1427]

I will use 500+ annually and sale the rest. Two local providers have already sold out of their square bales. I had to travel 40 miles north to a provider and bought his last bales.

 

[5030]

Thanks all for your input. Working with a builder and I plan to construct a 40x60x14 pole barn (3 sides enclosed) with (2) 20' leans. The base will be crush and run. Pallets will be used. Next door neighbor has already agreed to purchase 200 (5x5) rounds at $40 each. With that, my storage capacity for square bales was reduced by 40%. Still storing about 2,200 squares annually.

...and you are new to growing and harvesting forage... You have a lot of hard lessons ahead. Have fun. One thing I learned right off and that is... Unless the payment is in my hand, talk and promises are cheap, real cheap. You'll find out in good time I suspect.

 

[mdjohn1427]

lol...Not really concerned about the money. As for hard lessons ahead.....Well, if you only knew!!!

 

[5030]

lol...Not really concerned about the money. As for hard lessons ahead.....Well, if you only knew!!!

Frankly, I don't want to 'know'.

 

[mdjohn1427]

lol...Thanks for you input though..... :thumbsup:

 

[powerscol]

Whatever you do, make sure the hay is dry before staking in the barn. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT bale if you even think it is too wet. Mold and worse Fire can destroy all your work. For me to check dryness. I grab a handful of hay from the middle or lower part of the windrow and do a bicycle twist using two hands. If the bunch breaks at 6 twists or less I am good to go. I then continuously check the moisture in the bales as I go with a hand moisture meter.

Even using this method I can get a wet one (over16%) I normally shoot for under 12% with 10% being the sweet point (grass hay). If I get a wet one I paint it with water based paint using a 1 qt pump up prayer. I gather those bales separately and stack outside on pallets covered with a hay tarp and watch closely. I usually sell those for cow/goat, etc hay or give away as extras if customers wants them.

Hope this helps.

 

[mdjohn1427]

Whatever you do, make sure the hay is dry before staking in the barn. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT bale if you even think it is too wet. Mold and worse Fire can destroy all your work. For me to check dryness. I grab a handful of hay from the middle or lower part of the windrow and do a bicycle twist using two hands. If the bunch breaks at 6 twists or less I am good to go. I then continuously check the moisture in the bales as I go with a hand moisture meter.

Even using this method I can get a wet one (over16%) I normally shoot for under 12% with 10% being the sweet point (grass hay). If I get a wet one I paint it with water based paint using a 1 qt pump up prayer. I gather those bales separately and stack outside on pallets covered with a hay tarp and watch closely. I usually sell those for cow/goat, etc hay or give away as extras if customers wants them.

Hope this helps.

Thanks powerscol for that helpful feedback. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[3Ts]

Whatever you do, make sure the hay is dry before staking in the barn. DO NOT, repeat DO NOT bale if you even think it is too wet. Mold and worse Fire can destroy all your work. For me to check dryness. I grab a handful of hay from the middle or lower part of the windrow and do a bicycle twist using two hands. If the bunch breaks at 6 twists or less I am good to go. I then continuously check the moisture in the bales as I go with a hand moisture meter.

Even using this method I can get a wet one (over16%) I normally shoot for under 12% with 10% being the sweet point (grass hay). If I get a wet one I paint it with water based paint using a 1 qt pump up prayer. I gather those bales separately and stack outside on pallets covered with a hay tarp and watch closely. I usually sell those for cow/goat, etc hay or give away as extras if customers wants them.

Hope this helps.

This is really important! A fellow down the road, put up his bales a little to wet. They caught fire and burned down everything he had already stored and the building he was storing them in. I forget how many round bales he lost, some where around 200 although 200 seems a little low for his operation.