small square baler

[kenneths]

hello
I´m new here and i need some help.
Is it possible too bale wet hay (silage/haylage) with a small square baler?
I need a small square baler to make silage/haylage but i don´t know what baler to look for. I have looked at a mini round baler but it is too pricey.


-Kenneths

 

[KennyV]

You can bale anything wet, but it is usually a bad idea. Back in the early 60’s my brother & I helped put up a LOT of green, wet & HEAVY alfalfa. We packed the loft of a very large barn. It generated enough heat and gas that it burned the place to the ground. Largest fire I had seen to that date /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif.

If you don’t loose it to fire it will surely mold and spoil… Why do you want to bale wet?

As far as a manufacturer for a bailer … there are a lot of good older bailers out there. Most everyone with cattle around here are using big bales… less labor to put hay up.

Unless you are in horse country where they still seem to prefer small bales, you should find older retired bailers pretty cheap. KennyV.
PS .. I'm new here also, SO welcome aboard, there seems to be some very helpfull folks here. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kenneths]

I want too bale it wet too make silage (wrap the bales with foil)


-Kenneths

 

[rockinmywaypa]

I'am sure it could be done if you are planning on sealing all air away from it but won't they be a bear to try and lift and carry into place.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

If you are going to bale wet you will want to use plastic twine in the baler. I can bale heavy dry bales with no problem but wet bales are hard on natural twine knots and you will get a lot of broken bales. As for wanting to bale wet hay, just about any baler should be able to do it. Are you dropping them on the ground or loading a wagon? I would not want to use them thru a thrower as it will be hard on the thrower and bales. If you are wrapping them then I would imagine you are storing them outside anyways.

 

[kenneths]

I have herd the shear bolts/pins will brake if baling wet hay.
Is that correct?

-Kenneths

 

[daedong]

I have made silage with a round baler, layed them in a row cover with black plastic and seal the edges along the ground with dirt. If you were to make small bale of silage you would want to be a strong man to handle them, an average size bale would be very heavy. however i have heard of it being done and burying in silage pits. doing this it will keep for years and years, but i would only do it if i was prone to severe draughts, not just a seasonal thing

 

[Soundguy]

Ok.. I'll bite.. being the hobby farmer here.. silage / haylage?

From what i gather it is a put up long term hay product? how do you controll decomposition?

Soundguy

 

[cowboydoc]

Yes this is correct and you will have to go very slow to keep the baler from plugging up. Most of the time it gets stuck in the compression chamber and then you break about 5 shear bolts trying to get that unstuck. No way I would even try and do it with a square baler. Why not just get someone with a sileage baler to bale it and then use the sileage sleeves to wrap it?

 

[kensfarm]

Actually the making of silage is a controlled decomposition.. air is the enemy(makes it mold, spoil).. that is why they pack it tight in bunkers and cover/seal it w/ plastic.. round or square bales are wrapped w/ several layers of plastic to seal out the air. If you do a search on the internet.. it is like a science in itself.. certain moisture levels produce different results.

Silage(corn & corn stocks)
Haylage(grass, alfalfa, etc)

 

[daedong]

Chris,

It doesn't decompose because you exclude the oxygen in wrapping or placing in a earth pit.

 

[oldgrizzlybear]

What happens is that once the oxygen is used up, anaeorbic bacteria take over. They produce short chain organic acids like acetic (vinegar), lactic, propanoic etc. This lowers the pH which then stops further bacteria growth.

In pit silos, and concrete silos, air is eliminated by allowing the top to spoil which seals it. Using plastic or air tight silos like Harvesters (the big blue ones) reduces the spoilage. you can also store high moisture corn the same way.

When I was an undergrad at Purdue and working on the beef farm, we did some experiments with spraying organic acid on corn and then storing it in wooden bins. It work. The cool thing is that rumenants (i.e. cattle, sheep etc) use the acids for energy just like we use sugar. In fact the bacterial action in the rumen normally produces the same acids which are obsorbed into the blood and utilized for energy.


Ok, sorry, I didn't mean to bore you, when I get off on these tangents, people eyes tend to roll back into their sockets etc.
Larry

 

[Bird]

In this thread I posted some pictures of corn silage. With the size of the tractors being used, it was packed tight, and then covered with plastic.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

That is true, like doc said though, you bale slow. I have never seen a need for small squares to be baled wet but I have baled wet hay before (wanted to see what would happen). My baler handled it fine but I was going slow and have a good baler. If going to do haylage for any reason other then an experiment I would just get a round baler or someone who has a round baler as Doc suggested. But it could be done with a small square baler and a lot of time.

 

[gabby]

Kenneth,
This idea sounds very shaky. How do you plan to manhandle 100-lb bales of wet hay even if you can get it through the baler? Why not feed good old dry hay? That's what I feed my cows and horses and they love it.
Gabby

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="green">How do you plan to manhandle 100-lb bales of wet hay even if you can get it through the baler </font>

We make 3 strand 120 lb. square bales that we feed at the ranch in Idaho. It was kind of funny when I came to Iowa and went to buy hay the first time. They had hay for $2/bale and I thought man hay is cheaper than heck here. Hay in Idaho usually runs $3/bale for a 75-85 lb. bale. When I went to look at the hay it was these small 35-45 lb. bales. I got an education real quick on hay. Even at $2/bale it was still around $125/ton compared to $75/ton at home.

As far as haylage goes it is a much better feed for cows. It will be much higher in protein and nutrients. You lose alot of the protein and nutrients when letting hay dry and baling it. With haylage you retain all the leaves, all the stem, etc. You CAN'T feed haylage to horses though only cattle.

 

[MicroPilot]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You CAN'T feed haylage to horses though only cattle. )</font>

Why is that? Colic?

 

[Soundguy]

Sounds like it is basically fermented feed.

Horses are so fragily.. to urear feeds.. etc. Got to watch protien content too.. and colic is always a concern for a horse..

Soundguy

 

[cowboydoc]

Soundguy is exactly right. A horse cannot handle fermentation. Not only colic but it causes founder. Their digestive systems are night and day from a cow. Some good friends of mine lost 20 head of horses because they got the wrong feed delivered to their horses that contained sileage and heavy amounts of urea. It's great for cattle but deadly for horses.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for clearing up that.. my spelling is pretty bad right now. At least two of my cats are helping me type right now.

speaking of equines.. I need to go stall mine right now.. later guys..

Soundguy