Square Bale Storage

[Draagyn]

We have been storing up to 1200 bales a year in our gravel floor barn and have been fighting the moisture in our bottom two rows. I have built up the gravel to be about 6" above grade and have lined the whole floor with wooden pallets and still the bottom two bales pretty well go to waste. I get free used conveyor belts from work.

My current options:
1) lay rubber conveyor belts on top pallets (can no longer drive into barn)
2) remove pallets and put conveyor belts right on top gravel (ground will become uneven underneath)
3) pour a slab inside existing building (cost too much)

Looking for suggestions.
Thanks.

 

[stuckmotor]

You might try a second layer of pallets on top of the one that's already there.

 

[olPete]

Is the moisture coming up from below? Perhaps you could line the floor to prevent it coming up with polythene sheet, then pallets on top to let the hay breathe. I presume you know already, the bottom layer at least, needs to go on their side.. if you can leave a very slight gap say 2 inches around at least half the bales, then the air can help take the moisture out better. If you can increase ventilation in any way possible then its worth the effort.
I think the rubber would increase sweating if it is in contact with the bales.

 

[RickB]

Is the moisture coming up from below? Perhaps you could line the floor to prevent it coming up with polythene sheet, then pallets on top to let the hay breathe. I presume you know already, the bottom layer at least, needs to go on their side.. if you can leave a very slight gap say 2 inches around at least half the bales, then the air can help take the moisture out better. If you can increase ventilation in any way possible then its worth the effort.
I think the rubber would increase sweating if it is in contact with the bales.

Agree. 6 mil plastic on gravel; pallets above. Would have been nice if you had put it under the last layer of gravel you put in.

 

[Tx Jim]

Ditto what RickB stated.

 

[sailfast]

How moist is the hay that goes in?
Sounds like needs more ventilation regardless of the ground moisture. Is the ground particularly moist?
What kind of walls to the building, how is it ventilated?

 

[RickB]

How moist is the hay that goes in?
Sounds like needs more ventilation regardless of the ground moisture. Is the ground particularly moist?
What kind of walls to the building, how is it ventilated?

Hay dried properly then stored doesn't need ventilation. Symptoms of lower layer mold are directly related to ground moisture. The cure is to keep it out, not let it in then try to get it back out.

 

[sailfast]

Hay dried properly then stored doesn't need ventilation. Symptoms of lower layer mold are directly related to ground moisture. The cure is to keep it out, not let it in then try to get it back out.

We don't know it is properly dried.

We have been storing up to 1200 bales a year in our gravel floor barn and have been fighting the moisture in our bottom two rows. I have built up the gravel to be about 6" above grade and have lined the whole floor with wooden pallets and still the bottom two bales pretty well go to waste. I get free used conveyor belts from work.

My current options:
1) lay rubber conveyor belts on top pallets (can no longer drive into barn)
2) remove pallets and put conveyor belts right on top gravel (ground will become uneven underneath)
3) pour a slab inside existing building (cost too much)

Looking for suggestions.
Thanks.

 

[RickB]

We don't know it is properly dried.

If it wasn't properly dried he would be complaining about mold in more than the bottom two rows. Also note this problem is not a one-year deal but over multiple seasons.
Same problem every year. Same cause. One solution; keep moisture from getting in the hay after it is stored.

 

[olPete]

If it wasn't properly dried he would be complaining about mold in more than the bottom two rows. Also note this problem is not a one-year deal but over multiple seasons.
Same problem every year. Same cause. One solution; keep moisture from getting in the hay after it is stored.

Don't mean to hijack, we have a layer of used silage cover under our house, on the ground, with the odd shovel of gravel to keep it tight and quiet, and it has hugely lowered the condensation over winter. Perhaps this would be a cheap source of plastic for the OP

 

[Birdhunter1]

A neighbor of mine puts straw bales on the bottom layer then stacks the good hay up top. After the hay comes out the straw gets taken out and if wet/rotted/musty gets mixed in with the horse manure pile to make for more compost or gets spread in the garden around the plants. She figures the straw is cheap enough to do this with and doesn't ruin good hay.

 

[AKfish]

Same problems here with bottom layers. RickB pretty well summed things up. We lined the floor of the hay shed with foundation wall plastic 6mil. That solved most of the problem - not all.

Heavy snow years and spring rains will supersaturate the ground and delay dry ground with some external condensation on the plastic. Had to increase sand/gravel layer on shed floor. Mo better..

 

[olPete]

Putting lots of salt under and on the bottom layer is almost a kiwi tradition for stacking 'loony cubes', more so when there's been a job that was a race against time lost to rain. I don't know if it absorbs the moisture but it definitely stops the mould, too saline I guess. I couldn't farm without salt but it's not for that purpose.

 

[pmsmechanic]

A good cheap supply of plastic is from a lumber yard. The dimensional wood all comes covered with a tough waterproof plastic and all they do is throw it away. If there are any holes in the plastic they can easily be repaired with the red tape that's used for house wraps. It's pretty tough and sticks well.

 

[Draagyn]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad I posted this here. I will try out the plastic idea this year. As for ventilation there is two inches at the bottom all the way around and 6 inches at the top all the way around. Building is 20x40 by 12 high. I have never heard about bottom layer being on its side, what does that do?

 

[Draagyn]

Pictures of my barn on this thread.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/317890-new-barn.html

 

[RickB]

Thanks everyone, I'm glad I posted this here. I will try out the plastic idea this year. As for ventilation there is two inches at the bottom all the way around and 6 inches at the top all the way around. Building is 20x40 by 12 high. I have never heard about bottom layer being on its side, what does that do?

I used to stack ALL my hay on edge. No tripping on strings, and the weight of upper tiers compresses the lower bales and makes the strings tighter. Stack them strings up and the weight of upper tiers loosens the lower bales. Main benefit of bottom row on edge will be that plus fewer rotten strings from ground contact.
With your symptoms, mold damage is gonna happen either way without changing something at ground level.

 

[olPete]

I think the idea with the bottom row on edge, is that nearly all our barns have a dirt floor; so that stops the strings rotting and then you have a layer of loose hay to wade through all winter. Bales are slightly narrower this way too, so rather than pack them all up tight together, I was taught to leave that little gap in between for air circulation, in the bottom layer. And then we'd often layer a good inch of salt on them to stop the rot.
The gravel, being cold, may even attract the moisture as condensation.. certainly not in our climate, but it is a thought I've had since you posted.

 

[svenlylethor]

The moisture is definitely coming from the ground. If you have old conveyor belts then I'd put those on the gravel with the pallets on top. You can also throw some rock salt between the first and second layers of hay to reduce moisture or maybe on top of the conveyor belts to suck up more moisture. You could also get some straw bales and use those as the first layer if you're hand stacking. I have a stackliner and live in a very dry area so I just break a few bales under the stack right before I put it down. The straw sucks up the moisture and the hay bales don't get moldy. (or at least they are a lot less moldy)

 

[petebert]

Are there any concerns about chemicals leaching from the pallets into the hay? I can fit 400 bales in my barn but am trying to figure out how to store another 600 outside. I was thinking pallets and tarps.