Wrapping with solid plastic?

[Paul N]

I just took delivery of a NH BR7060 round baler yesterday. Looking through the manual about loading the net wrap, it says that I can also use solid plastic with adhesive backing. I have never heard of using solid plastic on a round bale! Has anyone here tried it, or know of anyone that has done it?

 

[bcp]

Most of what I see on OR and WA looks like this, probably because of the rain:



Marshmallow Fields - Large Round Bales Of Hay Wrapped In Plastic For Protection During Outside Storage Near Roseburg Or

 

[Paul N]

Those bales were wrapped after baling. What I'm talking about is using solid plastic instead of net in the baler. The ends would still be exposed.

 

[bcp]

There is some of that, too.

I found this while looking.

Cattle Forum & Cattle Discussion Boards at Cattle Today

Many years ago I used to drive tractors for a baling company, in the SW desert area, making small square bales. All this new stuff with huge round or square bales, wrapped bales, and wet weather methods seems strange and interesting to me. Our moisture problems came from having too little.

Bruce

 

[Paul N]

Thanks for the link Bruce, that helps.

Paul

 

[AKfish]

I just took delivery of a NH BR7060 round baler yesterday. Looking through the manual about loading the net wrap, it says that I can also use solid plastic with adhesive backing. I have never heard of using solid plastic on a round bale! Has anyone here tried it, or know of anyone that has done it?

I've just started to see it up here! Maybe 2 years, now. Open ends - solid white overwrap. Don't know anyone with 1st hand experience but, it's a small farm community up here... I'll do some asking around.

Quite a bit of hayledge/silage wrap bales up here. A number of hay producers use that as their "fall-back, ace-in-the-hole" card! Some years, that's the only real forage that a guy can put up. Too much rain and with the short season and cooler days beginning by ~ 20th of Aug, you'd be S-O-L without hayledge.

AKfish

 

[Fordmajor]

Overhere in Holland (Europe) wrapping in solid plastic is very common. A wrapping machine can pick up a ready made bale and toss it round while it is wrapped into plastic, effectively sealing off the entire bale.

Wrapping is done to huge bales, smaller one kubic meter bales and more handy round bales. Wrapping in plastic is most used for the huge bales since it is costly per bale. The bigger the bale the cheaper. Bales are often used with grass that has to turn into silage. The advantage towards creating a silage dike is the freshness of the silage in winter. While cutting off pieces of a silage dike you have risk of deteriorating food. Every bale is a fresh unit until it is opened up. Large dairy farmers use a lot of the big bales, since they are easy to create and easy to store. You do have to have some food speed though, because once a bale is opened up the quality of the food deteriorates fast. No use to go for big bales when you feed two or three horses.
That is why one cubic meter bales came in existence. These are small enough to be eaten by two or three animals in say one or one and a half week. These bales and smaller round bales are not only created for silage. They are allso used for pure hay. Mostly by people who do not have enough barnspace to store the normal bales of hay. All the plastic wrapped bales can be stored outside and are pretty good resistant to the weather. Only crows are known to get attracted to the shiny black plastic which is bad since they will make holes in the plastic.
cheers
Andries

 

[nwltruck]

I have always wondered why shrink wrap is not used. I have worked in a couple of jobs requiring wrapped pallets and the stuff is very strong cheap,and would keep the bail better protected from weather compared to twine or netting. I understand it is not as robust as the options available but two of three layers of shrink wrap plastic would easily hold a bail together.

 

[Paul N]

I agree with you nwltruck. I'm wondering if the wrap mechanism in a baler can handle shrink wrap, and I would like to hear from someone who actually tried it.

 

[powerpace]

I agree with you nwltruck. I'm wondering if the wrap mechanism in a baler can handle shrink wrap, and I would like to hear from someone who actually tried it.

There are balers that use plastic that will make a compact, weather tight seal while on the go. Youtube is loaded with videos. The pictures that bcp has posted of the bales near Roseburg, Oregon are about five miles from my house. Some years those bales are put up too wet and they become haylage. All that hay is fed out at a horse boarding and cattle facility.

 

[Fordmajor]

I think I could have misunderstood the term solid plastic. The plastic I was talking about looks indeed like the plastic used for wrapping pallets. There are several movie on Youtube. I think this one, Balen persen en wikkelen - YouTube shows very well what I was talking about. It starts with a huge baler and gives a good impression of the wrapping of the bales.
cheers
andries

 

[nwltruck]

The plastic they use now as far as I know is a heavy self adhesive poly film. I would think ordinary shrink wrap would be much cheaper than the stuff I have seen used in my area.

 

[powerpace]

The plastic used for the bales is fitted to the machine and is UV protected for long term outdoor use. Ordinary clear shrink wrap wouldn't last long exposed to sunlight. Plus the hay would deteriorate more when exposed to sunlight. The same stuff they use for the hay is what they use for weather wrap protection for long storage and shipping of boats and equipment. It can be shrunk by heat to some extent. Usually not self adhestive.

 

[mkklee]

Were you able to use plastic wrap on the NH BR7060 ?

 

[Paul N]

Were you able to use plastic wrap on the NH BR7060 ?

No, I never did try it. I stayed with net wrap. From what I've been reading, the plastic could trap excess moisture inside and possibly cause even more spoilage. The bale needs to breathe.