obscure Q about baling hay (lg squares)

[Nifty-Chicken]

Pat, did you ever think you'd actually have qualified answers from experts so quickly?

Gosh I love this place!

 

[patandchickens]

Thanks y'all for the answers! Yes, Rob, actually I *did* think I'd get a bunch of intelligent replies here so quickly, even though this is a chicken board -- that's one of the great things about BYC

I wasn't asking about why the colors are different, btw -- I know baler twine comes in a gajillion different colors, in fact I know a couple people who *collect* em as a hobby! -- just about why the short sectiion of a different color.

It's not that Bruce had several different-color spools, because there are NO all-orange strings. Just the occasional 2'-long spliced-in section, you know?

So I think that credit for the right answer probably goes to Skyesrocket and texasbartrambaby-- that the string was occasionally breaking in the baler and he was grabbing existing stuff, probably leftovers from last year, to splice it together to get it going again. That makes sense and would totally explain what I'm seeing.

THANK YOU, very much -- now my brain won't itch every time I open one of those bales

Pat

 

[BeckyLa]

Now that your question has been solved.....

I have never seen square bales that big, just round ones or the small square ones I call horse hay. Would anyone have a picture? Do they make square feeders for them like they do the round bales? Does it come apart in flakes like horse hay? Now I'm really curious....

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Okay ....I have something else to ask....what do you all do with the Twine after you open the bale....I think I could make a rug with the amount I have in a burlap bag...My daughter braided a skipping rope this past summer...

 

[patandchickens]

BeckyLa - sorry I don't have a picture, but mine are about 6' long by maybe 3.5' square. Yes, they fall apart into flakes just like small squares do -- from the supplier I get mine from, a flake is usually about 12 lbs but of course that varies depending on the hay and how the equipment is adjusted.

I have heard of a specially designed big square feeder for horses but never seen one-- although some people put 'em (whole, or in flakes) in roundbale feeders.

I just use 'em the same way as I would use small squares -- peel off however many flakes I need to feed (I weigh my hay out in a sling, each feeding, to make sure I'm not 'drifting' in one direction or the other) and chuck 'em in piles on clean snowy ground.

The main advantages (to me) of big squares is that a) the hay is somewhat cheaper per pound, and b) you can store more weight of hay in a smaller storage space than you could with small squares. You do obviously need a tractor with a bale spear to move 'em though -- but I get my hay from the guy down the road and he drives his tractor down and helps me get it into the barn. (Drops it onto a dolly in the barn doorway and then we roll it to where it's going and tip it off onto a pallet, just 1 layer of bales obviously)

2468Chickensrgr8, I have seen haynets and macrame tote bags made out of baler twine. Also it is excellent for temporary repairs around the place, tying things to the top of your car (synthetic baler twine knots well and yet the knots are very easy to undo, they don't jam), and general all-purpose twine type use. Natural (jute) baler twine, usually just from small squares, can be braided into cheap useful leadropes, or used in the garden.

Like you I have a certain amount of surplus sitting in the barn, but I actually use up a surprising amount of it each year

Pat