The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moony on September 05, 2014, 04:02:08 pm
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This might be in the wrong place. If so I apologise and will move it.
We have just had 41 bales of haylage made. We are new to the area and struggled to find somebody to come as nobody would come to the outsiders so ended up booking through a contractor out of the area who sent a lad from next door to us. The lads attitude was very much I'm only doing it for the money as he initially declined. He left every gate open while he was here and didn't shut them when he went home which was not very helpful at all as we had sheep everywhere.
We did ask for conventional bale hay but the grass wasn't drying so he made round bale haylage, which is awkward for us without machinery at present but its fair enough. However, when they have stacked them a number have small tears or rips in them and nearly all have a fair amount of grass poking through somewhere. In my opinion he hasn't used anywhere near enough wrap. My question is basically where do I go from here. Do we just have to accept it, pay for the bales and sulk or what. We have never really used contractors before and this is exactly why. I'm far from happy as there is a fair chance a lot of them will be off when opened, and if thats the case its a complete waste of money. We have patched them as best as we can but can't get to every part of the bale.
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Explain calmly and clearly to the contractor that you are very unhappy and will he come and look at the bales, tears and cuts should have been taped and grass should not be sticking out everywhere , and don,t pay until you are satisfied
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Definately get them back, there shouldn't be any tears or rips if wrapped and handled properly, any air getting in will cause it to go mouldy. We had some that the cat had made tiny puncture marks in and although we taped over these it still was mouldy in those parts.
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We have spoken to the contractor tonight and he is going to send the lad back tonight or in the morning and if he won't come he will send somebody else. Sooner the better as its going to rain shortly. He was very nice and understanding plus a bit annoyed I think. Especially when we told him the majority only had one full layer of wrap on and the others two. I have made haylage many years ago and was always told use 4 as a very bare minimum but normally 6 or 8. You only have to touch it and it tears. I think the lad that did them was taking the p**s a bit, well a lot. Given up trying to tape them. Its a waste of time and its just getting me cross. If they are not fixed we won't pay him but then we are still down as we will have to buy in bales and we could have used the grass.
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They should have 15 wraps on them which covers the entire bale twice overlapping each turn.
Is he coming back to re-wrap?
I would insist that he does or you are going to have 41 bales of shite!!
41 bales at £25 per bale is £1025 plus what you are paying to have it made is a significant loss. You might also need to buy in feed to replace it.
Hope you get a good outcome :fc:
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I'd be sick as a pig and fuming... That boy doesn't deserve his job, if that's how he operates, shameful. Hope that all gets sorted for you xx
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He is supposed to be coming back to rewrap this morning but after it throwing it down all night and all morning i'm not sure there's a lot of point. Really peed off. Apart from the fact he will tear the field to pieces the bales are that wet they will be ruined. Every bale has some grass poking through. I have tried to attach some pictures showing some of the holes and tears. Even where they haven't teared where they are weight bearing the wrap has stretched so its see through.
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The second picture isnt actually ripped, it has just stretched that much it is see through.
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That's really bad :(
I hope they can manage to salvage the bulk of the crop for you, and make an appropriate financial adjustment for what's ruined.
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Bales have been looked at by the contractor boss and he wasn't very happy. Only 1 layer of wrap on rather than the 6 he would put on. He has tried to get the lad to come back but he hasn't yet- his answer is our horses have chewed them which is b*****ks. We are in a HLS and our only horse here is allowed nowhere near them and he can't contort to get bales in the middle of a stack. There hasn't been stock in those fields since May 15th. Even if the lad does come back I can't trust him to do it right unless I'm watching and thats not how it should be. Contractor assured me they would be fine. I'm not convinced - one already smells off to me. If the lad hasn't come back by tomorrow morning he will come himself and do them but to me Thursday morning to Monday afternoon is a long time, especially with heavy rain and hot sunshine like we have had.
I'm tearing my hair out over them. I can't see them being any good so am more than likely going be out of pocket. It's also hard as the actual boss is a lovely old man, so it's hard to get cross with him whereas the lad that did them is an arrogant waster. I'm at a complete loss what to do now. They just are not fit for purpose. I don't know whether to pay him to save any hassle or tell him I will pay them when I open them. I could say just take the bales then I will have to buy in so will lose that way or I could say take half as payment if you are that convinced they will be fine, but then I could still be stuck with a load of rubbish. Made my mind up I'm getting my own kit next year.
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What a sad tale - makes me mad to read it. I would absolutely refuse to pay a penny until the mess is sorted out. You may make an enemy - bet you're already off the lad's Christmas card list as he obviously thought he could get away with it - but would you want people who behave like that to be your friends ? He should be ashamed of the way you have already been treated by his sub-contractor. He can threaten legal action but he has not in any way fulfilled his side of the contract and I doubt he would get far. Hope you can get some sort of satisfactory resolution.
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You could try putting it down in writing, in a "this is a list of the facts as it happened" way, devoid of any emotional wording. Don't blame anyone. End by spelling out the consequences for you - that you do not have haylage of sufficient quality to feed stock through the Winter, that you will have to buy in X number of bales at Y price. Conclude by asking the contractor (not the lad) how he suggests you proceed in order to reach a fair outcome. Hopefully he will see that you are being entirely reasonable but are not going to pay for a barn full of compost and come up with a constructive suggestion.
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Lots of pictures too with date stamps on them or video.s just in case you need them later . Don't know what the answer is , if he took the bales as payment would you be able to buy in enough hay with the money , 41 big bales of haylage about 700 small bales of hay
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its a tricky situation. we were in a similar situation a few years ago in that the haylage we were purchasing on a weekly basis was really mouldy and we were being charged full whack. we learnt that some people cant accept criticism at all :o :o we actually refused to pay full price at first but the farmer was adding to the interest to the interest so in the end we paid him just to see the back of him.
the next yr we had our own bales bought and wrapped off the field with someone else and they were done very professionally on site, any tear (not many) was patched up straight away, but we still had about 30% of bales with mould running through. may have been caused by rats/cats/sharp ground though.
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Came back today to rewrap them. Every one split when he moved them so I checked them and most were mouldy. Tried to show him the mould but he said it would be fine and got told I've been doing this for 50 years I know they will be fine. Some were balck, some had white mould on them which to me after 6 days is pretty terminal. Soon as I said that he lost the plot. Told him to take the bales as payment but he doesn't want them. Called me an arsehole, a nutter, and an idiot multiple times, said he never thought I would pay, his reason was basically because he doesn't know me. Tried to reason with him, said I could shove them up my arse and told me to leave before he knocked my head off and started waving his fists about - about 5 metres away but still. If you bare in mind the whole of that time I was holding my 2 year old girl. I'm not paying for rubbish and don't see why I should, thats why I told him to take the bales which would leave us out of pocket and I thought that was more than fair but there was no reasoning with him, he just lost the plot. Said he had bent over backwards for us, which he clearly hadn't. Said he had offered to exchange bales to which I said well you will be up here every day then. His reply was no you have to come and get them. Its a long time since I have felt uncomfortable, well actually scared even though he was a pensioner. I have no idea what to do now. I don't want to not pay anything. The area here is very inbred and unwelcoming as it is. Now we have absolutely no chance.
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Trading Standards?
I do feel for you. :(
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Just spoke to my neighbouring farmer who was picking up his wrapped bales this evening. I told him your sorry tale and he said it's folk like that give farmers a bad name. He would wrap 6 times as an absolute minimum - and that's with 'soft' grass. nothing 'stemmy'.
Can you get anyone independent to look at it, maybe from NFU or trading standards? You could take it to the Small Claims Court (can be done online) but you will need good photographic evidence and probably an expert opinion on the work.
It is so hard when you move to an area and feel cut out :bouquet: