Smallholders Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: How big is a small bale?  (Read 3514 times)

FiB

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Bala, North Wales
    • Facebook
How big is a small bale?
« on: August 07, 2012, 05:57:03 pm »
I've googled and the answer ranges between 22" and 4 ' in length - what would you expect?    Last year my neighbour had the baler set so big that they had a tendancy to bananna shape and were hard to move - so my first field this year I asked for small bales (for me).  Just cut last 2 fields and dont want to count my hay before its baled.... but.....  what size to bale for sale?  I know you can always adjust the price, but Id like to do it right.  Fingers crossed again!
Oooooo  just noticed more icons :excited:   :sunshine: :sunshine: :sunshine:  Cheers, Fi

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: How big is a small bale?
« Reply #1 on: August 07, 2012, 06:33:50 pm »
They need to be exactly twice as long as wide in order to stack correctly.

Generally the depth would be 4/5 the width, so that 5 on their sides is the same as the length of two.

The width and depth are fixed by the baler, so it's not easy to vary the length of the bale without losing those ratios and getting bales that won't stack safely.

However, they can be baled more or less dense.  If densely packed, they'll be heavy to move, stack, etc, but you're getting more for your money.  If less densely packed, they're easier to handle now, but come winter, the strings will be too loose and you'll find them coming apart in your hands.

Not sure if that helped any...

Size isn't the best measure, really.  We work on 40 small bales per tonne.  But unless you have a weighbridge you can get your load to, that doesn't help much either.  Sorry.
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

lachlanandmarcus

  • Joined Aug 2010
  • Aberdeenshire
Re: How big is a small bale?
« Reply #2 on: August 07, 2012, 06:41:29 pm »
generally people expect a small bale to be 1metre by half a metre, there or thereabouts, baled quite tightly, tho it does vary when your baler is as temperamental as Blasted Bertha our one....

robert waddell

  • Guest
Re: How big is a small bale?
« Reply #3 on: August 07, 2012, 07:05:42 pm »
the bale density is more sun dependant   if it is bright sunshine the bales will be lighter  the same as if the hay has damp patches  the bales will be heavier than dry hay    international used to have a hydraulic bale tension-er as opposed to the rest with a screw and spring system :farmer:

jaykay

  • Joined Aug 2012
  • Cumbria/N Yorks border
Re: How big is a small bale?
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2012, 07:27:46 pm »
About 25kg

FiB

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Bala, North Wales
    • Facebook
Re: How big is a small bale?
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2012, 08:35:22 pm »
Thanks all - I'll go and measure the width and work from that. Hoping for  :sunshine: :sunshine: :sunshine: , but still feel releived - once its cut thats it, all you can do is hope, wait and turn. Got the big bale contractor on standby for haylage just in case.

 

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