Four of us bucked 273 bales the other day, in 20 minutes

[riorider]

It only took four of us.. me, the wife, the brother in law, and some guy named John...



...Deere

We did use to buck and stack them one at a time by hand! You can see they are steel banded in 21 bale-bundles.







Just too cool...

Phil

[rhancox]

Not to be nosey, or anything, but as a curious city boy, how long does a truckload of hay like that last you? Is it just for horses? How many?

Even more curious, how much does it cost?

How come they're not rolled up? Is it just the supplier or did you get them the way you like them?

Down here, I rarely see a standard bale of hey. Even in a regular pickup, they'll be carrying one big roll of hay instead of several bales.

[Sprinter]

That's a lot faster than my hay hauling method! I haul four bales at a time on an Arctic Cat ATV. I sold my tractor (Massey Furgeson 202) a few years ago because I can do everything faster with the ATV.

Sprinter

[riorider]

Originally Posted by rhancox

Not to be nosey, or anything, but as a curious city boy, how long does a truckload of hay like that last you? Is it just for horses? How many?

Even more curious, how much does it cost?

How come they're not rolled up? Is it just the supplier or did you get them the way you like them?

Down here, I rarely see a standard bale of hey. Even in a regular pickup, they'll be carrying one big roll of hay instead of several bales.

It's kind of like "how long does a set of strings last?" - there's no specific answer. We have four horses - last year this time we had six. The winter before last (that would be 2007-2008) we had early snows which knocked the pasture grass down, and we had many spells of sub-freezing and rainy/snowy days, and kind of a late spring. We have "easy keepers" which in the horse world means they eat well and it's not hard to keep weight on them. So, adding all those factors, I was feeding about a bale and a half a day, and we went through about 200 bales from ~November through ~April. In the first picture (I doctored it to hide the steel bands!) the lighter colored bundles to the left were actually left over from last year. We bought 6 21-bale bundles more than we needed. So only the darker greener ones to the right (7 bundles: 2 high, 3 deep, one more on the far right) were bought this year.

The cost varies with the abundance of hay - very market driven. Usually around here, about $2.50/$3 in the field (you pick it up); $4/$5 delivered (each). The guy with the truck really is my brother in law, and we try to pay fairly for delivery but like any family he tends to do that part for free. So we try to find some others who need hay and they pick it up at the same time - makes his overall costs lower. 3 of the bundles on the truck were for friends.

Round bales have ~15 square bales of hay. They are easy to manage as field trucks and tractors use spikes to load and move them. Horses have much more sensitive gastronomic systems than cows, and any mold at all will either be not eaten by horses or, if eaten, could be a problem. So storing our square bales out of the weather protects against wet and therefore mold producing conditions. Also - the "easy keeper" comment above - if I left out a roll of ~15 bales, my chubbo ponies would stand and eat until it was gone. I can dole out what they need more easily with the square bales. And we travel and camp with them some, and the square bales are easy to pack along.

Cheers!
Phil

[rhancox]

Interesting information, Phil. Thanks for sharing that.

When I asked how long it would last, I figured there were variables at play there, so the per day feeding rate is easier to relate to.

I never thought about mold. Unless you had enough animals that would finish a roll in a day or two, you're right, leaving it out would not be smart.

And now that you say that, I recall seeing rolls left in a field for days. I don't recall if there was rain during those times, but I now wonder what became of those rolls after sitting out so long. Can you feed them to cows without much problem, as opposed to horses?

I've always wished I grew up in a rural setting than in the concrete and steel world of So. Cal., so all this stuff fascinates me.

[COWriter]

wow...i remember paying 75 cents per bale to feed my horses. Guess that was more than a few years ago

[PorkPieGuy]

Growing up where and how I did, I appreciate the hard work of something like this. Even on a really bad day on the job, I always say to my self, "It beats throwing hay."

[riorider]

Originally Posted by rhancox

Interesting information, Phil. Thanks for sharing that.

When I asked how long it would last, I figured there were variables at play there, so the per day feeding rate is easier to relate to.

I never thought about mold. Unless you had enough animals that would finish a roll in a day or two, you're right, leaving it out would not be smart.

And now that you say that, I recall seeing rolls left in a field for days. I don't recall if there was rain during those times, but I now wonder what became of those rolls after sitting out so long. Can you feed them to cows without much problem, as opposed to horses?

I've always wished I grew up in a rural setting than in the concrete and steel world of So. Cal., so all this stuff fascinates me.

It's never too late...!! I grew up in central Cal, and although it was more rural than San Bernardino or LA counties, it was still "town"!!

Cows can eat a wider range of feeds without problems - not anything, but more resilient than horses (I'm told - we don't have cattle!). They have a multi-stage digestion system.

It depends on the horse, too, whether the round bales work well or not. Most horses will trample more than they eat, so you have to have one of those round bale feeders which allows them to put their heads in and get at the bale, but which don't allow them to walk over it! Some horses will eat what they need, then go stand or walk around, then go back later. My "toads" will stand and eat until it's gone, pretty much.

And many horses, when they have "good" hay as well as some moldy or old hay, will pick through it and eat the good stuff. It's not always quite as gloomy as I painted it.

There are different kinds of hay - legumes which are leafy (like Alfalfa) and (I'm not sure of the proper term) grasses like blue stem, Timothy, brome, and similar. The legumes have more food value (protein) and you have to feed less. With my bunch, I feed the lowest protein (prairie grass or native grass or mixed bermuda/prairie) so it takes more time for them to get the same amount of food. I like that - they're happier chewing and chewing, it helps keep their internals moving more, and it is less expensive to feed grass hay than alfalfa. And they don't get a "burst" of energy from the higher protein feeds.

All learned later in life, beginning about 18 years back when the wife got her first horse.

Cheers!

pb

[jmcc]

The guy I buy my hay from usually helps unload the wagon. He had back surgery.

A couple of months ago he dropped off a wagon. I got home, saw it there , and it started to sprinkle. I climbed up and unloaded 130 bails, then stacked them in my barn. I already had about 150 bales.

I felt great until about 2 hours later. It took me about a month to recover. Ughhh

[riorider]

Originally Posted by jmcc

The guy I buy my hay from usually helps unload the wagon. He had back surgery.

A couple of months ago he dropped off a wagon. I got home, saw it there , and it started to sprinkle. I climbed up and unloaded 130 bails, then stacked them in my barn. I already had about 150 bales.

I felt great until about 2 hours later. It took me about a month to recover. Ughhh

Yeah - that was my problem until we started getting bundles 3 years ago. I could manage the once a year bucking and stacking, but it started taking weeks to recover! It's hard to find a young strong back to hire for that kind of work anymore. So, as long as the hay grower has his bundling machine, we'll be doing it this way!

Phil

[CraigRyder]

I see you more than bailed your age! (to paraphrase golfers)

Impressive.

Congratulations and Happy Birthday.

[rhancox]

When my folks retired, they moved to Shaver Lake, in the central Sierra outside of Fresno. They used to by wood by the cord.

At first, my dad just had it delivered and he'd stack it. Of course, they'd find a back way in and drive all the way up to his front porch. After a few years, for some reason, they would only drop it off in the parking lot which was at the end of a small incline from their condo. I think my dad only tried to bring it up the hill once to stack it. After that, he paid to have the guys stack it for him.

He cut his own kindling up until he had no strength left from the chemo (liver cancer). He was always one to do it himself, so it took a lot to change his mind.

[jmcc]

That is a nice setup! I've never seen it palleted/banded that way. And your barn is fantastic, from what I can see.

The ATV sounds good. And a Bobcat can do anything/everything with the right implements.

I just have a mini-tractor (JD diesel). Works well for me for now!

[Don Lampson]

The last time I bucked any hay bales was in the early 70s, and the going rate was $2.50 per hr....

The farmer said he'd pay me double for using my truck, and I'd be done the same day. I was 30 at the time, and started bucking the bales with a big strapping 14 year old farm kid.......

It was hot. I sweated & itched. That kid almost worked me to death for the 30 bucks I earned while being payed double! Yowza!

Don

[barefooter]

Oh, my back is hurting again.... We put up 125 bales a couple months ago. My wife, daughter, and brother-n-law and I did this. The hardest part was loading in the field workign in the sun. Yep, lots of sweating and itching...

We only have one horse and the brother-n-law is responsible for that. Several years ago he went out and bought the horse for my daughter after gaining approval from the wife. He lives a half mile from us and keeps the horse there where "we built his barn". There have been many smiles because of the horse, but there has also been a lot of sweat. Still, we enjoy him.