Buying in haylage

[James-Stephens2014]

Hi all

Few questions to those of you that buy in haylage - do you buy large quantities at once? How do you expect delivery? How do you expect the bales to be unloaded?

I am a farmer with a livery yard, have a lot more haylage than needed this year so considering selling some to local yards etc. I assume most yards don't have loaders with squeeze grabs, and don't have the storage areas for large quantities... Anyway just trying to understand the feasibility of it.

It obviously isn't worth taking the loader and trailer with 5 bales on a 20 mile round trip. Would need to be a trailer load at once - thirty or so bales.

Thank you

 

[AdorableAlice]

I would put an advert on your local horsey facebook page. It will soon sell to a big yard, liveries/riding school set up. Most of the bigger yards will have a spike on a tractor.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Advertise haylage for sale collection only from your farm and help them load up. The logistics at the other end isn't something you need to worry about really.

 

[ycbm]

I buy in bulk and need delivery of at least thirty 150-180kg bales with a loader carried on the haylage truck. I've tried smaller deliveries but they can't be stacked neatly if there's no machine to hand!e them and the quality, and sometimes price, varies batch to batch if I don't buy all at the same time. And waiting for multiple deliveries is a pain the butt. Tight turns by a tractor rips up the tarmac on the yard and I've had walls and gates knocked in the process. My preference is pallets placed with a forklift and I'll pay a sizeable premium to get that.


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[James-Stephens2014]

What would you expect to pay ballpark if you had to collect it? Appreciate there are many variables

 

[AdorableAlice]

Rounds or 4 string squares ?

 

[windand rain]

£5 small bale, £18 for a 2x4 round, £25/30 for 4ft round and not sure about a heston/half heston as never bought any

 

[James-Stephens2014]

I assumed squares would be preferred - but I have a round baler and wrapper.... Out of interest what sort of example prices have you guys paid for either? Collected from farm, loaded onto your trailer.

 

[windand rain]

I assumed squares would be preferred - but I have a round baler and wrapper.... Out of interest what sort of example prices have you guys paid for either? Collected from farm, loaded onto your trailer.

As above collected from the farm or field

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I assumed squares would be preferred - but I have a round baler and wrapper.... Out of interest what sort of example prices have you guys paid for either? Collected from farm, loaded onto your trailer.

I pay £35 if it's delivered or £25 if I collect for square bales.

 

[James-Stephens2014]

Thank you everyone

 

[cobgoblin]

I usually buy a whole winter's worth of haylage at once.. I prefer on pallets with a piggy back forklift so that ot can be placed tidily in the yard. Moving square bales once delivered is difficult, the medium size one's are just about possible but not the large.
I've had haylage unloaded by squeeze grab but it did damage a few.
The other problem is insufficient layers of wrap to keep the bale airtight.

 

[chaps89]

Square bales from our local supplier are £25 each delivered if you buy 6 or more at a time, otherwise £30 each. Variable quality though. Better quality from another supplier is about £35-40, having a mental block if that's rounds or squares though. Personally I prefer squares as easier to fill haynets from!
That's Surrey.

 

[James-Stephens2014]

So reference haylage on pallets - they are small bales individually wrapped, then the whole pallet shrink wrapped? How many bales per pallet at what price delivered?

Thank you again everyone.

 

[windand rain]

So reference haylage on pallets - they are small bales individually wrapped, then the whole pallet shrink wrapped? How many bales per pallet at what price delivered?

Thank you again everyone.

That would be perfect for me but might work out quite expensive to do so may make it not cost effective

 

[James-Stephens2014]

I agree it would never stack up when can get £25 for a round collected!