Hay without a baler or a hay barn? Is there any way to do this?

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billylula

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Neighbour has cut her lovely meadow and a local farmer has baled most of it and taken it away. She has loads left just laying on the ground. She has said we are welcome to it. It would be lovely to have some free hay but we don't have a baler and I don't want to spend any money on hiring one as it wouldn't be cost effective. I suppose people made hay before balers were invented but is there anyway we can take advantage of this?
 
You could rake it up into a trailer and store it loose but you will need at least an empty stable or similar weatherproof storage. You could stack it on a dry base and sheet it over but bear in mind not just rain but wind and rain - you need a well fastened down fairly heavy sheet. Stacking loose hay is a skill, gets more difficult the higher the stack! I should imagine it is do-able but hard work - good luck!
 
could you not ask the farmer who's just baled the other half to come and bale the rest, i've just had mine baled, and for just bailing alone its 60p/bale, if its already rowed up and turned its still working out extreamly cheap, and is much easier to stack and then a lot easier to sheet - still run the risk of it getting wet though, friend of mine did just stack a load a couple of years ago as unable to get baler into field, it was ok, they lost a little bit but did sheet it well and the way they stacked it most of the rain ran off the sides, it was stacked right next to a high hedge which protected it from the worst of the wind too. worth a go if nothing else possible, what have you got to loose
 
Have done this in the past. We rolled up like rolling up turf, working up the lines and each roll would be stacked just before it got too difficult to handle. The whispy bits left on the ground we would pack into sacks...i NEVER throw away feed bags, they are what I use to take hay out to fields in the winter withou the wind blowing it off the wheelbarrow and they are great for this use too.

We had two spare stables to keep it in, but...if you can make a store area for them, like a really simple lean to on an existing building, just needs to be some plywood with weatherproof felting on top, then you can stack easily, but must cover very very well with heavy duty tarpaulin and old tyres.

Hope that helps.
 
I will also add though, if you see small brown spiders in the hay as you are rolling it or handling it, keep an eye on any stingy or itchy bits if you get them. Ticks can be seen so you know to do something, but my ex got a bite of a normal little brown spider in the field and ended up with a huge bite a few weeks later and at risk of Lymes disease.

The spiders aren't venomous, but some are carriers as are some ticks, so wear gloves and long trousers. When being baled, the activity makes them run to ground but when handling the loose hay by hand, there won't be as much disturbance to scare them to ground, so just bear it in mind.
 
Plenty of information here. They also have a couple of videos on YouTube.

http://www.scytheconnection.com/adp/hay/turner.html

Am I the only one on here who remembers hay making without a baler?

It would be collected using a hay sweep pulled by a Shire horse. When there was a decent pile of hay on it, we kids would get to ride on the mound of hay. (Health and Safety??:eek:). The mounds of hay were pulled up onto the stack with a grab/pully arrangement. A couple of men would go around the stack pulling out loose hay so the sides sloped gently inwards to shed the water. My uncle always got a thatcher in as thatch was better than a tarpaulin as it "breathed" and was more weather proof.... The family I used to stay with in Ireland trained show jumpers and would feed nothing but tripodded hay from meadows as that was considered by far the best for horses.
 
I did this years ago. We gathered the loose stuff and loaded up the back of my Mums mini van (several trips required!) We stacked it on a table in the corner of the garage. It did my pony for a couple of months so there must have been well in excess of dozen small bales worth in our little haysyack!
 
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