Ideas for storing hay in field

[sjdress]

So my horse is living out now and we are not on a yard anymore. She has a shelter and plenty of grazing in a private field. However at the moment my hay is stored under tarpaulin which is fine until it’s raining,
Windy etc and can be a real pain to keep it all covered! So any ideas how I can store my hay? I was thinking of a small garden shed but not sure how I could erect this in a field.

 

[Polos Mum]

How much are you looking to store - a small shed would be I guess 20 -30 bales max. A local handyman will put up a shed for you for not that much in the scheme of things. If it's an exposed area wind will still be an issue! You'd have to think of planning and make the shed 'portable'
I would get small deliveries so you're storing as little as possible - maybe pay your provider for it and pay him to store it at his - if you're concerned about availability in your area.

Old tyres over the tarpaulin help weigh it down, stack on pallets - double or triple layer the tarp?

Buy wrapped hay that comes with it's own protection?

Depending on the cost of straw in your area you can put hay inside a layer of straw bales so only they get water on them. But around here straw is still £5 a small bale so that wouldn't work

 

[teddypops]

You could buy an old horse trailer and use that.

 

[ester]

we gave up storing hay under a tarp, we did/do have other storage so we would sell the spare and buy back in what we needed (sometimes buying back our own for storage costs lol). getting an ex back off a lorry was the best thing we did though.

 

[Polos Mum]

shipping container - they are £1-2k and you'd have to have very dry hay but might work

 

[sjdress]

shipping container - they are £1-2k and you'd have to have very dry hay but might work

Dont think the owners of the field would allow that. And more than I want to pay as would only be needing to store a small Amount of hay as have small deliveries

 

[misst]

If building something is an issue how about hayledge? It is wrapped against the weather and too heavy to blow away?

 

[HBB]

If it's small bales, then have a think about an old caravan? Strip out all the fittings inside and you'll have a tidy watertight hay store.

 

[ester]

how much hay? and small bales?

 

[brightmount]

When mine were living out, I started with big round bales on pallets, with a tarp held down with bungees. But the next year I had to change to small bales which I stored in my greenhouse at home and took to the field what I needed each day.

 

[Fred66]

Gazebo - with heavy duty pinning!!
Then a pallet or two to keep the hay off the floor.

 

[rabatsa]

Is your field shelter big enough to store some hay inside as well as the horse? Sheets of plywood stood on end can protect the bales from the horse.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Could you make a more permanent structure with pallets, then nail/screw the tarpaulin to it so like a mini field shelter just big enough to store x bales, perhaps as above with a straw layer

 

[3OldPonies]

You could buy an old horse trailer and use that.[/QUOTE


Thinking of doing this, I have a very old wooden trailer that would be a good project for someone, but quite frankly I can't be bothered with it, so possibly using for hay storage this winter.

 

[cremedemonthe]

Shame you can't thatch it, it was the answer in the old days, my old uncle who was a cowman and a heavy horse ploughman used to thatch the hay stacks in fields as well as lambing pens.Hay lasted for ages, rarely got damp or mouldy. Old ways are best but sadly people don't have the time or skills now , Oz

 

[Greylegs]

How about a canvas caravan cover instead of a tarp. It's already shaped like a box, so no probs tucking in the corners to keep it secure from the wind, and they often have a zip "door" for access. You can get them in all sizes depending on how big your hay stack is.

 

[Otherwise]

A poly tunnel works well, if you have a door put in it's much easier than undoing and redoing tarpaulin multiple times a day. I've always found hay gets wet if it's just under a tarp, a bit like if you touch the side of a tent water seeps through.

 

[BSL2]

You could buy an old horse trailer and use that.

Exactly what we did. Old sinclair trailer. Takes 2 huge squares. Split and layered. Was £600 off ebay. Best thing we ever bought.