The joys of baling hay!

R

RachelB

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 December 2004
Messages
6,881
Location
back of beyond
Visit site
I can't move. I am SO tired. Just over 100 bales down, and probably just under 100 to go. For some reason I enjoy baling (I bagsie getting up on the trailer and enjoying the view and the ride!) but the down side is stopping... hay everywhere (about half a section in my underwear
crazy.gif
), broken bales stacked up right in the way (it was a convenient place at the time), fencing off where the bales are stored so the horses don't eat them, having to leave enough space to get some of last year's hay in for them to eat in the meantime, sourcing enough pallets to put them on, making sure they're not stacked too tightly to the walls or ceiling (don't think YO would be too pleased if we burnt down her stables
crazy.gif
). I also got a bit of hay stuck in my eye and have now torn the corner of my eyelid where I rubbed it too much
frown.gif
ouch!
It'll all be worth it when we can use them though, and now we have enough grass to last for half the winter and enough hay to last the rest
grin.gif

Anyone else taking advantage of this weather and getting their hay-making done?
 
Ours got done a couple of weeks ago before the rain, so i know how you feel, go and have a nice hot bath and a glass of wine before round 2 lol..
 
Nope. Weather is dreadful over here. Very very hot but never 2 days without a shower, so impossible to make any selling hay at the moment.

We have a few hundred huge round bales stacked away in the barns - they are a no brainer as all mechanised. Not looking forward to doing the small squares though. Even though the majority of it is mechanised, stacking thousands of bales in a barn with a temperature of over +45 C is just too much - thank god for my swimming pool
crazy.gif
.
 
we made hay yestaday 8 bloody hours of stacking and unstacing even got a go on the tractor ha ha 2day im sooooooooo tired and my arms and legs r really scratched and sore but at least the neds will hav summin to eat now and i must of burnt some cals xx
 
still being turned as i type then ... we will have to bring in and stack it which i hate like you said ... hay in your undies... itchy eyes... oooh cant wait
 
The guy who comes to sort out our fields isn't a farmer, but he grew up on a farm and has all the machinery. He loves coming and doing our fields for us! His baler is ancient but still works well. It's the driving round the field after him with a car and flatbed trailer that's hot work, stacking it on then un-stacking it at the yard, and re-stacking in the feed room. We ran out of space so have a few pallets lines up out the back (I hope we can get hold of some tarpaulin before it rains!)
Tia it was only about 25 ish and with a wind too, I much prefer England to Canada hearing about 45+ temperatures!
Early night I think before work tomorrow (leaving the others to do tomorrow's hay as I'm working 8am-6pm!)
 
Haven't started ours yet. Not looking forward to it this year, normally have about 120 bales to get in, this year we have about 5 acres instead of the usual 1, and there is a lot of grass on it. Funny when you mention help with hay making everyone seems to be busy
frown.gif
- going to have to sell some as well, can only fit a max of 200 in our barn, reckon there will be quite a bit more than that!
 
Everyone was busy round my way today too... funny that...
Myself and my very dedicated friend turned up on time, and about an hour later YO and her son turned up... they soon left and the two of us were still there collecting and stacking all on our own. I hope this hay is heavily discounted by YO!!! Bless our "farmer" guy though, he was baling it at 90mph as he only had a few hours spare this afternoon and he barely stopped for a breather!
laugh.gif
 
I LOVE MY DAD!!!! he has just finished baling what he's cut. It's a real heavy crop this year, he's done it all himself, it will probably take him all night to get it in.

Because he's on his own he's only cut about a 1/3 of it, going on that fact he got 1700 bales last year he's doing it in stages so he doesn't lose any.

I've got 8 acres worth that he's going to do after he's finished all his!!!!
 
Hauling hay bales is hate job I hate most, it is such hard work. My field used to make about 200 bales and it was a panic once they were done to get them in before it rained. It seemed to take hours and it was always soo hot. Last year I changed to 4ft haylege, once wrapped panic over and all the work done by tractor. So much easier, will never make small bales again.
 
Having stacked by hand for 20 years we raised the barn roof and made the fence dismantleable (if there is such a word! LOL) so the tractor can stack them for us!!! YAY!!!!!
cool.gif
 
I have got to go and fetch mine off the field tomorrow afternoon...before the thunder showers come. It is a horse trailer and 4x4 job and half an hour travelling too and from! I only have about 100 to collect but that will still be three trips. I have tarpaulin and bailer twine at the ready if it looks like rain, I would hate for it to get damp as it is usually really good stuff. I have the day off and the OH is hoping to leave work early to help...thank god!
 
We make small bale haylage, which means the grass is baled a day or so earlier than for hay so it has some green in it. It also means the bales are alot heavier! We make some to sell as well so usually in the region of 2,000 bales to haul!
 
we fetched and stacked 200 on tuesday,it`s thursday today and i`ve not recovered.
3 lorry loads-midday untill 9pm.

P7220663.jpg
 
Feeling lazy now - my 3 acres were baled in 4' bales today and stacked by tractor in the barn by 5pm. Pics to show a job well done
grin.gif

Image005.jpg

Image012.jpg
 
We sold all of our hay making equipment this year - thank goodness. Try making mini haylage bales - it is worse than hay as you have to lift every bale on and off the wrapper.

We now buy big bale haylage which a nice man delivers and stacks for us.
 
We moved 50 bales of last year's hay from our farm to the yard, on Sunday. On Wednesday night we picked nearly 200 bales off the field in 2 loads on a flatbed and took them to the dutch barn, unloaded and stacked. Tonight we took another 50 off another field and had to unload and stack them as well. So tired but my body seems to have recovered well. We only need about 150 usually for 2 horses and a giant rabbit, but we've just lost one of our horses which we may replace in a few months, so we probably only need about 120 this year. This means we have 180 to sell!
 
We should be thanking our lucky stars, such a lot of nice hay this year compared to last year, i,ve just picked up 2 loads in the trailer 3 people so made short work of it, still itchy and scratchy, "Tip of the day" have a nice bath with a cap of dettol, I know it makes you smell of old lady's lol, but it makes your skin soft and stops any itching.
 
Ours is being baled today, not sure if we are going to have time to get it this weekend though may have to wait till next weekend
smirk.gif
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top