Bought in Silage bales

Feckthis

Bought silage yesterday and got it delivered. Very dissapointed with what I seen when I got home. Never had baled silage here before. Do all bales look like this. Or have I been played ;(. I bought off a neighbour

Kovu

:eek:

I reeeeeeeally hope you haven't paid him.....

Feckthis

Kovu wrote: »

:eek:

I reeeeeeeally hope you haven't paid him.....

Sam Kade

Feckthis wrote: »

How much did you pay for them? The grass must have been very wet when baling, how does it smell?

stanflt

Feckthis wrote: »

Bought silage yesterday and got it delivered. Very dissapointed with what I seen when I got home. Never had baled silage here before. Do all bales look like this. Or have I been played ;(. I bought off a neighbour

infairness the quality looks really good
bales shouldnt be moved unless they are to be consumed within days

J.O. Farmer

It didn't look too bad until the last picture. I really don't like the look of the flat soft looking bales that look like they've got small.
I somehow think you may have bales of dung. The firmer rounder bales might not be too bad but some of the others if they were mine I'd open in the field somewhere. If there's anything to be salvaged the cattle will but opening in a shed would be planning to do a lot of forking back out.
Like Kovu said I hope you haven't paid for them because I wouldn't. I wouldn't sell them to anyone either never mind a neighbour.

Kovu

I think it all depends on how much you paid! Personally I wouldn't even look at them but my father taught me to be very strict about never bursting bales, patching them up immediately and storing on the ends.

He must have stored them very badly and completely horsed them off the carrier to have them ending up like that!

Did you see them before buying or take him at his word of the quality?

ihatewinter

Jesus, that's low of your neighbour. Might want to get out ASAP with the tape and start patching, won't be long till they start rotting

frazzledhome

stanflt wrote: »

infairness the quality looks really good
bales shouldnt be moved unless they are to be consumed within days

I'd agree, how long till you get them all eaten?

Feckthis

Kovu wrote: »

I think it all depends on how much you paid! Personally I wouldn't even look at them but my father taught me to be very strict about never bursting bales, patching them up immediately and storing on the ends.

He must have stored them very badly and completely horsed them off the carrier to have them ending up like that!

Did you see them before buying or take him at his word of the quality?

Paid €18 a bale. I just took his word for it as he is a neighbour. I feel like some fool now.

Feckthis

frazzledhome wrote: »

I'd agree, how long till you get them all eaten?

I was hoping they would last me a while.

I said

Feckthis wrote: »

Paid €18 a bale. I just took his word for it as he is a neighbour. I feel like some fool now.

Some neighbour after seeming last photo are the 2014 bales?????????

Kovu

Feckthis wrote: »

Paid €18 a bale. I just took his word for it as he is a neighbour. I feel like some fool now.

Ring him and tell him you just had a look and that they're not fit for the purpose you want them for. If he's anyway decent at all he should take them back or at the very least give a chunk of money back.

Feckthis

I said wrote: »

Some neighbour after seeming last photo are the 2014 bales?????????

He said they were cut in May. All of the bales are basically like the last picture.

agriman27

They're buns not bales!

frazzledhome

Feckthis wrote: »

He said they were cut in May. All of the bales are basically like the last picture.

If cut in May and not burst shape means nothing. I've often had bales that looked more like briquettes. I bet they'll feed really well

J.O. Farmer

Feckthis wrote: »

Paid €18 a bale. I just took his word for it as he is a neighbour. I feel like some fool now.

€18 is cheap enough for silage. I think some might be alright. The first 2 photos the silage looked good. The last photo though the some bales looked bad. The bursted bales will keep longer if it was the recent handling than if they were bursted when fresh. I would patch them up and see how they go. Any bale that doesn't look like it's gotten small may be okay. The ones that appeared to shrink though may be rotten.

AP2014

Feckthis wrote: »

Paid €18 a bale. I just took his word for it as he is a neighbour. I feel like some fool now.

Are ya sure it is this years silage? Jaysus lads here say I overcharge.

J.O. Farmer

AP2014 wrote: »

Are ya sure it is this years silage? Jaysus lads here say I overcharge.

How much are you charging. I don't think there's much silage to be got less. Most silage costs nearly that to make.

AP2014

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

How much are you charging. I don't think there's much silage to be got less. Most silage costs nearly that to make.

€12 off the field, mow, bale and wrap yourself. I think it's a decent price.

Genghis Cant

It looks to me that they were stacked. The bottom ones have lost their shape. It may well be good enough stuff.
An issue I'd have is that they won't last too long like that. Much more than a week or ten days tops and your in trouble.

Base price

Feckthis wrote: »

He said they were cut in May. All of the bales are basically like the last picture.

Difficult situation to be in, after all he is your neighbour.
Open one or two and see how they look like and smell.
If they are ok then patch up the rest of them asap.
Although personally I would not like the fact that they are flat. I forget what the weather was like in May.

J.O. Farmer

AP2014 wrote: »

€12 off the field, mow, bale and wrap yourself. I think it's a decent price.

That's going to come to a lot more than €18. It would be closer to €24 maybe more by the time you've bales at home. It's not a bad price to get even though you won't have much out of it after fertiliser is paid for and spread.

kevthegaff

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

That's going to come to a lot more than €18. It would be closer to €24 maybe more by the time you've bales at home. It's not a bad price to get even though you won't have much out of it after fertiliser is paid for and spread.

it looks pretty good!

Cow Porter

Has anyone ever seen bales stacked 3 high? Seen bottom row of 4 high near here and like pancakes lol.

Wouldn't be too worried about shape unless they are wringing wet, just patch them up if your not using quick enough,

AP2014

J.O. Farmer wrote: »

That's going to come to a lot more than €18. It would be closer to €24 maybe more by the time you've bales at home. It's not a bad price to get even though you won't have much out of it after fertiliser is paid for and spread.

Ya I think its fair and I don't have much out of it. Lads that buy have better bales than on show here as well.

Greengrass1

As said shape means nothing. We have had bales of itaillian that were pure leaf and ended up 2 ft high by the time winter came but were serious bales.
The holes is not ideal. What ye could have done was got and taken what you needed for the week every week.
The quality looks good its just the holes

Sam Kade

Greengrass1 wrote: »

As said shape means nothing. We have had bales of itaillian that were pure leaf and ended up 2 ft high by the time winter came but were serious bales.
The holes is not ideal. What ye could have done was got and taken what you needed for the week every week.
The quality looks good its just the holes

But flat bales means they are full of water and won't last long.

whelan2

are the cattle eating them?

Bullocks

The silage itself looks ok , if its short leafy stuff or stacked a few high it could sag .
He shouldn't have punctured them if they weren't going to be used straight away though , he should've asked you that before he delivered them .
I would patch them up an hope they don't go bad after the air got to them and feed out the worst torn ones first . There was alot worse ate in the spring 2012 and they were alot dearer than €18

The Cuban

Well I wouldnt blame the neighbor, just take it as a lesson learn`t the hard way.
They might feed ok, silage made during the month of may will not have much stem in it so the bales will not be solid. Proof will be in the feeding

welton john

Sam Kade wrote: »

But flat bales means they are full of water and won't last long.

Depends if they have been stacked 2 or 3 high the bottom bales will be really flat but will prob have less water than the top row.Our best bales last year were the pancakes from the bottom row

Charliebull

Toss one to the cows, they won't be long tellin you what it's like, shape means fcuk all to them

Once punctured you have max 10 days

Sam Kade

welton john wrote: »

Depends if they have been stacked 2 or 3 high the bottom bales will be really flat but will prob have less water than the top row.Our best bales last year were the pancakes from the bottom row

Maybe, I've my own baler and I make fair bricks of bales even grassy bales stacked 3 high wouldn't flatten like that.

frazzledhome

This is why they're called "lucky bags":)

Miname

ive second cut bales off reseeded ground that got 2 days wilting that look the image of them bales. The cows are motoring away rightly through them no bother. Dont be put off by the sagging. The end of may there was a few rotten days that would be my main issue if they had seen too much rain.

severeoversteer

they look super bales!

providing you can eat them within a week or two!

they were obviously staked high and that's what flattened them


if your badly stuck and cant store them for long enough, let him take a few back to feed himself and he can give you them back out of his stack as you need them

ye should have held off transporting them because its a given that they'll burst in transit

Justjens

AP2014 wrote: »

Lads that buy have better bales than on show here as well.

If I paid €12 a pop plus baling, plus wrap, plus transport I'd have the baler bursting at the seams making them:P

Brass Tag

Bales old grass first week June. Cut dry, conditioner mower, two rows grouped in one. 24 hour wilt. Had been grazed bare in March followed by slurry and bag fert plus bag of Granlime.
Must say, effluent ran like the fuuukn river out if them in the stack. Just one high. Flattened a fair bit.
I was worried to say the least.
About 30 used now and not a fork full of waste. Seem wet to the touch. Can squeeze water from a handful without too much effort. Throwing a handful in a rack with a bit of hay and a bit of straw to September born sucklers. Notice they pick the silage first.
Suppose the DM not good but DMD might be ok'ish!

AP2014

Justjens wrote: »

If I paid €12 a pop plus baling, plus wrap, plus transport I'd have the baler bursting at the seams making them:P

Lucky for me the he got wet weather the last few years. Few extra bales for me and him

Willfarman

I wouldn't despair op. The silage is fine.

bogman_bass

looks like balkes that were stacked 3 high. Did he deliver them with a bale spike though?

Feckthis

bogman_bass wrote: »

looks like balkes that were stacked 3 high. Did he deliver them with a bale spike though?

Yeah looks like it.

Good loser

Those bales look fine to me. Colour is good and tears are fresh. I've had bales like that delivered and they last a long time in cold (ish) weather esp if DM is low.

Deepsouthwest

The quality looks quite good to me as well, bales stacked 3 high here, and the bottom row tends to be as flat as that. I'd have no problem with them. At €18/bale he certainly isn't making much profit from them unless ur buying a few thousand of them! How many will u feed a day? Would it not have made more sense for u to collect them as u wanted them if he's a neighbour?

Greengrass1

1st cut bales here stacked 3 high bottom ones flattened but us still the same silage.
If I had two 700kg bales on top of me id be fairly flat too.

Green farmer

Let your nose tell you if there good or bad. If they smell sweet like tobacco, then their good. A roll of silage tape is about €3. Cover any holes in plastic fast. If you were selling to anyone, I'd tend to give people the best stuff I had. Sell crap and who'd buy from you again.

milkprofit

Feckthis wrote: »

Bought silage yesterday and got it delivered. Very dissapointed with what I seen when I got home. Never had baled silage here before. Do all bales look like this. Or have I been played ;(. I bought off a neighbour

What do u expect for 18 delivered
U mistake to take delv of more than a weeks feed
Flat ones will have a lot of the water squashed out

Farmer Pudsey

Sam Kade wrote: »

But flat bales means they are full of water and won't last long.

Not if stacked 3 high even bales 30DM will flatten if 2-3 high.

Charliebull wrote: »

Toss one to the cows, they won't be long tellin you what it's like, shape means fcuk all to them

Once punctured you have max 10 days

You will get longer than 10 days if weather is cold patch holes. Silage is grand. Idealy in future take only 2-3 weeks silage at the time max depending on weather conditions. If I got that silage for 18/bale I would not make my own.

severeoversteer wrote: »

they look super bales!

providing you can eat them within a week or two!

they were obviously staked high and that's what flattened them


if your badly stuck and cant store them for long enough, let him take a few back to feed himself and he can give you them back out of his stack as you need them

ye should have held off transporting them because its a given that they'll burst in transit

As SOS says above if you cannot use fast enough try to get him to take back and use some. However as weather is getting colder I think they will be ok for a month or longer if patched.

Green farmer wrote: »

Let your nose tell you if there good or bad. If they smell sweet like tobacco, then their good. A roll of silage tape is about €3. Cover any holes in plastic fast. If you were selling to anyone, I'd tend to give people the best stuff I had. Sell crap and who'd buy from you again.

They are a nice golden colour. Bet you there is a nice sweet smell off them. Remember buying silage once no smell of it at all was told that the less the smell the better the silage.

milkprofit wrote: »

What do u expect for 18 delivered
U mistake to take delv of more than a weeks feed
Flat ones will have a lot of the water squashed out

I think Fecthis is just a bit inexperienced with buying silage we all make errors. Agree price is very good and I think silage is perfect,

twin_beacon

agriman27 wrote: »

They're buns not bales!

hard to judge, as they have at least one bale, if not 2 stacked on top of them by the looks if it. They look like they were poorly wilted bales, as they have lost so much shape, the bales stacked on top were probably from the same crop and have the same moisture content.

when will you be using the? if not soon they will rot, its too late to patch now, once the air has gotten in at all, the damage is done

Nettleman

Greengrass1 wrote: »

1st cut bales here stacked 3 high bottom ones flattened but us still the same silage.
If I had two 700kg bales on top of me id be fairly flat too.

GG, will ya take €18 for the nice loader??:D:D
I agree with Puds, if its well wrapped, and cut in good condition, it will have grand stuff. I notice bales stacked on ends tend to have sap all to the bottom when you open them, wheres stacked on their sides, less sap falls from the bale when opened, and imo, cattle like the stuff better-