Best way of moving bales?

Deepsouthwest

Making the move from pit to all bales this yr. normally draw all surplus, which are made closer to the yard, with double handlers. Will probably make around 1000 bales from outside blocks which are all between 1 and 2 miles from the yard(closer to 1 than 2). Have one loader that I'd like to keep in the yard for stacking. Bales are made by a fusion baler, so will have to be drawn wrapped. What's the best and cheapest way to get these moved?

cute geoge

There is no easy or fast way for shifting bales . A trailer to cart 14 at a time will average 14 bales drawn per hour so unless you are going to hire in a 2nd tractor and trailer you are going to have a sore hole by the time you are finished

raypallas

Deepsouthwest wrote:

Making the move from pit to all bales this yr. normally draw all surplus, which are made closer to the yard, with double handlers. Will probably make around 1000 bales from outside blocks which are all between 1 and 2 miles from the yard(closer to 1 than 2). Have one loader that I'd like to keep in the yard for stacking. Bales are made by a fusion baler, so will have to be drawn wrapped. What's the best and cheapest way to get these moved?

Would have to be by trailer I'd say, have ya a second tractor that could pull a trailer? Are you going to draw them all home? We can shift between 50 to 80+ an hour depending on the draw, but that is all fairly close with at least two tractors (sometimes 3) and double handliers with front loader and hydraulic handler.

visatorro

I seen that keltec bale trailer is on YouTube. it's near twenty grand. don't think it's much quicker or you'd imagine alot of contractors would have them.
we love rooting here so we leave them in the corner of the field and bring them down as we need them or when ground conditions allow during the winter. field is two miles away. get contractor to bring them down and I load him as iv only one tractor. if I can't get into the field I just work away outta the pit

larthehar

Based on my experience.. bale in the field and wrap in the yard.. meeting cars on the road with a trailer load of wraps and you pull the side out of them.. taking down top row of wraps can be awkward too if the bales move.. if cost was not an objective, 10 bale keltec and wrapper on loading shovel!
We use a bale trailer carrying 14 bales 1 - 4 miles of a draw.. two tractors and two operators.. wrap and stack after I have drawn down close to the yard.

Deepsouthwest

larthehar wrote: »

Based on my experience.. bale in the field and wrap in the yard.. meeting cars on the road with a trailer load of wraps and you pull the side out of them.. taking down top row of wraps can be awkward too if the bales move.. if cost was not an objective, 10 bale keltec and wrapper on loading shovel!
We use a bale trailer carrying 14 bales 1 - 4 miles of a draw.. two tractors and two operators.. wrap and stack after I have drawn down close to the yard.

Drawing them green is certainly easier, but my contractor has a fusion baler/wrapper who's doing me a good deal, and does a lot of other work for me as well, so I'd prefer not to change.

Deepsouthwest

visatorro wrote: »

I seen that keltec bale trailer is on YouTube. it's near twenty grand. don't think it's much quicker or you'd imagine alot of contractors would have them.
we love rooting here so we leave them in the corner of the field and bring them down as we need them or when ground conditions allow during the winter. field is two miles away. get contractor to bring them down and I load him as iv only one tractor. if I can't get into the field I just work away outta the pit

Don't love rooting here, so want to draw them all on the day instead of giving the winter trapsing back and forth the road with a bale and spike!

Sam Kade

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Drawing them green is certainly easier, but my contractor has a fusion baler/wrapper who's doing me a good deal, and does a lot of other work for me as well, so I'd prefer not to change.

Any reason why you are going away from pit silage? If I could change from bales to pit I would

Milked out

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Don't love rooting here, so want to draw them all on the day instead of giving the winter trapsing back and forth the road with a bale and spike!

Could contractor draw them back for you? Neighbour made a few hundred bales on out farm and contractor used to bring two trailer loads back every week when he needed them

Deepsouthwest

raypallas wrote: »

Would have to be by trailer I'd say, have ya a second tractor that could pull a trailer? Are you going to draw them all home? We can shift between 50 to 80+ an hour depending on the draw, but that is all fairly close with at least two tractors (sometimes 3) and double handliers with front loader and hydraulic handler.

Even with a double handler and front loader carrying 3 bales at a time, the most he'd move in an hr is 9 bales (3 trips) at €30 an hr, that's an extra €3.33 a bale, has to be a cheaper option

_Brian

Sam Kade wrote: »

Any reason why you are going away from pit silage? If I could change from bales to pit I would

I think this is a wise question.. 1,000 bales is an awful lot of bales, and its not like you're having the benefit of having your own machine to make them the instant it suits you..

Its a whole lot of extra handling both in the making and in the feeding, and for 1,000 bales I did some napkin figures, it must be costing something like €4/5k more to make the silage.

Deepsouthwest

Sam Kade wrote: »

Any reason why you are going away from pit silage? If I could change from bales to pit I would

I believe the feeding value of baled silage is superior to precision chop silage, cows tend to perform better on bales here. Want to make better quality silage, not waiting for it to bulk up so I'll get more value for €120ish an acre precision chop. Also don't have to save and cut a big amount together, can now cut individual fields as their fit. Also spreads out the after grass coming back for feeding etc. I could go on! It's something I've been toying with a while, so I'm gonna give it a try this yr, might be back to pit nxt yr!

Deepsouthwest

_Brian wrote: »

I think this is a wise question.. 1,000 bales is an awful lot of bales, and its not like you're having the benefit of having your own machine to make them the instant it suits you..

Its a whole lot of extra handling both in the making and in the feeding, and for 1,000 bales I did some napkin figures, it must be costing something like €4/5k more to make the silage.

Could u throw up those napkin figures?

keep going

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Even with a double handler and front loader carrying 3 bales at a time, the most he'd move in an hr is 9 bales (3 trips) at €30 an hr, that's an extra €3.33 a bale, has to be a cheaper option

And now your are coming to the great hidden cost in bales, moving them.if you are not making many you dont notice it but when you have alot to move and you have a tendency to work the calculater on your phone, it dosent half piss you off after you v timed a few runs.i remember one time when I made a few bales and I started thinking with the bales I was moving the grass a mile whereas with the wagon I only had to move the grass 30 feet if that as the wagon tips out on top of the pit.the fecking baler picks up the grass and just drops right back down where she got it and you pay 10 euros for the privilege(wrapped). My view get contractor to shift them if you have big numbers with tractors and trailers.couldnt give a damn about gay marriage but bales ...ah.around 100 is enough

F.D

The fact the bales will be wrapped in the field is a problem, the roads are too narrow here and it would rip the bales to shreds rubbing off the hedge
unless i can get them back to the yard to wrap and stack, i stack them in the the field beside the gate and draw up 1 or 2 loads a week during the winter
11 bales at a time, i find there is less pressure that way
seen a friend of mine with an out farm with bales, he didnt get them all home that night, and when he went back early the next morning the crows had them destroyed

Farmer Pudsey

A good trick may be to spread the work load. Stack half in the field and bring other half home as they are made. Know a contractor trhat says taht up to and slightly over one mile double bale handler and front loader is fastest way to move silage. After that trailer is the only option however idealy you would need two ways of loading/unloading one in yard and one in field if going over 2 tractors.

In clare they use the mechil system a group of neighbours come togeather and do different lads on different days. If another few farmer was doing similar to you and could work togeather the old saying ''many hands make light work'' comes into play.

darragh_haven

It would pay you to get a lad with one of the keltec trailers, but I don't know for definite of anyone that has one. the only one that might have one is scruffy murphy.
I saw it being done the following way in a place in NI;
As the field is being baled, you could bring them to a central area in each field and have them in a line for the Keltec trailer to pick up. When the keltec arrives to haul them back to the yard, you could be back in the yard with you loader stacking them.

freedominacup

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I believe the feeding value of baled silage is superior to precision chop silage, cows tend to perform better on bales here. Want to make better quality silage, not waiting for it to bulk up so I'll get more value for €120ish an acre precision chop. Also don't have to save and cut a big amount together, can now cut individual fields as their fit. Also spreads out the after grass coming back for feeding etc. I could go on! It's something I've been toying with a while, so I'm gonna give it a try this yr, might be back to pit nxt yr!

BIL makes 1500+ per year minimum. He used to do everything himself bar bale and wrap. He now shows the contractor which fields are to be mowed and goes and waits where he has the stack for the contractor to arrive with the keltec. He has around half his silage area around a mile and a half away from the yard down a road where two cars have difficulty passing apart from one or two gateways. He says it's all he can do to keep the bales stacked from the keltec with a two year old 120hp 4wd even on the long draw. I use the same contractor and got him to bring the keltec most times he did paddocks for me last year. Cost came out at around 1.50 per bale when I had to pay his minimum charge a couple of times. If you were doing any quantity that price would drop. I won't be messing with trailers again that's for sure. Just to clarify these are from a fusion baler.

freedominacup

darragh_haven wrote: »

It would pay you to get a lad with one of the keltec trailers, but I don't know for definite of anyone that has one. the only one that might have one is scruffy murphy.
I saw it being done the following way in a place in NI;
As the field is being baled, you could bring them to a central area in each field and have them in a line for the Keltec trailer to pick up. When the keltec arrives to haul them back to the yard, you could be back in the yard with you loader stacking them.

I don't think it would be worth your while darragh. Machine is designed for picking them where they were dropped and with fusions you're handling wrapped bales sn extra time for a very marginal benefit at best.

_Brian

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Could u throw up those napkin figures?

To cut, wrap, supply plastic, draw and stack bales I was allowing €11 a bale so €11,000 to make bales, the drawing and stacking costs, many lads omit this but its a cost. €9 to make and wrap, €2 to draw and stack

I guessed about 70acres of ground charged at €110 to cut and pit is €7,700

So my napkin figures gave a difference of €4300..
Just very rough sums... but it will be more expensive.

Deepsouthwest

_Brian wrote: »

To cut, wrap, supply plastic, draw and stack bales I was allowing €11 a bale so €11,000 to make bales, the drawing and stacking costs, many lads omit this but its a cost. €9 to make and wrap, €2 to draw and stack

I guessed about 70acres of ground charged at €110 to cut and pit is €7,700

So my napkin figures gave a difference of €4300..
Just very rough sums... but it will be more expensive.

Should that be €3,300? Also wilting and raking grass I would be budgeting around 7.5 to 8 bales per acre max. No cost included either for plastic and covering 100 acres of pit silage, which is normally split in two pits here. But thanx for the figures, at least it gets the ball rolling.

Sam Kade

F.D wrote: »

The fact the bales will be wrapped in the field is a problem, the roads are too narrow here and it would rip the bales to shreds rubbing off the hedge
unless i can get them back to the yard to wrap and stack, i stack them in the the field beside the gate and draw up 1 or 2 loads a week during the winter
11 bales at a time, i find there is less pressure that way
seen a friend of mine with an out farm with bales, he didnt get them all home that night, and when he went back early the next morning the crows had them destroyed

How will that work with the new farm payment system? you'll have declare where the bales are stacked as ineligible land

Count Mondego

_Brian wrote: »

To cut, wrap, supply plastic, draw and stack bales I was allowing €11 a bale so €11,000 to make bales, the drawing and stacking costs, many lads omit this but its a cost. €9 to make and wrap, €2 to draw and stack
.

Where I am you'd be paying 12 to bale and wrap on it's own. Around me it work out 100 per acre for pit and 200 for bales, and you have to bring them in. I'd take a day firing up tyres over 5 days drawing bales.

Mad4simmental

It might pay you to have a look around for a seckend hand keltec trailer. If your doing them in a few splits you could work away and bring them in your self. It would pay for itself in a few years if your doing 1000 a year.

F.D

Sam Kade wrote: »

How will that work with the new farm payment system? you'll have declare where the bales are stacked as ineligible land

never thought of that but then i'm only talking a few hundred bales of second cut
that would be there from september to december sort of thing,
but if it turned out to be an issue i certainly would not be leaving them there

keep going

darragh_haven wrote: »

It would pay you to get a lad with one of the keltec trailers, but I don't know for definite of anyone that has one. the only one that might have one is scruffy murphy.
I saw it being done the following way in a place in NI;
As the field is being baled, you could bring them to a central area in each field and have them in a line for the Keltec trailer to pick up. When the keltec arrives to haul them back to the yard, you could be back in the yard with you loader stacking them.

Doolans have two keltec on the road this year

keep going

darragh_haven wrote: »

It would pay you to get a lad with one of the keltec trailers, but I don't know for definite of anyone that has one. the only one that might have one is scruffy murphy.
I saw it being done the following way in a place in NI;
As the field is being baled, you could bring them to a central area in each field and have them in a line for the Keltec trailer to pick up. When the keltec arrives to haul them back to the yard, you could be back in the yard with you loader stacking them.

Doolans have two keltec on the road this year

Deepsouthwest

darragh_haven wrote: »

It would pay you to get a lad with one of the keltec trailers, but I don't know for definite of anyone that has one. the only one that might have one is scruffy murphy.
I saw it being done the following way in a place in NI;
As the field is being baled, you could bring them to a central area in each field and have them in a line for the Keltec trailer to pick up. When the keltec arrives to haul them back to the yard, you could be back in the yard with you loader stacking them.

Where's "scruffy murphy" from? Never heard of him, is he the lad with the pub in Killarney?!!

mahoney_j

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

I believe the feeding value of baled silage is superior to precision chop silage, cows tend to perform better on bales here. Want to make better quality silage, not waiting for it to bulk up so I'll get more value for €120ish an acre precision chop. Also don't have to save and cut a big amount together, can now cut individual fields as their fit. Also spreads out the after grass coming back for feeding etc. I could go on! It's something I've been toying with a while, so I'm gonna give it a try this yr, might be back to pit nxt yr!

Dsw fully agree bales feed better than sp silage but 1000 plus bales is a lot of work ,a suggestion based on fact you already have pits,wagon silage.longer chop which cows prefer,flexible and cheaper than so,but way less hassle than bales,bale all your surpluses

tomieen jones

Read an interesting article about new zealand where they are moving away from machinery usage and the self feeding pit is back in fashion! Guy says he can feed 1300 dairy cows in 5 minutes by moving an electric wire ! Must be some size of pit! No diet feeder or loading shovel or shear grabs only a small compact tractor and yard scraper! Everything else done by contractors! Machinery can really eat into ones profit ESP if starting to give trouble

darragh_haven

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Where's "scruffy murphy" from? Never heard of him, is he the lad with the pub in Killarney?!!

Scruffy Murphy is over towards Ballineen direction. But "Keep Going" has said Doolins have 2 keltec bale trailers, so they would definitely be worth a call.