school me round bale storage

[flying belgian]

first year of making round bales. I have them stacked in shed. Baled yesterday but ran out of time bringing the last 6 of them in. Was going to get them this am but its been raining all morning.So they will have about an inch of rain on them. Can I store them in my shed or do I leave them outside?

 

[flying belgian]

They are net wrapped.

 

[old]

first year of making round bales. I have them stacked in shed. Baled yesterday but ran out of time bringing the last 6 of them in. Was going to get them this am but its been raining all morning.So they will have about an inch of rain on them. Can I store them in my shed or do I leave them outside?

I put all my bales on old pallets I do double pallets so as to let air flow under them and that also keeps them from absorbing water from the ground

 

[DanielW]

Leave them outside for a few days, once they've seen a couple days in a row of good weather you can stick them inside. Most folks around here leave them out for a few days after baling anyway, just because it's often quite risky putting rounds in directly after baling. Much more risk of heating and barn fires with round bales compared to squares because the hay is packed inside the bale tight with no breathing room and doesn't have the ends cut again like in squares do. In general (as I'm sure you know) you have to be a lot more picky with how dry your hay is when doing rounds. Leaving them outside for a few days after baling lets them breathe a bit and takes away most of the heating concerns.

 

[MJMJ]

Yep, best to leave them out for a few days or a week. Most people will tell you they go through a "heat" cycle during that time. I've never actually measured their temp, but there's usually enough moisture in a round bale to heat up some. MOST will be fine to stack immediately, but better safe than sorry.

 

[DanielW]

I should also add to MJ's and my comment: A little rain won't hurt anything as long as they're dry again by the time you put them inside. Especially being net-wrapped, they'll shed water very well. That's the beauty of rounds: You don't have to rush to get them in the barn right away before a rain. In our case, with our fields located a decent distance from the main farm and tractors scattered hither/yon, it's often 2 weeks or so from the time we bale until they're brought home and put in the barn.

 

[Jimylee in VA]

Yep, best to leave them out for a few days or a week. Most people will tell you they go through a "heat" cycle during that time. I've never actually measured their temp, but there's usually enough moisture in a round bale to heat up some. MOST will be fine to stack immediately, but better safe than sorry.

I'm glad to see that others are advising him to leave the bales out a few days before stacking them in a barn. I made a similar comment to a poster who was putting up damp hay a couple of weeks ago. After my comment, everyone got real quiet. I've always been taught that hay will go through a "heat" cycle after baling. It's best to leave it out rather than risk buring a barn down and losing everything.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

If you stick your hand in elbow deep you can feel if it’s hot under the outer roll. If it feels warm I’d pull some of them back outside actually. Don’t all have to be out but not touching was the rule we have grandpa do because he likes to put them in a bit quick. Couple inches of rain like they say won’t hurt a made bale it’s not good to leave the high dollar hay out all year but 3 days is how long the sweat usually takes

 

[Brendon-KS]

I should also add to MJ's and my comment: A little rain won't hurt anything as long as they're dry again by the time you put them inside. Especially being net-wrapped, they'll shed water very well. That's the beauty of rounds: You don't have to rush to get them in the barn right away before a rain. In our case, with our fields located a decent distance from the main farm and tractors scattered hither/yon, it's often 2 weeks or so from the time we bale until they're brought home and put in the barn.

Like you say, the net wrapping will help them shed water quite well. Here in central Kansas where we get around 30" of rain in an average year most round bales are never put under a roof. Even after a year or more there is virtually no deterioration beyond the first inch or two. Just don't stack them if they will stay outside - only single-file rows with the bales butted tightly together end-to-end and a foot or two spacing between the rows.

 

[bc]

I had one spontaneously combust between one to two weeks after baling. Totally unexpected. Caught the pasture on fire and burned some other brome bales along with it until someone saw the smoke and called the fire department. We were gone all that day. If one spontaneously combusts in your shed then everything there will burn with it. The heat from such a fire would be immense and burn for a long time. Fire department wouldn't be able to put it out. Probably say goodbye to any nearby houses and barns as well. The only good way to put out a burning bale is too unroll them with a tractor so they can spray water on them. Make sure your insurance is current.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

I leave dry hay bales outside for a week to cool down. Even if the hay was perfectly dry, bale on a hot sunny day, inside temperature of the bale will be higher than ambient temperature. I store bales inside if I have storage space. I place bales on the ends. If I need to store bales outside, I just butt them up end to end, never have the sides of any bales touching together, because they will rot where they touch

 

[caterpillar guy]

I don't know maybe lucky maybe not. We haul and put in as fast as we can so they don't get wet. This is after baled with round bales. First if it is dry like it is supposed top be for dry hay it is not going to be a problem .We have done it this way for 30 or more years with no fires. If we have a tough bale that we know of from a green bunch or some other reason we just set it aside and put in after we are done for the day and set it separate so it can get some air. Or we leave it set on the wagon for the day when done. IF we have a doubt we poke an arm in as far as we can to check.

 

[showcrop]

I know that you can be positively confident that your hay is dry, but then it turns out that there was an area in the field that apparently wasn't. Gemplers has a thermometer with a 34" probe and handles for pushing it in.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I'm glad to see that others are advising him to leave the bales out a few days before stacking them in a barn. I made a similar comment to a poster who was putting up damp hay a couple of weeks ago. After my comment, everyone got real quiet. I've always been taught that hay will go through a "heat" cycle after baling. It's best to leave it out rather than risk buring a barn down and losing everything.

Don't take it personally. Forums are fickle. One week everybody will jump down your throat for giving a particular piece of advice. The next week, the same people that jumped down your throat will offer that same piece of advice to someone else as if they came up with it.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I should also add to MJ's and my comment: A little rain won't hurt anything as long as they're dry again by the time you put them inside. Especially being net-wrapped, they'll shed water very well. That's the beauty of rounds: You don't have to rush to get them in the barn right away before a rain. In our case, with our fields located a decent distance from the main farm and tractors scattered hither/yon, it's often 2 weeks or so from the time we bale until they're brought home and put in the barn.

There's no rush if you're making them for yourself, but if you're making them to sell, most buyers will turn their noses up at hay that's been rained on in the bale. At the very least they will expect a substantial discount.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

If you stick your hand in elbow deep you can feel if it’s hot under the outer roll. If it feels warm I’d pull some of them back outside actually. Don’t all have to be out but not touching was the rule we have grandpa do because he likes to put them in a bit quick. Couple inches of rain like they say won’t hurt a made bale it’s not good to leave the high dollar hay out all year but 3 days is how long the sweat usually takes

You're not going to stick your arm elbow deep into a solid core bale, which is what @flying belgian 's bales appear to be. You'd be lucky to get a finger in to the first knuckle.

A good investment is a moisture/temperature probe.

 

[Fixingfarmer]

You're not going to stick your arm elbow deep into a solid core bale, which is what @flying belgian 's bales appear to be. You'd be lucky to get a finger in to the first knuckle.

A good investment is a moisture/temperature probe.

The moisture meter is how we tell if we should keep going after the first bale is made.

You can get your hand in there a ways up on top that’s still how you tell if you should put it inside or not. if he cranked the density up maybe not elbow deep but you can still get in there a ways they will quit feeling hot when it’s ok to put inside. High moisture or not they will all sweat enough to be dangerous for a bit.

 

[bc]

I know that you can be positively confident that your hay is dry, but then it turns out that there was an area in the field that apparently wasn't. Gemplers has a thermometer with a 34" probe and handles for pushing it in.

The bale that caught fire came from the draw down below the pond dam so it may have been a little wetter than the rest. It was in a row of 8 butted together. A neighbor with the volunteer fire department came over with his tractor and separated the bales before the whole row caught fire. There was a spot thunderstorm early that morning and I haven't ruled out a lightning strike as there were a few around. I have heard of others losing a whole row of bales so maybe a good idea to spread a group of bales around in different places.

 

[Texasmark]

Yep, best to leave them out for a few days or a week. Most people will tell you they go through a "heat" cycle during that time. I've never actually measured their temp, but there's usually enough moisture in a round bale to heat up some. MOST will be fine to stack immediately, but better safe than sorry.

I have a thermometer that I stick in the bales while sitting in the field where dumped. Ambient temp has a bearing on the numbers, but as long as the "sweat" which may take several days to develop....reason why you leave them where you dumped them, is below 140F you are good to go. Usually summer hay isn't a problem....its that spring baling fiasco where you are at odds with mommy nature as to whether you are going to get something, or it will be a mildewed mess........really tired of that Spring fiasco that happens every year.

Especially with net wrapped bales, the roll is designed to shed water.....think about thatched roofs in Great Britian that shed water being nothing but a lot of hay......course my bales run 3000# of baling pressure......just a tad more water resistant than a thatched roof.

 

[WI Dan]

They are net wrapped.

Leave them outside for a week or two, dry weather. Then bring inside.