# corn stalks



## JLP (Aug 5, 2013)

How long do you all let stalks dry after combining, before baling them for bedding?


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

Generally combine and chop one day, rake and bale the next.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

a lot gets taken out as high moisture corn or earlage here and that takes longer because stalks are greener.3-7 days.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12105930_1078003862212325_820700232907949560_n.jpg?oh=92b0dabb28af3b323a5c09a989b52504&oe=5699485D
Pic of some stalk bales at neighbors.12? bales per 1/2 mile


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12105930_1078003862212325_820700232907949560_n.jpg?oh=92b0dabb28af3b323a5c09a989b52504&oe=5699485D
> Pic of some stalk bales at neighbors.12? bales per 1/2 mile


No wonder it seems like you fellas drive like bats out of hades....if I farmed flats like that I would too! Nice pic Cy.

Regards, Mike


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## JLP (Aug 5, 2013)

We shelled corn yesterday. Corn was 16% but the stalks were still pretty wet. I didn't want to bale too soon and have moldy bedding. Thanks for the replies.


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## Colby (Mar 5, 2012)

swmnhay said:


> https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/12105930_1078003862212325_820700232907949560_n.jpg?oh=92b0dabb28af3b323a5c09a989b52504&oe=5699485D
> Pic of some stalk bales at neighbors.12? bales per 1/2 mile


That looks like a long day. Baker automation would be nice on that one for aure


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

How long to wait all depends on the circumstances. I have seen anything from 2 days to 2 weeks.

If the stalks are wet going through the head, the portion that goes through the stalk roll will dry out fairly quickly. It is the standing stump that can take forever to dry out.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Vol said:


> No wonder it seems like you fellas drive like bats out of hades....if I farmed flats like that I would too! Nice pic Cy.
> 
> Regards, Mike


he is just starting baleing has about 2000 made,he will bale 10,000 this fall for his own use.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> he is just starting baleing has about 2000 made,he will bale 10,000 this fall for his own use.


Holy crap, I make around 100-125 bales each fall to wrap, and those are all I want to make. Had a friend that tried to talk me into making a about 4-5 times that many then selling them to him so he could wrap em and feed to his dry cows, told em he couldn't pay me enough.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Glad to hear I am not the only one that hates corn stalks...Wouldn't be so bad now that I have a cab tractor. Always was a lot of fun to have the pickup tines throw mud all over the back of your head. Combine that with the fact that it gets dark 2 hours after I get off work in the evening...


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## JLP (Aug 5, 2013)

We got enough done to take care of our needs. The old 535 didn't want to pick up the dirty slick stuff.


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## JLP (Aug 5, 2013)

Sorry. I intended to attach these as well.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

JLP

You need to upgrade to a JD 567. My JD 467 will eat those windrows as I've baled corn stalks with it.


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## JLP (Aug 5, 2013)

I am working on getting a 469, but I haven't got it done yet. Maybe for Christmas....


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Getting it done . . . that's what matters.

An 8 or 9 series Deere would be a better choice in stalks than a 7. Deere is at the bottom of my list of choices to bale stalks with anyway. They do work, but seem more prone to wrapping issues in stalks than any other brand.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

INteresting you say that. Neighbor does a lot of custom baling with NH round balers. He bought a JD(dont know the model) but he swears its better in stalks than the NH...


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Beside wrapping, a JD may work better in stalks than a NH if the Deere is set up for stalks and the NH is not.

Cornstalks are a good way to find the flaws in any baler design.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash said:


> Beside wrapping, a JD may work better in stalks than a NH if the Deere is set up for stalks and the NH is not.
> 
> Cornstalks are a good way to find the flaws in any baler design.


Granted corn stalks don't have the same volume in Texas as Iowa but I've baled several 1000 bales of stalks with my 467 with very little netwrap problems. I bale all the stalks my H&S hi-cap 14 wheel rake will gather up in a windrow.. I'm curious what one does to a JD rd baler to "set it up" for stalks as my 467 Mega-wide PU is just a "Plain Jane model" designed to bale hay?? I've conversed with a gentleman from close to Dubuque,Ia that stated that he has baled 1000's upon 1000's of bales of corn stalks with his JD rd balers.


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## snowball (Feb 7, 2015)

Gearclash said:


> Beside wrapping, a JD may work better in stalks than a NH if the Deere is set up for stalks and the NH is not.
> 
> Cornstalks are a good way to find the flaws in any baler design.


I NH is about the worst baler there is to bale stalks with.. the pickup is the problem point .. I had to run a 7090 a few days this fall ... I would like to take up smoke'n and throw a match on it. It make enjoy run my Vermeer just that much more.. especially when you bale around 400 bales per day


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## Gearclash (Nov 25, 2010)

Here Deere balers that are going to run in stalks seriously always get the Mega Square teeth and a roller windgaurd. Not sure if there is anything else that gets changed.

New Holland should have the specialty crop kit, which now includes a five bar Xtra-Sweep pick-up, rubber mounted teeth, roller windgaurd, expeller roll, upper belt guide, and a trash deflector for the duckbill.

Snowball, you are right that the handicap of the NH baler is the pickup--but there are ways to improve it.

I'm pretty sure that a Vermeer Super M or N with the powered windgaurd is hands down the fastest stalk baler out there, but they don't have the bale quality I want.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Gearclash said:


> Here Deere balers that are going to run in stalks seriously always get the Mega Square teeth and a roller windgaurd. Not sure if there is anything else that gets changed.


As usual I'm confused. 1st you stated JD rd balers have netwrap problems and require mods to bale corn stalks. Then you state the mods required are involving pick up teeth and roller wind guard which IMHO has nothing to do with how netwrap is applied. I hope someone will explain the correlation of the 2 different operations to me.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

The more uniform bale is fed in and rolled, the less net wrap problems you will have.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Gearclash said:


> I'm pretty sure that a Vermeer Super M or N with the powered windgaurd is hands down the fastest stalk baler out there, but they don't have the bale quality I want.


The problem is they just drive to fast because the baler will take it in.Doesn't give it time to pack as much or to adjust to a lop sided bale and get it evened out before it is full.I know a Vermeer dealer that lost a sale because he baled stalks at 14 mph to show the capacity but dumped out lop sided bales.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Biggest thing I've found to baling stalks with my NH BR740A is completely ignore New Hollands recommendations on setting the baler up for stalks, don't waste your time flipping fingers over or removing from windward, just take it clear out and leave it out until your done with stalks.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> The problem is they just drive to fast because the baler will take it in.Doesn't give it time to pack as much or to adjust to a lop sided bale and get it evened out before it is full.I know a Vermeer dealer that lost a sale because he baled stalks at 14 mph to show the capacity but dumped out lop sided bales.


With the windward out I drive around 8mph baling stalks, but we don't rake em, we take the belt off the spreader on the 8780, dump all the fodder in a row behind the combine then go over that with a 8 foot bush hog to shred the last of the stalks then bale, takes longer to make a bale but I want them as even and tight as possible as we bale the fodder as wet as possible then wrap, Lopsided, crooked or loose bales aren't worth wrapping.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

I don't even run my windguard on my pickup unless I have super fine 3rd cut. Last time I had it in I had a jam and I took it off in the field and threw it in the fencerow. It stayed there for 2 months till I almost ran over it in the UTV....


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