# what to put under bales?



## Tim (Aug 23, 2009)

I am putting up a roof to stack 3x3 bales under. What should I do for a floor? I have been using pallets outside and a tarp over the stacks. It has been working out ok. (except today because of MORE rain.) As I am going to store hay in the shed, is there an easier way than stacking it on pallets? Small rock, big rock, clay? It would be really nice to back in, unload, and go do it again.... 
Tim


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## hay wilson in TX (Jan 28, 2009)

In or out of the barn I prefere a 4 inch bed of rocks. What we call septic tank rock works well. 
The best is a solid wood floor in a barn, the worse is any system that uses pallets.


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## KRONE PRO (Aug 23, 2009)

I remember reading an article about ayear ago, the man built several hay storage buildings and used blacktop-asphalt- . He said it worked better than concrete, didnt lay plastic under it either. Sounds a little expensive. Good luck!


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

We have all of our buildings built up and with 6-8 inches of rock in them, problem is on the clay ground we have, unless a guy went a foot or better, this soil will still wick moisture up. Its even worse come the spring thaw when the frost starts to come out of the ground. I've found pallets are a must. A cement floor with a vapor barrier under it might work well, but I'm not sure if the bales would still sweat on it or not. When we used to stack small squares in our pole barn, Dad would always put down 6 inches of ground corncobs on the cement before stacking on it, course that had no vapor barrier under it as well.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I just built a new hay shed and put 4-5" of crushed concrete on the ground and built 6'X6' pallets to cover the floor. I like the pallets because I can take them out in front, drive in and stack in back with the grapple, and work my way out filling up the bay. Using pallet forks, it's easy to move the pallets and keep the loose hay cleaned out. I'm in the process of converting my old hay shed to the same configuration.


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## Tim (Aug 23, 2009)

Here's what I am thinking. I have a macdon 1300 for hauling 3x3's. I had 25 pallets made that are roughly 5x8. I preload the machine with the pallet and unload bales on the pallet all at once. I need practice but I think it will work. (I would like to not use the pallets). Another idea I thought about was as I haul clay for the floor under the roof, what about putting in drain tiles (black plastic drain tubing) about a foot under the soil level. A small fan could even be used to help keep the dirt dry by sucking air ot thru the tubes. Plumb it all to drain thru one tube. It would take a lot of black plastic, maybe two rows per bale stack x maybe 13 stacks, 120 foot x 60 shed, 1800 feet of drain tube. Maybe that tube should be in a foot of gravel. It would be easier than pallets in the long run.
Thanks for the help!
Tim


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