# Whats your thoughts?



## WalkerBoys (May 11, 2015)

Baled up some 4x5 wheat straw bales this year. We have been steadily moving them. Had a guy come look at some. Said he liked them, liked the fact the bales were good and tight full of walker straw. The bales are stacked tightly on the edge of the field and are wrapped 3 times with john deere cover edge wrap.His boys have hauled a couple hundred bales and I get a call one day saying theres a problem with some bales, they are averaging 54-55 inches. We've had atleast 6-8 inches of rain since they were baled back in June. Just wondering what you all though about this situation.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Yah, now since they've measured the height have em measure from left to right at the fattest part and average the measurement.

Even as soon as the next day my 4x5's might have settled enough to be 58" tall but 62" from left to right.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Are the bales stacked on the field or grouped on the edge of the field?

If they are stacked then they will flatten out. Like mlappin said said above, you have to get an average of height and width.

Are there still bales left that you can measure and see if there is indeed a problem?


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## WalkerBoys (May 11, 2015)

Thanks for the replies.The bales are stacked on the edge of the soybean field. Tim/South we have measured about 30 bales and the average is 55-56. This fella is measuring them after they have been stacked on the trailer, strapped down tight and hauled 30-40 miles.


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## Tx Jim (Jun 30, 2014)

Have you ever checked the bale height(diameter) shortly after baling? The bale size micro-switch on your baler may need adjusting


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## JMT (Aug 10, 2013)

He looked at them before buying. Unless he inspected bales that were different than what you have been selling him, I would say he is getting what he paid for.

I think you should expect a little "shrinkage" especially after a lot of rain. Your baler monitor might also be calibrated a little off, but does not change the fact that he looked at them and agreed to them prior to purchase.

I think he is just trying to save a little money by talking down the agreed on price. That being said if you feel like he is actually not quite getting what he expected and he is a good customer, you might offer to give him a small discount. Otherwise stick to the agreed upon price.

.... WOW .... Just reread my post and realized I am pretty good at flip flopping. Maybe I should go into politics.

.... probably not though.


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## TORCH (Jan 7, 2012)

Ya sold some small square to a lady. She call and text me with a problem with the hay. She clams some of the bales are all grass and not what she bought. Mostly alfalfa like 80% 20% grass. She was full of BS I made this hay and know what I sell. I told her please just bring it back and I will give you all your money back. I insisted she bring it back WOW how she back peddled! Than all of a sudden it was ok! LOL Her trying to get a cheaper price did not work with me. She still buys hay from me and never pulled this BS stunt again.

If you know what you sold stick to your guns!


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

TORCH said:


> Ya sold some small square to a lady. She call and text me with a problem with the hay. She clams some of the bales are all grass and not what she bought. Mostly alfalfa like 80% 20% grass. She was full of BS I made this hay and know what I sell. I told her please just bring it back and I will give you all your money back. I insisted she bring it back WOW how she back peddled! Than all of a sudden it was ok! LOL Her trying to get a cheaper price did not work with me. She still buys hay from me and never pulled this BS stunt again.If you know what you sold stick to your guns!


I hope ca$h only. Prior to loading.


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## GOOD HAY (Aug 8, 2010)

Had to laugh when I read Torch's reply. Sold 200 bales of beautiful 2nd cut to a lady a few years back. I delivered it in September got a call in November that the hay was black, she had gotten "farmers lung" and the horses we sick. Just like Torch I knew what I baled and what I delivered. Told her I had better come and pick it up and refund the money. "Oh but what will my horses eat" Next day in the snow I picked up a wagon load and returned to get the last of it with my pickup. On the way home I stopped at the local restaurant for a moment, a couple of dairy farmer were at the table in the window and asked where I was going with the nice hay, told them home and the one lad said " I would like that for my baby calves" , done deal . Turns out the shed where the hay was stored had leak or more in the roof, a few of the bales had some damage , we all know what that looks like, turns out this lady had a history of trying to pull fast ones on people, I think the local community made them feel so unwelcome that they no longer live anywhere near here. Don't take any crap, Walker Boys.


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## WalkerBoys (May 11, 2015)

Thank you all for the reply's. I told the guy he could haul it back or just cut us a check for what hes got. We got us a check the next couple of days....About a week or 2 ago i had a buddy call and ask if we had any straw left but i knew he didnt need any so i asked him who was he asking for and it turns out he was asking for the same guy that we just finished dealing with. It all comes back around.


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## haygrl59 (May 19, 2014)

You all's experiences above sound very similar. I've learned (the hard way) that some folks will say anything to save a buck or get out of a commitment. Had a guy from Florida come up and pick up several trailer loads of hay. He was starting out with his own feed store. All of sudden he says he got bad hay from us and that some of his customers said it was full of dead animals and such. I know that once in a while a critter will get caught in the mower or baler but his description made it sound much worse. Come to find out later when a former employee moved to that area and walked into his new feed store and talked to him a bit (he didn't know that this person had worked for us), that he had actually found other producers for a better price. Actually, it seems to be his MO to find a supplier, talk them into a good price (for him) and promise that he'll keep coming back to only buy a few loads and move on to the next guy. We have since sold lots of hay to other people and not had any responses like what this FL character gave us. Its made me a little bit jaded when it comes to customer relationships. I just sell the hay and hope the customer comes back for more but I don't really believe the long-winded promises anymore. Its a persnickety business for sure.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Wrap a tape around the bale and divide by 3.14 and you'll have the diameter regardless of squish.


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