# Cutting a big round bale.



## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

I was talking with a cousin of mine a while back about cutting big round bales.

Our thinking was that, if you could slice a big round appropriately, you could reduce wastage by having smaller "bites" of hay. I'm thinking of a post-baling crop cutter.

I tried using a reciprocating saw with a 12" wood blade--didn't work very well.

My questions:

What have you used to cut big round bales? (He thought a chainsaw might work.)

Has anyone used a BR baler with crop cutter? How'd it work? Wastage? Tractor horsepower?

Thanks.

Ralph


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

rjmoses said:


> I was talking with a cousin of mine a while back about cutting big round bales.
> 
> Our thinking was that, if you could slice a big round appropriately, you could reduce wastage by having smaller "bites" of hay. I'm thinking of a post-baling crop cutter.
> 
> ...


I have some experience with seeing what is used to cut big bales. When I drop them off at the mulch plant, they have a small loader with a hydraulic circuit out front and a hydraulic saw blade mounted on the loader quick attach. It melts through bales like a hot knife through butter.

I tried a chainsaw with poor results.

When I bought my baler, I was all set to buy a crop cutter. Because of the way MY particular customer's cattle feeders are set up, I'm glad the hay strands are long and not cut short. It's easier for them to bite and pull clumps of hay out without them falling to the ground.

I can certainly understand how other feeding methods would favor short, cut strands.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I use a skilsaw with a worn out plywood blade turned backwards so that the teeth do not "grab" the hay.....I cut down into the middle and the bale flops open very nicely and then I can pitch fork whatever I need. The plywood blade with the smaller teeth work well as a abrasive when turned backwards.

Regards, Mike


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## NebTrac (Aug 12, 2014)

Here are a couple. The hand held is pretty neat. Don't know anything about them though.











Troy


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Lovin that McHale bale knife. It can not only cut the bale, but it can also move the bale around.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Someone makes a chainsaw chain specially designed for cutting open bales. 
After I put a round bale in my trailer feeder, I usually slide a spear in to the top of the bale about 3-6" from the outside (depending on how tightly it was baled) and then a quick move up with the boom splits right through. I'll either repeat that process a few times or just feed a few bales at once. Depends on what hay I'm feeding and how many cattle need to eat at the feeder.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

8350HiTech said:


> Someone makes a chainsaw chain specially designed for cutting open bales.
> After I put a round bale in my trailer feeder, I usually slide a spear in to the top of the bale about 3-6" from the outside (depending on how tightly it was baled) and then a quick move up with the boom splits right through. I'll either repeat that process a few times or just feed a few bales at once. Depends on what hay I'm feeding and how many cattle need to eat at the feeder.


Tell me more about the chainsaw chain.

Thanks

Ralph


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

rjmoses said:


> Tell me more about the chainsaw chain.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Ralph


I saw it in Farm Show magazine but I can't say I remember much.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Those hand held saws shown in the video above run about $1200. A lot of the local amish use them.

The chainsaw chain basically has the cutter replaced with a link that is just a straight sort of like the raker link.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

rjmoses said:


> Tell me more about the chainsaw chain.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Ralph


Just read on another site one fella recommends taking a worn chain and turning it backwards and insert the bar only 1/2 way into the bale....any deeper and it grabs hay.

Regards, Mike


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## foz682 (Jan 10, 2013)

Not a NH but we use a Claas with rotocutter, it works great for us, especially since we mostly feed inside. Almost no waste at all. Run it with 95pto hp, I have run a NH Br7060 with crop cutter, seemed to need more power than the claas, and doesn't do quite as good a job.

We used to split bales open with the power saw, had to cut the lower half of the rear guard off to help keep the sprocket clear, and used vegetable oil for the chain.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

http://www.hayhorsefeeders.com/round-bale-feeders.html

Google got a bunch of 'em. Look for "hay saw"


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Excellent *******!!....grind down the raker and the hook(red highlight) resulting in bottom pic. You cannot get any better than that *******.....also a great tip about having the saw fully revved before inserting bar.

Regards, Mike


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

A person could do like my wife and son and just unroll.


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