# Loose hay moisture meters?



## sawmilleng (Jan 3, 2012)

Hi, first post here. 
I'm looking for a moisture meter that can be mounted on the input side of a baler to continuously monitor the moisture content of the loose hay going into the machine.

I have heard there might be something marketed for round balers that measures the moisture as the hay is picked up.

Can anyone help me with my quest?

Thanks,
Jon.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

every moisture meter i have seen needs to be mounted somewhere after the hay is compressed. extrememly difficult to get accurate moisture readings until the hay is compressed. personally i think the set up on my round baler works the best, moisture sensorsw are mounted right above the bottom roller so it reads a wet spot quicker than a square baler would. I'm running the fully automatic harvesttec unit.


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

Mlappin has it.

For loose hay and when time is not critical the weighing of a sample and then drying the sample and the difference is moisture.
Otherwise the hay will need to be compressed.

The Harvesttec unit is probably your best option.
I am not all that impressed by John Deere's moisture tester for their RB.s..

I am assuming you willl be bailing hay that still has considerable stem moisture.and need to know just how wet.
If you can bale fully cured hay then a good humidity reading will do just fine. When the humidity down next to the windrow is at 65% it is safe to RB and when the humidity is close to 50% the hay is too dry for baling during the day. Works F or C temps.


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

Here's a Delmhorst install for a JD round baler. It reads as the hay is coming past the pickup into the bale chamber which is very consistent and efficient. 



 . I use the FX-2000 in the tractor cab. Have used several others before settling on this one. It's installed in our square baler also.


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## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

If you guys are interested Bale Supply - Welcome sells AgraTronix and delmhorst meters for mounting on the balers. They are shipped free and I doubt you can find better prices. Also, there is a windrow tester...I am going to test one out next spring in the field that I bought to test. They claim +or- 4 %... I played with it some since it arrived, but the have as already cured and plenty dry anyway...you take the hay from the windrow, fill a five gallon bucket and compress the hay down with the meter to test. The meter has a large parabolic dish on it. Have talked to some people that have used them and they state they give a good starting place, especially in the midwest and the last 3 years of very wet springs. The past few years here have been good for talking to the HayGuard and AgriKing guys about preservatives in the midwest.

The most accurate tester on the market is for large square balers and that is the Gazeeka tester.

If interested I can send the manuals via .pdf for anyone to study.


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## sawmilleng (Jan 3, 2012)

mulberrygrovefamilyfarm said:


> Here's a Delmhorst install for a JD round baler. It reads as the hay is coming past the pickup into the bale chamber which is very consistent and efficient.
> 
> 
> 
> . I use the FX-2000 in the tractor cab. Have used several others before settling on this one. It's installed in our square baler also.


Chris, thanks for the info. I'm not familiar with round balers--is the mounting location situated where the hay is still loose, prior to getting squeezed into the baler? What method of sensing does the Delmhorst use--does it just sense the moisture in the hay that brushes past the sensor or does it take an average moisture sensing across the whole mat of hay that is going into the baler? (I'm assuming that there is another sensor installed on the opposite side of the baler--the video showed only one sensor being installed.)

It seems to me that there are at least 3 technologies out there for sensing moisture: resistance, capacitance, and microwave. Have you tried all three? What does the Delmhorst use?

To clarify, my application is for grass hay, put through a small square baler. (JD 348) I want to sense moisture levels that will cause heating or mold problems BEFORE I bale the hay because of the time delay between picking up the hay and actually sensing what I just baled, if the sensor is on the outfeed of the bale chamber. I have areas that are in shade or in damper areas of the fields that may need to be left a few hours and I want to know that I'm getting into a bad windrow right away. I can't afford to produce crappy bales just because the sensor is on the back end of the baler.

Additionally, sensing moisture on the infeed of the baler could allow the immediate application of spray. If the moisture is spotty then the spray can be automatically turned on and off, even while one bale is being made--or at least, that's my hope!

Jon.


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

I have zero experience with this sort of setup, but I will tell you this: we swear by Delmhorst and their handhlemd moisture tesrets, they are THE gold standard around here. Good mark.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

sawmilleng said:


> Chris, thanks for the info. I'm not familiar with round balers--is the mounting location situated where the hay is still loose, prior to getting squeezed into the baler? What method of sensing does the Delmhorst use--does it just sense the moisture in the hay that brushes past the sensor or does it take an average moisture sensing across the whole mat of hay that is going into the baler? (I'm assuming that there is another sensor installed on the opposite side of the baler--the video showed only one sensor being installed.)
> 
> It seems to me that there are at least 3 technologies out there for sensing moisture: resistance, capacitance, and microwave. Have you tried all three? What does the Delmhorst use?
> 
> ...


See my above reply and Haywilson's, the hay has to be compressed first before a accurate reading can be had.


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## mulberrygrovefamilyfarm (Feb 11, 2009)

sawmilleng said:


> Chris, thanks for the info. I'm not familiar with round balers--is the mounting location situated where the hay is still loose, prior to getting squeezed into the baler? What method of sensing does the Delmhorst use--does it just sense the moisture in the hay that brushes past the sensor or does it take an average moisture sensing across the whole mat of hay that is going into the baler? (I'm assuming that there is another sensor installed on the opposite side of the baler--the video showed only one sensor being installed.)
> 
> It seems to me that there are at least 3 technologies out there for sensing moisture: resistance, capacitance, and microwave. Have you tried all three? What does the Delmhorst use?
> 
> ...


Jon
I'm don't have all of the answers to your questions regarding the Delmhorst but here is some additional info. Most of the moisture testers (including Delmhorst) are calibrated for alfalfa, but I still use mine when I bale grass and just use Kentucky windage when reading the meter. Like LeadFarmer says, they have become our gold standard for our alfalfa and we have learned to read them on grass too. Regarding 3 methods of measurement I don't know other than to say it's not microwave but it does use electrical current to measure the moisture. Delmhorst covers the average, high, low and alarm readings for on the fly on their website pretty well. As for the compression, there is limited compression where the sensor is recommended to be installed by Delmhorst. The pickup is placed at the very beginning of the roll or the outermost part of the roll. In this way you can read as soon as the bale begins forming in the chamber. Many other units that we've looked at or used recommended the pickup be installed where up to 1/4 - 1/3 of the bale had to be formed before the sensor began measuring. These units were generally installed back on the gate of the round baler or higher in the chamber. As for the acid application, the Delmhorst is used as the measuring unit for several of the more popular acid applicators on the market, including the one that JD markets. On our square baler we have our pickup installed right behind the knotters which was as close to the beginning of the bale that we could mount it. Now the final piece of the puzzle for moisture meters. As others have pointed out and as has been discussed at length on this forum - Compression has a HUGE impact on heating and mold and has a huge impact on your stick-probe reading once the bale has been formed. An example, if I windrow test alfalfa and it reads 19% moisture in the windrow, generally my baler is reading 19% on the fly, BUT the tighter I make the bale the higher the stick-probe reading will be. At 19% an 1100lb bale might be 22% on the stick-probe, but the same hay compressed into a 1 ton bale might be 28% or into the 30% range.


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## hay rake (Dec 31, 2011)

We find that with our delmhorst tester that we have about a 3% higher reading in the bale than in the windrow. once you test the windrow ahead of the baler and then test a bale to see what the difference is you can predict when you want to start baling.


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

When it all boils down there is no such thing as a meter that gives a 100% accurate reading all of the time. Most are calibrated for legumes like alfalfa, so they will not read accurately in grasses or a blend of each. That is not to say that the information that they give is not useful, you just have to use your own judgement and experience to help interperate the readings that the meter gives you. Density will always affect the readings given by the meter that I own (Agratronix BHT-2), but since I have owned it for a few years and have learned how to make sence of its readings I have no trouble with it. I also use a manually controlled preservative applicator on the baler, and the best way that I have found to control the application rate to the hay is to speed up or slow down travel speed to suit the needs of the hay for wet or dry spots, if it is even across the entire field I will adjust the pressure. 
As soon as you start spraying preservative on to the hay, this will show up on the meter, it doesn't know the difference in stem/dew moisture and preservative. So here again you have to go back to past experiences, I have learned that spraying hay at the low rate on 20% hay will give 23.5-24% on the meter. 
The best thing to do is buy a meter that you like, and start running it, compare the meter's results to a microwave test result, and try to keep in mind that there are many variables at play, so your judgement is still the best tool that you will ever own.


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

Excellent method if I do say so myself! 
best way that I have found to control the application rate to the hay is to speed up or slow down travel speed to suit the needs of the hay for wet or dry spots, 
That is the system I used when I was using a buffered acid. I set the pressure to spray the recommended rate of acid at 20% moisture and baling at 15 strokes per bale. When the hay's moisture went into the 22% moisture range I dropped back a gear for 18 - 20 strokes per bale. 
I seldom if ever baled alfalfa above 24% moisture, but if I did I would open an extra sprayer tip to increase the volume. I have baled 30% moisture hay, but was not happy. Hay that damp does not slide consistently on the surfaces of my pull type NH bale wagon.

For square baling, the factory systems have the detectors just past the tying system and on the cut side. 
They are expecting the hay to be baled with a fairly high stem moisture percentage. 
I mounted my detectors on the opposite side as that was how Delmhorst recommended for me. They were expecting me to bale using the dew for moisture to add some baling time to my day. With the pickup on the cut side you are reading mostly stem moisture. Reading on the opposite side is all dew induced moisture. 
My way the hay the evening before baling the hay will be stem snapping dry.

Now baling hay with fairly high stem moisture if measured just after the bale hits the ground will be all dew moisture. The stems will continue to get rid of moisture and we have bale sweat moisture. Come back in a few hours and use the probe and it can scare you to death. Hay we just thought was less than 18% Moisture CAN and probably will read in excess of 24% moisture. We can purposely put all the known higher moisture hay on the outside of the stack where air can get to them. Buried deep in the stack and you probably will have some heating.

This is an advantage of doing all the haying operations yourself. I put all my hay that is baled at higher moisture levels on the top of the stack where they get good air circulation.

Now hay moisture: there are three kinds. Stem moisture, where we usually get in trouble. Then we have humidity induced moisture, mostly in the leaves. This is what we really want. And there is average moisture which is what the researchers are talking about. They use a nice little machine that weighs the hay and heats the hay to drive off the moisture. The difference tells us the moisture content.

In a really humid climate is one thing, but here I bale with the stems being in the 10% moisture range, and the leaves being in the 30% moisture range. Average 20% moisture.

Time to look at the role of humidity again. 
Down next to the windrow with 90% relative humidity the hay will be no less than 40% moisture. 
Down next to the windrow with 70% relative humidity the hay will be no less than 20% moisture.
Down next to the windrow with 65% relative humidity the hay will be no less than 18% moisture.

We can rake with minimal leaf loss when the humidity is 90%.
We can square bale cured hay when the humidity (down next to the windrow) is 70% RH or less. 
Large Round Bales we want to start baling at or below 65% RH.

During the day when the humidity goes into the 50% to 55% range leaf shatter will be a major factor.

I have seen round bales testing 1% less protein than square bales, baled side by side with 65% RH. 
At 55% RH the round bales will test 2% less protein than the square bales.

This should be no surprise. Just walk behind each and witness the amount of shattered leaves. 
Happened two times here this last summer. At those times the forecast was for the humidity to go from 65% to 55% in one hour. We used less than the allotted hour to bale the field.

2011 for most of July and all of August our humidity seldom was above 50% day or night. Shades of the drought of the 50's. Seeing we are without irrigation there was no hay to be baled in August or September, on this farm.

2012 hopefully will be better.


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