# Why hay wrap?



## kbhblazer

I saw one of the ag wrap machines and was wondering what is the advantage to using one? Seems more and more are wrapping their hay around here. Thanks


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## swmnhay

Bale it sooner before weather damage.

Makes baleage a very palatable feed.

Get it off the field sooner so less regrowth damage.


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## Tim/South

Also higher relative feed value, do not need to store under a roof.


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## kbhblazer

I bought a 5410 baler cheap , but no net. can you still wrap with polytwine string. I see that the af wrapper is 10,000-15000. trying to get int commercial baling , starting small. Is that a advantager if one can do that . Thanks for the replies


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## rajela

Bale wrapping is mainly for making haylage or baleage which ever you want to call it. Moisture has to be between 40 to 60% and wrapped with in 12 hours of baling. You can wrap dry hay but there is really no advantage to it other than protecting from the weather. Baleage is wrapped with the white wrap and dry hay needs to be wrapped with the black wrap. You will also need a silage baler or at least have a wet kit installed to bale the 40 to 60% moisture hay.


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## kbhblazer

Thanks for the advise. On another note

I realize net wrap has it advantages. I also realize I dont have a barn to store hay. Years ago before net wrap, round bales were out side., all I hear now is, if its twine wrapped you need a barn if you cant net wrap.

Im not really wanting to spend the 6 grand to have it put on a 4x5 baler, would rather have a 4x6 and buy the net wrap already attached.

Whats your thoughts


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## Tim/South

If your 5410 has the silage kit you are good to go. They usually have Silage written on the side of the baler.

You can wrap either strain or net. Some suggest an extra layer or two of wrap with string to help keep it from puncturing the plastic.

Moving wrapped hay needs a grabber. No hay spear to picture the wrap. It also takes a bigger tractor to load silage. The rolls weigh much more than hay.

There are discussions for and against storing string hay outside. A lot has to do with how tight you make the roll.


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## somedevildawg

kbhblazer said:


> Thanks for the advise. On another note
> I realize net wrap has it advantages. I also realize I dont have a barn to store hay. Years ago before net wrap, round bales were out side., all I hear now is, if its twine wrapped you need a barn if you cant net wrap.
> Im not really wanting to spend the 6 grand to have it put on a 4x5 baler, would rather have a 4x6 and buy the net wrap already attached.
> Whats your thoughts


First off kbh, welcome to haytalk.....let me ask u this, what r u doing with this hay? If its for resale, net has more value, you have to weigh whether or not it justifies the expense.....
In so far as balers go, again if for resale, 4x5 is the way to go....if for no other reason than transport.
In so far as net vs twine....if the bales are put up tight with twine and wrapped as many times as the baler allows (takes more time) I personally can't tell much difference in those bales vs net stored outside, prospective buyer however don't necessarily share this opin and I ain't in the educatin business, so I let them determine whether or not they want to buy my twine tyed bales, fa more important factors in hay quality than the manner of wrap. That being said, net gets the operator out of the field faster and faster is good


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## Tim/South

kbhblazer said:


> I bought a 5410 baler cheap , but no net.


There are some really good deals on balers with out net. People trade them in for balers with net.

I was quoted $4500 to add net on 5410 when I was baler shopping. Ended up being about the same money to buy new.


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## kbhblazer

I used it the other day I was amazed at how tight the bale was. At this time I am just putting up hay for a freind and myself . I thought about the trade for a net wrap bailer, for now this will do. I remember last year when I went to buy hay and wanted net over twine. Not many do twine around here in east Texas. Having said that my idea is to have all equipmnet paid for by retirement time in 5 years or so . The end result is to start to bale and sale hay.

Again thanks for the replies


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## rajela

I thought you said you was going to retire in 5 years????? LOL


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## Tim/South

kbhblazer said:


> Having said that my idea is to have all equipmnet paid for by retirement time in 5 years or so . The end result is to start to bale and sale hay.
> 
> Again thanks for the replies


Same here. Am debt free and retired at 54. Reinvested a lot of my savings in better equipment and more cattle. Cattle are doing well. Grass hay here, other than Bermuda squares, is not a money maker. Feeding it to my own cows is the best money I can make here with good rolls of grass hay.


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## somedevildawg

rajela said:


> I thought you said you was going to retire in 5 years????? LOL


Good point....


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## deadmoose

somedevildawg said:


> Good point....


Man has got to do something when he retires. If not death comes early. Believe it or not some of (to quote dawg) y'alls livelihoods are some other guys dreams for retirement. IMHO.


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## somedevildawg

deadmoose said:


> Man has got to do something when he retires. If not death comes early. Believe it or not some of (to quote dawg) y'alls livelihoods are some other guys dreams for retirement. IMHO.


Lol, were down on your slang too, we know you meant yous guys.....


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## mlappin

Another huge advantage of net, takes a fraction of the time to wrap a bale with net compared to twine.


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## PaMike

Baling silage takes some real HP. My BR740A can bring my 65HP to its knees real quick. Time for a tractor upgrade this winter.


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## mlappin

PaMike said:


> Baling silage takes some real HP. My BR740A can bring my 65HP to its knees real quick. Time for a tractor upgrade this winter.


Yup, my 1600 Oliver would handle my NH644 no problems, but when I went to a BR740A Silage Special even big windrows would bog it down pretty bad. The 644 used a shear bolt that if you kept the black smoke rolling to long you'd pop the shear bolt, the 740 would just kill the tractor instead, really made it work baling silage. Bought a 110hp tractor for the 740A and can still make the bigger tractor work sometimes.


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## swmnhay

kbhblazer said:


> I bought a 5410 baler cheap , but no net. can you still wrap with polytwine string. I see that the af wrapper is 10,000-15000. trying to get int commercial baling , starting small. Is that a advantager if one can do that . Thanks for the replies


poly twine will work ok but sisal twine that is treated is not recomended


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## mlappin

Doesn't treated twine break down the shrink wrap? At least that's what I was led to believe.

I bought some cheap silage bales this winter, never again. Individually wrapped so twice the plastic to deal with and they were twine wrapped. Plastic twine ain't bad to get off of dry hay, but it absolutely doesn't slide over silage very well.


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## PaMike

Yeah-I heard treated twine breaks down the plastic, but someone told me that as long as you feed it that year you will be fine. Only have issue if the bales sit too long.

Mlappin-Do you do much silage bales? My 65 HP can run dry hay ok, but still works it. In silage its rough. Real slow and if the stuff is too wet its really painful. I want to get more HP this winter, but I just cant decide how much. I run an 8 ft discbine so 80HP would handle that nice with out over kill. I farm mostly small fields, 7acres or less so I dont want a big tractor that is hard to get around. Do you think 80HP will be much of an improvement over the 65HP I have now?


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## deadmoose

Mike- what is current 65 hp tractor?

Also- hp isnt the only thing. Weight is a big factor.


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## LaneFarms

I started putting up baleage last year with a 467 baler. I am sure that a silage special would be easier to use but I have had very little trouble with mine. I have run 1500+ rolls through mine and the only plugging issue I have had was with rained on hay that was too wet. I can tell there is a little more hp requirements when baling it wet and I do typically slow down a gear but I am still moving pretty good.


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## PaMike

Deadmoose-Running a Case 685 now. a fair amount of iron on the old thing so weight is ok. I am careful on the hills. Looking at maybe case case ih 5220 maxxum. They are 80HP


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## swmnhay

PaMike said:


> Yeah-I heard treated twine breaks down the plastic, but someone told me that as long as you feed it that year you will be fine. Only have issue if the bales sit too long.


Why would a guy even risk it?If it degrades the wrap you will have a pile of shit in a hurry.Plastic twine is a lot cheaper then sisal any way and you have plastic to deal with anyway.


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## PaMike

I do use plastic cause you cant find untreated sisal. Plastic is a pain cause you never get it all. It winds up in the field, in spreader etc etc. Sisal takes care of that problem


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## hog987

deadmoose said:


> Man has got to do something when he retires. If not death comes early. Believe it or not some of (to quote dawg) y'alls livelihoods are some other guys dreams for retirement. IMHO.


One old guy around here said "you need a reason to get out of bed in the morning or pretty soon you won't"


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## PaMike

Grandpa worked till he was 82 in the family business. Decided to sell out and retire. He died 6 months later. Work was his life. My wifes dad retired at 59. He doesnt do anything except trade stocks and sit around. I told her he is going to die young. She gets pissed. At 61 he is already acting like a 70 year old...


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