# round bales to square bales



## Mel Ashland (Nov 11, 2009)

has anyone experienced using round bales to get the grass hay into storage and then converting the bales to square bales for the boutique market?


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## HL649 (Jul 23, 2009)

A friend of mine works at a hay plant that ships hay all over the world. Most of it gets shipped in containers in compressed square bales. A large portion of the hay that they buy is in large rounds so it has to be rebaled into small squares so it can be compressed. They have a lot of wastage when the rounds are unrolled and rebaled. Works for a commercial operation but I think it would be impractible for an individual. They sell their hay for $10 and up per bale so a little wastage isn't a big problem.


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

Most that I have seen is the round bales were unrolled and raked into a sort of windrow. An alternative is to have several hands fork hay from a RB into the small square baler. 
I am sure there are machines designed to replace much of the need for manual labor.

The disadvantage I can see is the hay will be dry. too dry to bale and a lot of leaf matter shatter will result. A mister should help with that problem. What I have seen was a lot of hard work, and slow.

Advantage is the hay in a $60 RB can be sold for $120 by selling the hay in small square bales. 
Is there a gain in Net Income? I have no idea, but I doubt it.

To my thinking it is an accommodation to good customers who only can use small square bales.


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## Mel Ashland (Nov 11, 2009)

we'lll have over 4,000 tons this year, and growing. what's a little waste??? I've read about packaging the waste, etc. any more thoughs?


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## Mel Ashland (Nov 11, 2009)

hay wilson in TX said:


> Most that I have seen is the round bales were unrolled and raked into a sort of windrow. An alternative is to have several hands fork hay from a RB into the small square baler.
> I am sure there are machines designed to replace much of the need for manual labor.
> 
> The disadvantage I can see is the hay will be dry. too dry to bale and a lot of leaf matter shatter will result. A mister should help with that problem. What I have seen was a lot of hard work, and slow.
> ...


the mistger is a good idea. thanks. my biggest problem is getting the hay into storage and the water turned back on quickly. thanks.


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## okhillbilly (Jun 18, 2009)

Not that I'm going to try it. But couldn't you use a round bale unroller and feed or conveyor belt it straight into a square baler ?


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## Customfarming (Oct 8, 2009)

Know some people that have and they went broke trying. When you do this you have two baling bills in your hay plus the extra handling. That makes the price higher each time you handle it. Try finding an accumulator to put behind you baler to speed up hauling. They are several different accumulators that will fit to your needs. This will be cheaper than re-baling hay.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

Customfarming said:


> Know some people that have and they went broke trying. When you do this you have two baling bills in your hay plus the extra handling. That makes the price higher each time you handle it. Try finding an accumulator to put behind you baler to speed up hauling. They are several different accumulators that will fit to your needs. This will be cheaper than re-baling hay.


couldnt agree more.


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Mel, pm Calvin with Production Acres. I think he might have his system still for sale since he switched to a Steffen slicer.


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## Mel Ashland (Nov 11, 2009)

thanks, how do i get hold of him?


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## HALLSHAY (Nov 30, 2008)

Search "rebaler" and there is a thread that will pop up that has a couple of his posts and some pictures. If nothing else, talking to someone who has been there done that.


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## Production Acres (Jul 29, 2008)

423.346.7909 Calvin 7am to 4pm est. I'll be happy to tell you what I know and yes, we have an old system for sale - cheap!


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## CATTLEMAN (Jun 19, 2009)

There is a Canadian company that makes a pretty slick piece of equipment that sits infront of your square baler and unrolls and feeds it into the throat of your square baler. If your interested in it, PM me and I will get you more information on it.


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## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

It can be done, but is a fair amount of work. All I was able to do was unwind the bales in front of baler, and then fork fluff them up to run through. They have to be fluffed up some how because it is just too dense coming off roll. Once fluffed hay was in baler it made very nice small squares, but tended to be on heavy side. I was satisfied with how it worked, and I will do some again this year. However I do plan on building some type of machine to do this as I am too cheap to pay for the expensive existing systems.


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