# bale weight vs dollar per bale



## eastsidehayguy

What do most you guys bale at? I am currently at aprox 65 pound bales, small squares selling for 5 dollars a bale. I am watching the 4 dollar hay on the face book groups I belong to sell like hot cakes while I am just selling to regular customers that know the value and quality of my hay. I am seriously thinking of cutting my bale weight to aprox 45 pounds and charging 4 dollars a bale. I just hate handling so many more bales, it cost me 25 to 55 cents a bale to ship from field to farm, depending on location of field regardless of weight. However on the same token I will be making more per bale but, taking up more barn space as well unless I sell a lot more hay, which is kind of the thinking here... Whats everyone's thoughts? I know selling by the ton would solve this problem but, those horse people cant figure that value out.


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## Chessiedog

My self I shoot for 50 to 55 . I have a scale in both tractors to check bale weight . Most of my customers are not going to want to try to pick up 65 pounds nor me . It also makes it easy to figure some what how much per ton I'm getting .


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## Fossil02818

Our market HERE is not familiar with price per ton for small square bales. Folks only compare price per bale and overall quality. Several years ago we adjusted our baler to make smaller 45lb bales and left our price per bale unchanged. Personally I like handling lighter bales and yes, we sell out faster than we used to when making heavier bales.


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## Teslan

I used to do 16x18 inch bales. They weighed about 65 lbs for grass and up to 80 for alfalfa. I couldn't sell them for anymore then the smaller 14x18 bales. In fact people wouldn't notice the size difference until they tried to load their trailers or trucks. New customers were always worried about weight thinking I had baled them wet. That said, if I was still baling small squares I would't want to bale 45 pound bales as I'm certain my NH stacker wouldn't like that bale weight and I would break a bunch.


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## mlappin

Always tried to make ours right at 50lbs, makes for easy figuring tonnage wise, 40 bales/ton.


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## 8350HiTech

Teslan said:


> I used to do 16x18 inch bales. They weighed about 65 lbs for grass and up to 80 for alfalfa. I couldn't sell them for anymore then the smaller 14x18 bales. In fact people wouldn't notice the size difference until they tried to load their trailers or trucks. New customers were always worried about weight thinking I had baled them wet. That said, if I was still baling small squares I would't want to bale 45 pound bales as I'm certain my NH stacker wouldn't like that bale weight and I would break a bunch.


Three across or two across stacker?

I think if your customers aren't smart enough to figure out bale weight, it might be time to advertise somewhere other than Facebook.


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## Teslan

8350HiTech said:


> Three across or two across stacker?
> 
> I think if your customers aren't smart enough to figure out bale weight, it might be time to advertise somewhere other than Facebook.


 Who advertises on Facebook? People have been uneducated about hay bale sizes for years. It is kinda hard to tell the difference in size of a 16x18 to a 14x18 bale unless they are right beside each other. I'm convinced some don't know how hay gets into a bale at all. Never mind knowing there are different sizes of bales. Have you read the horsey customer thread?


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## Hayman1

I think it is fair to say that my customers (all horsey types) are focused on other things. They don't know all the ins and outs, do know what they like and don't if not always understanding why, but then I don't begin to know all the things that they know about training and competing horses, or their other businesses for those with just a few horses. Everyone is different.

Going back to Teslan's mention of the tread, there are deadbeats and inconsiderate people in all pursuits and yes, when they are breathing oxygen in your driveway, they can be really annoying. My biggest customer (and longest too) can not tell me how much hay she uses in a given time period or estimate how much she needs for the coming season. She says, "you know, bring me what I need" when I have no clue how her operation this year will differ from last. Now I don't like that level of responsibility but just learned to live with it.


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## 8350HiTech

Teslan, the OP mentions Facebook. I should have been more specific in how I worded my reply.

I was asking you about your stacker regarding making 45 pound bales.


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## Teslan

8350HiTech said:


> Teslan, the OP mentions Facebook. I should have been more specific in how I worded my reply.
> 
> I was asking you about your stacker regarding making 45 pound bales.


It does 3 across, but 45 pound bales would bounce around and get out of position if the field wasn't to smooth. If they were kinda loose to get 45 lbs they might break coming out of the bale loader. Then sometimes lite bales would bounce and fall in the load rake.


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## eastsidehayguy

If you haven't used Facebook and are looking for new customers you might want to give it a try. I was also wondering about light bales on a 1037 stacker wagon. Sounds like lighter bales is the way to go if I can get the stacker to work with them.


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## jturbo10

I like 55 to 60 lb bales for my customers. I used to make them longer and heavier but my female hay buyers did not like the heavier bales so I downsized the length and weight and customers were happier and I make more money. Only downsize is my haycrew costs have increased but the number of bales I get offset the cost. I use a Stackliner 1033 to transport the hay from the field to the barns and use the hay crew to stack about 13 bales high which is almost twice the height of the Stackliner which loads 105 bales in a 7x15 cube. Small or less dense bales do not work in the hay wagon and I don't like the way they stack in the barn as they tend to be unstable when stacked 12 or 13 bales high. My commercial customers do not like small fluffy bales unless they get a sizable discount or pay by the ton. I try to keep it simple while taking care of my customers.


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## Lostin55

I will be one of the dissenting opinions. 
16 X 18 bales between 75 and 80 pounds and banjo tight. The Stackwagon is 3 wide and loves them. Any odd or loose bales tend to get broken in the chute. If the bales are to loose the 2nd table may have trouble tripping and need manually tripped.


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## hog987

In my area I get the same price for a 45-50 pound bale as a 65-70 pound bale. So I make the smaller bales.


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## SwingOak

I try to make my bales right around 40 lbs. At that weight a bale has a little heft to it, so buyers are happy, and not too heavy so they can still be handled easily. Plus I don't care how dry it is, I don't like the hay packed that tightly in a bale. 40 lb bales seem to be the generally accepted target weight around here. Any lighter, and people feel they are being cheated, any heavier folks think the hay got rained on and they are going to find mold inside. And to a certain extent, that is true; of the bales I have bought recently, the ones that "feel" heavier \were invariably baled wet and has mold in them.


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## ARD Farm

Like post 15, thats where I'm at. Most of my customers are female anyway so the weight has to be female frriendly.

If it's green, smells good and they can lift it easily, all is good in my world.

Gonna have an issue with green this year though....lol


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## jturbo10

The reason our bales are heavier is not because they have excessive moisture, it is because they are longer with more hay volume. My customers would figure out very quickly that they are getting less hay for the same price, even the horsey people...a couple of pounds not so much but 20 pounds lighter bale is a big difference.


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## Vol

I bale all my squares right around 50 pounds.....40 pounds is a little light in this part of the country for most folks....and 60 is a little heavy. I never have had a single complaint about the weight of my bales here.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline

I try to make a good tight 50-55 pound bale in grass hay.....alfalfa usually end up a little heavier at 55-60 pounds in 14x18 bales about 38 inches long. I hate having to handle loose bales.....after moving a few times they are wanting to come apart. In order for a 40 pound bale to be nice and tight you must have to be making a shorter bale. I have heard the argument about women horse buyers wanting lighter bales but I have to say I have never had one person complain to me about heavy bales......in fact most of them tell me, boy your bales are good and heavy with a lot of hay in them.


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## SwingOak

36" bales are good and tight at 40lbs. Straight grass hay. Second cutting will be heavier because it's not stemmy and the fine grass ends up closer to 50 than 40 anyway. My ancient baler does not like jamming more hay in a bale than that.


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## aawhite

Goes back to baling for your market. If they want a 60 lb. bale, give them a 60 pound ale. If they want a forty pound bale, then bale at forty. The light bales will really kill you if you are contracting semi's to ship long distance. Freight is by the running mile, so light loads equal greater cost per ton.


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## 8350HiTech

SwingOak said:


> 36" bales are good and tight at 40lbs. Straight grass hay. Second cutting will be heavier because it's not stemmy and the fine grass ends up closer to 50 than 40 anyway. My ancient baler does not like jamming more hay in a bale than that.


Very true. A tight bale in one crop will have a different weight than a tight bale in a different crop. You can make them the same length or you can make them the same weight but you probably (if baling crops with much variety) can't do both.


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## hillside hay

This very issue will have me going to 32" from 36" and trying to shave 10 lbs avg the bales. It'll take some learning for me as it seems my baler doesn't like to make bales that light. May have to drop the thrower and go to a bale basket altogether


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## hayray

mine are 45 to 50 lbs, that is what I tell my customers and is easy to figure tonnage. I use bale baskets and several factors determine bale weight. First , moisture, if that is higher then I have to decrease density, this has a lot to do with climate. Additionally if too high a density then more mis-ties when using baskets. Aim not sure how some of you have such heavy small squares? - is that when you are dropping on the ground and not stacking by hand? If I can drop on ground then a heavier bale is easy and still maintained baler function properly. We stack some large hay mows and no way 70 lb bales are gonna get stacked that way.


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