Any Experience With Specialized Hay Tarps?

lastcowboy32

Well-known Member
From all of the posts here about fixing our baler, you'd think that we don't have any hay....but we do. We already have probably more than enough first cut and bedding for our animals.

We still have a couple thousand bales of first cut standing on the land that we rent. So, we've been selling some out of the field. It's quite a bit of labor to get hay into our loft and then back out again. So, we are giving people a very good price, if they can take hay out of the field.

Thing is...most people that are buying hay that way are weekend warriors with day jobs. I have quite a few that I've made contact with that are interested in hay...but it's commonly...

"Will you have any hay ready this Saturday morning between 9AM and 11AM? That's the only time that I can ....(insert something here like..."get a trailer" "get off from work" "get help to load"..."borrow a truck"???

Which I understand completely...but Mother Nature...she isn't accommodating. She dictates when to bale and when to wait.

So, I've started a system where we put down a pad of bedding hay bales and then stack good first cutting hay on top. We can get a few hundred bales stacked on a modest pad and tarp the whole shebang...

It's much faster for us to stack the hay this way when we're baling...no running up the ramp into the barn... It's also much easier to load for "customers"... no setting up elevators to get hay out of the loft...

Thing is, a standard tarp doesn't let out the water vapor from the still-curing hay.

I'm researching specialized tarps that claim to "breathe". Does anybody have experience to share on this subject?

Thanks
 
Find some pallets and stack the hay on the pallets and also put some pallets on top then the tarp. Doing that lets the hay breath and that in turn keeps condensation etc. from causing problems
 

That's an interesting thought.

This manufacturer claims to be water tight and breathable...but says something like needing a 45 degree angle to ensure water runs off.

http://www.supacova.net/documents/SupaCova_Breathable_Bifold_V2.pdf
 
We didn't have pallets for the top, but we did put an extra tier on top in the center of the pile. So there is a little air gap on both sides of the top...
 
In my hay barn which is a dirt floor I put my bales on 2 layers of pallets. I found hay right on the ground pulls moisture out of the ground and that in turn cause the hay to mold which I not good. My hay barn has open ends so lots of air movement in it
 
For the cost of a special tarp, and how long (or short) they last, I've often wondered if something like this would pay off better over the years, if
you do this more then just a year? It doesn't hold a lot, but it would be easy to fill and empty as you want in small quantities, without all the effort
of fooling with a tarp every single time - I know how tuckered out a person gets just handling the bales, then have to deal with the tarp and
weights and cords...... Could pretty easily curtain the sides some if you want more rain protection, but would keep better airflow.

Be a handy roof in off hay times, or if you don't do hay any more.....

Paul
a275485.jpg
 

I did this first pile quickly...a sacrificial layer of bedding hay bales on the bottom...tarp from Walmart. If I find a better cover, I can put my Walmart tarp on the ground as a vapor barrier for the next pile.

I'm not looking to store over-winter. Just temporary storage of a week or two...maybe a month at the most.

This first pile of a couple hundred bales has already been "claimed" the customer just needs some time to move it with their little truck.

But to me, that's a sign that this method is workable. It just keeps the hay stored long enough so that a weekend warrior type can get it moved at their leisure.
 
Something else you might think about is my PVC arch covered with plastic. I posted pictures of it a few years back and it is easy to put up and cheap also. I have used that for sun cover at shows or a green house of to store things in for short terms and for growing my pole beans on
 
I let them buy off the wagon. I cover the wagon with a tarp and leave it in the field. You want to do that for a few days anyway with square bales before you put it in the barn. I also run a row on top one bale wide lengthways so it makes the tarp "tent" so it sheds water and that also allows an air space along the sides. I only bale a couple of wagon loads at a time anyway, and that is if I am luck and nothing breaks.

Also, leave it on the wagon for about a week, then into the barn and the price goes up if someone wants it then.
 
(quoted from post at 11:41:02 08/01/18) Something else you might think about is my PVC arch covered with plastic. I posted pictures of it a few years back and it is easy to put up and cheap also. I have used that for sun cover at shows or a green house of to store things in for short terms and for growing my pole beans on

I like the idea of PVC arches. I could incorporate the "buttresses" for the arches into the stack, as I pile it.
 

So...If I used some PVC to arch the tarp over the top of the pile, what if I got some 4" perforated pipe (like flexible drainage tile pipe) and tucked it under the tarp on the ground at one end of the pile... up over the pile along the "spine" ...then down the other side to the ground, where it peeks out from under the tarp ????

Seems like that would get me just a little bit of air exchange without introducing a big "handle" for the wind to get under the tarp.
 

Exactly. I don't mind giving people a deal, but the process of putting it into the barn and then loading it back out has to increase the price; because that takes labor (usually my wife and our daughter) and I can't expect them to work for free.

Loading out of field allows me to sell at a very nice price that's win win for us and the buyer.
 

This has been a productive little brain storm session. I have an exact idea of how I'm going to try the next pile.

Drain tile for air drainage
PVC arch
Cheap Walmart Tarp

I'll put the arch on top. The drain tile will run up one end, run the length of the top of the pile and then down the other end.

The cheap Walmart tarp will go over the whole shebang and run all of the way down to the ground with enough of a "skirt" on the ground so that I can pile a solid row of sacrificial bales around the tarp to pin it to the ground all the way around the pile...except for the two spots where the 4" drain tile peeks out from under it...

Thank you, gentlemen.

I'll try to post some pictures and give some feedback as to how this works.
 
Nice thing about the PVC arch is you can use it for many different things and it is cheap. Less then $50 last I check to make one and it is if done as I do 20 long and about 10-12 foot wide and about 7-8 foot tall. Plus it lasts a long time other then the plastic rotting due to sun light but that is cheap to replace once in a while
 

Google: Inland Tarp, not cheap but they hold up well.
Bought two a couple years ago big enough to cover 50 4x5 round bales each.
Wind got up under one side of one last year and tore a few places in it when it wiped it around, my fault for not having it weighted down enough.
The other one looks as good as new, properly tied down I expect to get 4-5 years out of one.

I tried the cheap Walmart traps, lucky if they lasted till winter.
 
If you have a billboard company near, stop in and ask them for some "expired" vinyl billboards.
They can be up around 15 x 40 feet.
Heavy vinyl with fiberglass strands woven in.
Edges are folded over and welded to accept 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 pipe all around.
Made to last five years 24/7 outdoors.

Can usually get them for free.
 
(quoted from post at 17:22:37 08/01/18) Inland sells very good tarps that last for several years with a little care.

I've used Inland hay tarps for years, Hay stack tarped 6-8 months in snow, wind, rain etc. I have got several years out of each one. They are due to be replaced now but getting one more winter out of them.
 

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