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Implement Alley Discussion Forum

Convert big round bales to small square bales

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Tremayne Hadenf

02-26-2004 16:11:04




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My father and I built a hydraulic bale rotater for our skidsteer. It is basically 2 spears on a roller bearing plate that is driven from a hyd motor, powered by the aux on the skidsteer. you can vary the rpm & direction and it works perfect.

Question is: has anyone tried to convert big round hay and straw bales into small square bales?

We feed both big and small on our farm and soon will be selling our excess. The logic is, if we need more small squares, we can set the 24T baler in the barn cut the strings on the big bale and feed it into the 24T. Time is crucial for us, so bringing in 30 acres of big bales would be easier than small bales. If someone wanted smallies, we could convert them anytime, any weather in the barn.
Anyone have any experience trying this?

thanks
Tremayne

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Bill B

02-27-2004 18:00:22




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 Re: Convert big round bales to small square bales in reply to Tremayne Hadenfelt, 02-26-2004 16:11:04  
Hi, I have heard all kinds of ways of doing this. My problem is always been feeding my baler with a uniform amount of hay to get good bales . Bill



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Wayne

02-27-2004 12:29:28




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 Re: Convert big round bales to small square bales in reply to Tremayne Hadenfelt, 02-26-2004 16:11:04  
I did that one year, small round bales from a Hesston 530. We stood them on end, cut the stings off and unwrapped lenghts of it and feed it into a New Holland 273 baler with a hay fork. It was a three person job. One note, it can be very dusty, evan outside. We had on masks and after converting 20 to 30 round bales we looked like coal miners.



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Bill Smith

02-27-2004 11:37:36




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 Re: Convert big round bales to small square bales in reply to Tremayne Hadenfelt, 02-26-2004 16:11:04  
Of coarse you can convert big bales to small. You are not going to want to do alfalfa. Ounce alfalfa is baled the first time, you don't want to break it down untill you feed it or grind it. But for grass hay and straw, you don't have nothing to loose. My experience with doing this is, you just about got to have a guy handling the bales as they come out of the baler. You need another guy to feed loose hay into the baler. You could probably also keep a third guy buisy with odds and ends of stuff. My square baler likes a constant, even, steady flow of hay and not to much. Otherwise, the bales come out screwed up. They have a tendency to come out with somewhat rounded edges instead of truely square anyways when I am baling in this manner. Ussually run broken and really screwed up bales back through the baler again. Not sure if the extra value of small bales versus big would be worth the trouble. If things work right, it probably is, but would probably not be worth the extra time and trouble if things didn't really work right. Just my 2 cents.

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James in NC

02-27-2004 05:50:52




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 Re: Convert big round bales to small square bales in reply to Tremayne Hadenfelt, 02-26-2004 16:11:04  
There a few people in the area doing this. All doing it a different way. One man I know has a contract with the state selling them small squares in straw or old hay. Quality of hay is not a big issues since they are only growing grass under it. He unrolls the hay behind the tractor runs over it with a tedder and then bales it up with a square baler. He does this on a hill and has baled 52,000 bales since Thanksgiving.
Another person has a bale spilter that looks like a big knife that attaches to the 3pt. he splits the bale in front of the square baler and forks into the pickup reel. He leaves the out side of the bale on the ground since horse folks don't want that.
Another person uses a bale processor and has it stationary with a conveyor belt going back to the pickup reel on the square baler. He says the baler can't keep up.
Hope this helps.
James

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JC

02-26-2004 19:28:26




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 Re: Convert big round bales to small square bales in reply to Tremayne Hadenfelt, 02-26-2004 16:11:04  
There are quite a few people doing this with their round bales. It does work, but you have to factor in the extra time and expense of it all.
If you are doing native grass hay, it works better than trying to bale alfalfa. The leaves are fragile and you will have a huge pile of alfalfa leaves under your staionary baler.
It does sound as if you have a pretty good set up, so I would try it out and see how it works for you.
Good luck!

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