Round Bales vs Large Square Bales

Thanks in advance,
Bill

Would hate to see their bills from the farm equipment dealerships.

Next question is, how do you feed it? A roll, has a hay hoop and the cows can reach over half way across. Donno what they do with one of those giants.

Mark

Both the large square and the large round bales have their places. The large square is usually used in commercial hay operations where the square shape is easy to ship hay on over the road 18 wheel tractor and trailers. Alfalfa is sold often in the large square bales to upper scale customers in the dairy and horse industry. Large Square balers range in cost from $55,000 - $100,000 and take 100 hp and above tractors to operate these balers.
The cow/calf and feeder industry use the large round bales because of efficiency of economy. Large round balers range from $12,000-$30,000 and need from 40-80 HP to operate these balers. Machinery cost alone puts the large square at a big disadvantage. 100-400 large square balers are sold every year while 8,000-12,000 round balers are sold every year.

Both the large square and the large round bales have their places. The large square is usually used in commercial hay operations where the square shape is easy to ship hay on over the road 18 wheel tractor and trailers. Alfalfa is sold often in the large square bales to upper scale customers in the dairy and horse industry. Large Square balers range in cost from $55,000 - $100,000 and take 100 hp and above tractors to operate these balers.
The cow/calf and feeder industry use the large round bales because of efficiency of economy. Large round balers range from $12,000-$30,000 and need from 40-80 HP to operate these balers. Machinery cost alone puts the large square at a big disadvantage. 100-400 large square balers are sold every year while 8,000-12,000 round balers are sold every year.

For handling them I used my round bale spear just like the guy who loaded my gooseneck did, stabbed it right in the center of the long side of the bale (about 2/3 down) so it wouldn"t tip to either side and stacked them 4 high in my shed. Take up way less space than rounds.

They aren"t as handy for self-feeding since they don"t fit in a round ring easy but come apart in slabs just like small squares so are good for hand-feeding.

Nothing against rounds but these stack well on the trailer and in the shed and like I said you can hand-feed from them which is a pain in the rear with big rounds.

Round bales has more cheap used equipmernt for handling them, and they can be stored outside - squares rot.

So, for your own farm, rounds end up cheaper & simpler. For huge volumes of hay & long transport distances, large square.

--->Paul