Hay Storage

UP Oliver · Jun 16, 2017

I am looking for input on how I should finish off the floor of my pole barn where I will be storing hay. The hay will be stored on pallets, but under that what do I do? I don't know the exact terminology across the globe, but I was planning on putting in gravel, clean gravel, 5 inches thick or so. A contractor I know told me to use 23A, which is the material used on the shoulder of roads. It is a combination of gravel and soil. But I think clean gravel or rock or whatever will hold less moisture and will do a better job of keeping mold off the hay. I am wondering what others do to avoid mold. This building is very well vented.

Thanks in advance for whatever input you have.

PJH · Jun 16, 2017

I would think the pallets would keep it from molding.

Clean gravel will never pack down, and will roll around under your feet and wheels forever. The fine material in some grades of gravel is what makes it pack down and stay tight.

coshoo · Jun 17, 2017

I stored hay on pallets- once. Mice and varmints found the space to their liking, and managed to cut the strings on about half the bales. Forget the pallets, and forget the gravel- just put down 6 mil black plastic on the dirt. No mold, no mice.

Kickinbull · Jun 17, 2017

I put hay tarps underneath on dirt inside and outside. The outside is covered with tarps also.

showcrop · Jun 17, 2017

It depends a lot on the terrain, and type of soil that is in place. When roads are being built, if the ground to the sides is higher than the road, drainage pipe parallel to and under the edge of the pavement is required. If the ground underneath is holding moisture, a layer of sand is required under the gravel so that the moisture will not be retained, and if it is really wet Geotextile is put over the structural fill and under the top layer of gravel. The surface is more personal preference, it is the ground underneath that is important. I would put down crusher run myself, like PJH said, except he meant clean stone not clean gravel.

LAA · Jun 17, 2017

Good air circulation around and under the pallets will do a lot.

rrlund · Jun 17, 2017

I laid down plastic and put the gravel on top of it.

Josh in Pa · Jun 17, 2017

Are ashpalt millings available? I've been told that guys that bale and sell a lot of high quality hay pave their sheds. Supposedly hay will not mold sitting on blacktop. Millings might be a poor mans compromise.

Dick2 · Jun 17, 2017

Crushed rock is better than gravel. The crushed pieces tend to interlock and give firmer footing under your feet. Gravel tends to roll under you feet and might cause you to fall.

Bret4207 · Jun 17, 2017

Whatever you do, lay a moisture barrier down. Ground moisture will have the bottom layer of hay molding in no time. Air circulation is critical.

JD Seller · Jun 17, 2017

Clean rock will always be loose and will not work well. I would put a moisture barrier down with your 23A on top and compact it. Your pallet idea looks good on paper but in real life it sucks. Pallets are hard to walk on carrying bales. IF the hay stack is very tall the weight will push the bottom bales down through the spaces on the pallets resulting in misshaped bales and Makes picking them up hard. Also like the other posted stated MICE/rats LOVE the air space under the bales They will cause damage worse than the little bit od surface mold you get stacking on the ground.

The best I have found is to have a good solid base. Lay down tarps/plastic on the gravel. Then edge stack the hay. I always stack hay on edge in the barn. It cures better and you will have less string cutting from rodents.

FinnMD · Jun 17, 2017

I store rounds and small squares in a couple pole barns. I put down reinforced 6 mil poly and about 4 to 6 inches or local gravel on top, called CR6, that has fines in it to pack like you want for driveways. For rounds I just place several scrap pieces of lumber on gravel, like 2x4s and 2x6s, etc. Does the job. Squares sometimes use pallets but they become a PIA after few years, break up and groundhogs, vermin, like to live under them. Also all the loose hay chaf fills void under them and gets nasty. Each barn unique with moisture conditions. I strongly suggest having gutters and good exterior drainage to minimize soil moisture too. Makes a big difference for me.

Thomasthetankengine · Jun 17, 2017

I put a layer of plastic then pallets, drop rodent"food" and then plywood on top. Then spray captan to keep mold down. Bottom layer still gets a little dusty if left too long but good enough for heifers. I like the idea of millings. They make for a good driveway.

ss55 · Jun 19, 2017

What is the grading around the hay barn? It helps if all the floor is higher than the surroundings so moisture will flow away from the slab. If part of the slab is at or below grade level I would expect nearly constant moisture problems.

Frantz · Jun 19, 2017

I don't know how big your operation is, but one thing we did last year that worked pretty well was we just dropped all the bales in the field, then ran around with a small tractor with 3pt fork and pallet. We stacked them 10 high, tossed a chain over them and tightened with a binder and then hauled them off to a low storage structure we had use of. It was only in there for 2 months or so until I got it sold, but then we could pull it out easy too. For what we were doing it made a great small scale operation with fewer handling hours. We just had it on dirt floors and it was completely fine. I can see rodents being a problem if left longer, but because of our 10 bales to a pallet method it left plenty of room for the cats to cruise through there and find them. It was our first year doing hay, so it's what we came up with to limit labor. That property was sold, so I don't have any hay to make this year )-=

Frantz · Jun 19, 2017

* Edit, by "10 high" I mean 5 high, stacked 2x2, so ten per pallet

Hay Storage

UP Oliver

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PJH

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coshoo

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Kickinbull

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showcrop

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LAA

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rrlund

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Josh in Pa

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Dick2

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Bret4207

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JD Seller

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FinnMD

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Thomasthetankengine

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ss55

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Frantz

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Frantz

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