hay stackers?

swindave · Jul 20, 2020

does any one have any experience with the old hay stackers made in the 70s and 80s?
hesston sack hands, john deere stackers, haybuster loaf stackers ? or was there other brands too?
any one use one? good ?bad?
i thought you could stack hay and stalks?
why didnt they catch on?

thanks

Tony in SD · Jul 20, 2020

Yes I do. They did catch on. They were a quick way to put up hay but required a stack move to haul the hay. They produced superior preservation of the hay. But lost favor to bales for ease of hauling. I once read an article on putting up hay. Hay quality of the round bales were poorer quality than any other method. But as I said round bales are easier to handle & haul.

jal-SD · Jul 20, 2020

They were just coming out at the time I was growing up on a farm that had 180 acres of alfalfa that had to be harvested 3X a year. We also farmed small grain & row crops on 3 quarters. We had about 180 acres of pasture for about 100 cow/calf pairs. We "loose" stacked our hay in a stack frame. If it didn't rain on it, we could do it in 9 days. When I went off to college, Dad gave up some of the land, sold a bunch of cattle & thought about getting one of those new mechanical stack builders. After a couple of years of investigation, he decided they would be too "high maintenance", so he quit hay farming as his summer college student help was gone too. I think he was correct & that's why many are setting in the weeds today. Big rounds appear to be much easier to maintain.

fastfarmall · Jul 20, 2020

The Haybuster wasn't a loaf stacker that was a round hay stacker,the entire stack turned on a turn table,when it was full and topped off, you open the cage and unloaded it or or if close to home haul it home and unload it, But it had a lot of orbit motors,Never really caught on! It was made in Jamestown North Dakota.

rockyridgefarm · Jul 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 17:23:56 07/20/20) does any one have any experience with the old hay stackers made in the 70s and 80s?
hesston sack hands, john deere stackers, haybuster loaf stackers ? or was there other brands too?
any one use one? good ?bad?
i thought you could stack hay and stalks?
why didnt they catch on?

thanks

They really only worked in drier areas. Stacks kept outdoors in many parts of the country, including here in Sw wi, just meant bad hay. Even round bales kept outside here have a lot of quality loss.

8x8 Hesston stackers were fairly popular around here for corn stalk stacks through the winter, but they had to be used before spring rains or they will rot away. I have never seen a hay stack. Nowadays the stackers have also been retired from corn stalks-in favor of round balers. Many have been scrapped. I briefly considered finding a stacker last fall, but never did. They are too much of a pain to move and keep.

Tx Jim · Jul 21, 2020

There's an art to making good hay stacks with a stacker. The top layers have a tendency to blow off with high winds. I agree that advent of rd balers lessened the desire or need for large stacks.

There is a JD model 200 stacker & mover that I sold new that's been sitting idle on a property of my neighbors where I have some cattle.

Tx Jim · Jul 21, 2020

(quoted from post at 19:38:03 07/20/20) Hay quality of the round bales were poorer quality than any other method.

Please explain how why rd bale hay quality is any less if cut & baled correctly than any other method of hay harvesting???

My neighbor has unrolled many 100's of rd bales & then sq baled them to sell to feed stores & picky horse owners.

72supr · Jul 21, 2020

My uncles had a John Deere stacker and would put four stacks together as close as they could then take the F10 Farmhand and put a top on it. The alfalfa had to be quite dry before the bread loaf machine would work.

steve in ok · Jul 21, 2020

Someone on here several years back posted a picture of there hesston (I think) stack mover. They were using it to move round bales and it looked like it worked really good. Anyone remember that, the bales were two wide on bottom and one down the middle in long rows and he could just back up and load what looked like maybe 15 at a time, never leave the tractor.

Tx Jim · Jul 21, 2020

IIRC that poster was Allan from Neb. that misfortune his home burning

Tony in SD · Jul 21, 2020

Tx Jim
In this part of the world we have extreme weather swings. -40 to 100+, rain, snow, wind, humidity, drought. Depending on how the bale lands with respect to the final wrap , water is able to enter the bale. Freeze-
thaw cycles Spread the bale apart. In turn that will allow air to enter The wet and the rot cycle begins. If the bale is set upright even more water enters the bale. What is even worse is when the bales are stacked.
Water can not shed To the ground and the water infiltrates the lower bales. Stackhand, John Deere, Haybuster all layer the hay allowing the water to shed the stack. It’s as simple as that.

Ozlander · Jul 21, 2020

I saw one being used this summer in Kansas.

Tx Jim · Jul 21, 2020

Tony
I realize there's a vast difference in climates between Texas & SD but IMHO it's not correct to blame poor quality hay on rd baler for the ""inability of the operator"" to bale hay without utilizing a hay preservative or bale @ 15% or below moisture & storing bales without a covered shelter with round sides touching or even worse scenario pyramided. It's as simple as this.

I see some of my neighbors that own several acres pyramid stacking rd bales in the open & when I drive by I just shake my head in disbelief !!!!

A few yrs back I was rd baling for my well to do neighbor. He was stacking out in the open as I was baling laying bottom rd bales on flat side then pyramid bales on top. I stopped him and asked why he was laying bottom bales on flat. He stated his cutting horse friend told him that was the correct way to stack rd bales. I told him that might be correct in a covered barn but not out in the open. He just smiled & kept stacking. Moral to story is that's the only yr he stacked in that fashion.

72supr · Jul 21, 2020

The neighbor had a McKee stacking machine I believe made in Canada.You could take the bread loaf part of the machine off and then you could move the stack in as it was a chain mover.Quite a handy outfit. I think it made a 12x20 stack.Putting up good quality hay has come a long way with round balers as people have learned when to bale and when to not. Some folks anyway.

hay stackers?

swindave

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Tony in SD

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jal-SD

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fastfarmall

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rockyridgefarm

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Tx Jim

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Tx Jim

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72supr

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steve in ok

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Tx Jim

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Tony in SD

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Ozlander

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