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Moisture meter

grandpa Love

grandpa Love

Well-known Member
Buddy has this in his wood working shop. Will it work for hay? Why or why not? It's $45. They feed store wants $300+ for a hay moisture meter......
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It would give you a reading but I'm not sure how you could translate it to hay. Might have to test it on some hay you know the moisture content and come up with your own numbers.
 
I think you are going to need something with longer probes. Wood is much more dense than hay, so the small probes of that meter will take a measure, but with hay it is usually drier at the outside of the bale and holds moisture within the bale and within the stems of the legumes and some grasses.

For a seldom event in checking moisture content you can use a microwave oven and a gram scale. The method is simple: weigh a handful of hay (your sample) and record the weight (example 100 grams). Then put the sample into the microwave oven for maybe 30 seconds. Let it cool and weigh it again. Repeat heating and weighing until the weight does not change any more. Say the final weight is 75 grams. So the moisture lost is 25 grams. Divide 25 by 100 and you have 25% moisture... probably a bit more than you'd want in order to stack and store the hay without further drying. This same method is what we used for many years to check the moisture content of the oats we were harvesting.

P.S. Mom may be a bit uneasy with you using her kitchen microwave. I got around that by letting my son perform the deed, and he received more tolerance from her than I ever got.


Paul in MN
 
I've been putting hay up for 50 years going by the feel of it for dry. Also twisting the stems if it breaks it is dry if not then not dry. I never really thought I needed a moisture meter for hay. Can usually tell by the way it acts when moving it by hand in the windrow. I guess it is just an experience thing.
 
(quoted from post at 19:01:48 01/22/21) I've been putting hay up for 50 years going by the feel of it for dry. Also twisting the stems if it breaks it is dry if not then not dry. I never really thought I needed a moisture meter for hay. Can usually tell by the way it acts when moving it by hand in the windrow. I guess it is just an experience thing.
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Sorry, but I spit my coffee out when I read his post.

These modern fellers need fancy gadgets n stuff ???
 
I’ve been doing hay for 25 years Started baling in 7th grade and I can normally tell by twisting and feeling it but i like a moisture tester on some hay especially on my triticale because you’ll think it’s dry and it’s 30% moisture.
 
Thanks for the answers. Last summer was my first time doing hay. Lots to learn. High humidity in the summer here has me worried sometimes. 95+° and 99% humidity is normal in Alabama. Dew so thick in the morning your boots get soaked walking on the grass until at least 11 am.
 
My idea is to add hobby store brass tubing to the probes so they extend 12 inches or so with flattened ends to push easier. Do a test sample in a bale, then use the micro wave drying method on a hand full of the middle hay to calibrate the meter. Jim
 
Just for fun I tested the moisture content on some paper by my computer and it read 8.7 and 9.6 percent. A leaf I found in my shop read 5.4 percent. My jacket read 8.0 percent and my hand read 23.4 percent so it will work on other materials.
 
Missouri tend to be very humid also. I've been baling hay now since the early 80s and and old farms said go out and pick up some hay and it rattles it is ready to rake and bale. I rake my hay around 1pm in the afternoon then bale around 3-4pm and haven't had much of any problems
 
You need probes long enough to reach into the middle of the bale. I went a long time without one and when I started baling for other people I bought one. I did not want to risk getting blamed for putting up wet hay. When folks come to buy hay from me, I offer to probe a bale if they are concerned. I was lucky enough to find my John Deere tester at a farm sale for 75.00 bucks, but knowing what I know now, I'd pay the 250 to keep out of trouble.
When I do it by "feel", twisting a bunch in my hand, I find it is often too dry (7-8%) and I could/should have started earlier.
 

I don't know but I would try to jam it into a bale as far as you can. It has two contacts so it must measure resistance or voltage between the two contacts so it would take some tightly packed hay to get any continuity between the two. I've got one of those cheap 10 buck garden soil moisture meters with a long, single probe. If I remember, I will try it tomorrow in a bale and see what it does. It wouldn't give an exact reading but if compared to wet and dry hay maybe it will establish a base line. Not sure how it would work in loose hay on the ground unless you packed it.
 
And a 19 70 Baler is just as efficient as a 2020 baler? Move on. accept the technology that can male you a better farmer/
 
(quoted from post at 19:25:17 01/22/21)
(quoted from post at 19:01:48 01/22/21) I've been putting hay up for 50 years going by the feel of it for dry. Also twisting the stems if it breaks it is dry if not then not dry. I never really thought I needed a moisture meter for hay. Can usually tell by the way it acts when moving it by hand in the windrow. I guess it is just an experience thing.
Click to expand...


Sorry, but I spit my coffee out when I read his post.

These modern fellers need fancy gadgets n stuff ???
Click to expand...


Oh Rustic1 you are my hero. I bought a moisture meter over thirty years ago. They are not a new gadget. I didn't use it much and haven't used it in a good thirty years. Like caterpillar guy said, You can tell just by how it moves while raking. BUT, it takes experience to get to the point where you can do it accurately, and a moisture tester could help you to keep from putting up moldy hay at those times when you are on the fence. Mine is for sale by the way.
 
We took my wood testing meter to the corn field & checked a few ears , then picked the ears & shelled them. Then checked again with one for corn. Mine read about 2 points low.
 
The above meter may help.I don't own a hay testing meter but everybody I know that owns one claims they are worth every dallor they spend on them.I would shop around for price
 
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