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What is wrong with rotor straw?

O

old fashioned farmer

Member
Good morning folks,

I was talking to a fellow on the phone yesterday about selling some him some hay. He asked me if I had any straw to sell but I didn't have any. Well, I told him of someone I knew who had some and then he asked me a question that I've been thinkin about since then. "Was the wheat combined with a conventional combine?"

I used to work for a CaseIH dealer for several years and we talked about people not liking rotor straw. I've never seen straw from out of a rotor machine so I can't say what it looks like. But I can imagine it would be a bit more chewed up than one from a conventional. Why does that make a difference?

It would bale up just the same and I'd think it would be nicer bedding if it was not so stiff and in large pieces. If it is a handling issue, why would it being in smaller pieces be any different than the sawdust that some horse people like to use. Just some questions that I've been mulling over. Especially since I'm workin on a deal to get a 1440 right now. God bless.

--old fashioned farmer
 
It doesn't look as nice is about all I can figure.

Seems to me it should work better for bedding since chopped straw vs baled straw is much better in my opinion just harder to handle for me. Fibers are chewed up more to make it more absorbant.
 
Rotors can really chew up the straw. Makes it really hard to bale. I once threw a small bale into a pen and had it openup like a Y. It didnt split in half but was ground up so bad it was like baling dust. That year was an extreme due to the variety of wheat i had and it not wanting to thresh out. I have since bought a 212 JD dummy head and hire a neighbor with a 7720 to do my small grain for me.
Also i have heard that the short straw from a rotor or chopper is not as warm in the winter. The long straws hold heat better and is more comfortable for the cattle.
 
All things considered, short chopped straw works just fine and it's easier to handle too.

However, it does not absorb and "hold" moisture like the long stemmed stuff will.

So, ya gots to use 'more' straw to get the same effect.

Allan
 
All things considered, short chopped straw works just fine and it's easier to handle too.

However, it does not absorb and "hold" moisture like the long stemmed stuff will.

So, ya gots to use 'more' straw to get the same effect.

Allan
 
Nothing is really wrong with it, it"s just smaller and some people don"t like it. When we straw new lawns, I like it coming from a walker machine because my straw blower chops it again. Rotor straw comes out of our blower as straw powder sometimes. I liked it the best out of the 7720 I used to have. Our 2188 grinds it some more now. My 2cents
7720field.jpg
 
It's all about buyer preference. Back when we made straw the buyers always made sure our straw was not through a rotary as their customers specified it. They said the horse people and high end dairy people (registered show cows) wanted it to better display their animals. Lots of fluffy straw to dress up the stall. No practical concerns about the animal staying warmer or better moisture absorbtion were mentioned. Guys that bale for their own use seem to notice very little difference on the practical issues.
Guys have found ways over the years to get the rotaries not to grind the straw as much and the technology in today's rotary combines are far better than a couple decades ago in this respect. I still think it is easier to make a good solid square bale with a cylinder machine, however.
 
I sold some straw to a dairy farmer 8 years ago. He calls every year since wanting more large round bales of rotor cut straw.

He likes the way the bales fall apart and spread out in the lot, without having to unroll them.

Gary
 
That's my oldest daughter. This was one combine ago and I believe she was three (2 yrs ago). If you can believe it, I had all three of them with me at one time this year for a few rounds! A 5,3 and 1 yr old and me filled the cab. This is a picture from this fall. They played in this pile of corn for a half hour my wife said.
PA260053.jpg
 
That combine doesn't look too bad in the picture, but it was probably one of the roughest 7720 Titan II's you could find. It had been outside, neglected, etc. but we got it going. It was a horse and seemed to take 6 rows of 175 bu corn with ease. It played with this 16' head, I had it still from a 6600 I had. That is a good looking tractor in the back. It's not mine, but would chug all day long and not use hardly any fuel.
 
How much a rotary chops it up depends on how damp the straw is when it's combined. Tough green wheat straw baled in the morning comes out in pretty long pieces (takes a lot of power too)but if it's 100 degrees out and the wheat's dead ripe you're gonna have powder. We used to bale 5000 acres of irrigated wheat in Idaho with 2388's and they'd bale it all up in large squares. I couldn't get over how the baler could pick up that ground up stuff. i don't know how the bales held together. You could grab a corner of the bale with your hand and pull out a handfull of ground straw.

I never did like oat or wheat straw for bedding when I had hogs because it wasn't as absorbent as corn stalk bales, but straw sure did make the hogs look shiny and clean for a few hours. Jim
 
I had 8.5 acres of oats custom combined with a newer Case IH this year, that was cover crop for alfalfa. I expected around 300 to 400 bales of straw, since I had some big windrows before combining. Ended up with about 175 bales, seemed like I left half of the straw in the field because it was cut up so short. Tough to pick up with the baler, seemed like a lot of it just rolled along in front of the pickup. I swathed with about 4-6" of stubble, so I suppose a lot of the straw got caught up in the alfalfa below. Had to take it easy handling the bales, as they wanted to slip apart. Sold over half of it, and the folks didn't complain. Seems like it would be nice for bedding, just moer delicate to handle the bales.
 
Ha, i talk to them but they havent replied to me yet! I actually heard it first from a feed rep, and it makes sence, long fluffy straw should be warmer. He said the longer straws will hold the heat better in the hole. I agree, i like it fluffy, cattle seem to enjoy it more.
 
As the others said, rotor combines grind the straw up some vs. the conventional ones. My brother sells straw bales along w/ his pumpkins in the fall. He was buying them from another farmer who has a conventional combine, and those bales held up very nice. (Important when selling strictly for decorating purposes to city folk)

This past season he bought straw from us but we have it combined by a guy w/ a Case rotary combine. He didn't like our straw even though the color was great (no rain) and it was clean. The bales just didn't hold together very well and they made more of a mess in his storage area.

Next year, he's buying from the other guy again. The bales just work better. PLus he gets a heck of a deal on it. We can't make it as cheap as he buys it.

Donovan from Wisconsin
 
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