How To Build A Traditional Hay Stack?

[Localmotion]

It may have been prionic acid but that is the limit of knowledge.

I think there is no limit to your knowledge Egon... it's definitely a lot better than mine..!
I remember being taught something about Propionic acid when I studied for my agricultural degree many years ago - is Prionic acid the same (Ammonium Salt)?
If so I seem to remember it is a natural preservative so could definitely work....

 

[Egon]

My spelling as well as my limited knowledge is always in doubt.

 

[Localmotion]

so it is the same? :confused3:

 

[mojoinco]

I don't know about everyone else, but this has been very educational.
Silage Additives, AGF-018-92

 

[IgroRockwell]

We built lots of haystacks on the farm when I was a kid. The technique we used was quite simple and I'll try to explain it to you. When you pick up a forkfull of loose hay and hold it above your head it kind of resembles a jellyfish, if you will, with the top part rounded and the loose hay ends hanging down. The secret to building a stack is to position each forkfull of hay so that the rounded part is toward the outside of the stack and the loose ends stream inward. The man unloading the wagon pitches to the stacker and the stacker regathers each forkful, picks it up and pushes it toward the outside leaving loose ends trailing inward. The stacker must work from the middle of the stack and rise with the stack. The loose hay ends work like tie stones in a stone wall, holding the stack together. I preferred building square stacks rather than round, but either type works as well. We commonly built stacks 15 feet square and 15 to 20 feet tall this way, and the sides were often nearly vertical.

 

[vtsnowedin]

When you pick up a forkfull of loose hay and hold it above your head it kind of resembles a jellyfish, if you will, with the top part rounded and the loose hay ends hanging down. The secret to building a stack is to position each forkfull of hay so that the rounded part is toward the outside of the stack and the loose ends stream inward.

Very good description,. I was looking for a way to explain that to people who had never touched a pitch fork and that is much better then any I could bring to mind.

 

[IgroRockwell]

Thanks. When I re-read the original post I realized that he was looking for a waterproof stacking method. We always covered our stacks, at least the tops of them, with some canvas or plastic. When the cheap tarps began to arrive from Asia we used a lot of those. I don't know how to waterproof a stack other than maybe binding all of the hay into sheaves and stacking them like thatch. The Amish around here still make sheaves with their grains and arrange them into stooks or shocks (not sure which word other areas use) like a teepee. Then when it rains the water tends to run down the outside of the standing sheaves. There is still some loss, but not much.

The other thing that I want to point out is that when a stack is built the way we used to do it the stack ended up having rather dense walls. You couldn't just drive a pitchfork into it and pull out a forkfull, you had to pitch it down from the top. There was usually a ladder handy the haystacks.

 

[Egon]

Thanks. When I re-read the original post I realized that he was looking for a waterproof stacking method. We always covered our stacks, at least the tops of them, with some canvas or plastic. When the cheap tarps began to arrive from Asia we used a lot of those. I don't know how to waterproof a stack other than maybe binding all of the hay into sheaves and stacking them like thatch. The Amish around here still make sheaves with their grains and arrange them into stooks or shocks (not sure which word other areas use) like a teepee. Then when it rains the water tends to run down the outside of the standing sheaves. There is still some loss, but not much.

The other thing that I want to point out is that when a stack is built the way we used to do it the stack ended up having rather dense walls. You couldn't just drive a pitchfork into it and pull out a forkfull, you had to pitch it down from the top. There was usually a ladder handy the haystacks.

There was also a knife one stepped on to cut the hay in the stack. Made the fork work much simpler and left a clean cut edge to the stack
.

 

[mojoinco]

Does that cutter have a large saw tooth edge (like the blades on a sickle bar mower)?
Do you step on it like you would with a shovel or dirt fork?

I have something like that my wife bought me somewhere. I'll have to go take a picture and post it. I thought it was a corn stock cutter (I can't remember why I thought that -- probably due to the large teeth).

Ok, Googled 'antique hay cutter': I found the tool I have.
reclaimed items such as lighting fixtures, fenders, pulleys, hardware
Hay Cutter

I might have used this a few months ago, if I had known what it was for. Some large bales got wet, needed to trim off the wet part.

 

[vtsnowedin]

The old hay knives I have seen are different from that shown. They are curved blade about two and a half feet long and taper from six inches wide to three inches in about four steps evenly spaced along the blade, thick at the heel narrow at the tip. There is a foot peg at the heel and a three foot handle that comes up and Ts like a garden spade. You would look like you were trying to ride a pogo stick using it.

 

[stuckmotor]

Egon,
Was mojoinco's hay cutter the same as what you used? Do you think either would work to split today's large round bales?

 

[stuckmotor]

The old hay knives I have seen are different from that shown. They are curved blade about two and a half feet long and taper from six inches wide to three inches in about four steps evenly spaced along the blade, thick at the heel narrow at the tip. There is a foot peg at the heel and a three foot handle that comes up and Ts like a garden spade. You would look like you were trying to ride a pogo stick using it.

Is this it and the same question as I asked egon. I occasionly need a way to split large round bales. Do you think one of those knives would work? hay knife - Dogpile Images Search

 

[Egon]

Egon,
Was mojoinco's hay cutter the same as what you used? Do you think either would work to split today's large round bales?

That one shown is essential the same. The one we had used three serrated sickle bar teeth as the cutters. Pretty sure it was made by a local blacksmith.

Don't know if it would cut round bales but suspect it might???



One of Today's Round Bale Cutters.

 

[vtsnowedin]

I've never used one but I imagine it would depend on how sharp it was and how strong you are. Wouldn't a chain saw with food grade bar oil work just fine?

 

[3v0]

Putting it up loose

This is a good and inexpensive system if you do not have to move the haystacks. A special truck was employed to do the moving.

We used a sweep (hay basket) on an F1 loader which was old 40 years ago. The F1 had the bucket tilt cylinder mounted behind the driver which connected to the basket with a cable. This let the sweep teeth float over the ground which broke a lot fewer teeth. We used this to buck the hay into small piles.

My father used a modern loader with a grapple fork to pickup the piles and dump them into to stack frame. The stack frame was a form for the stack, a simple metal frame with one side that opened and skids on the bottom. When available kids too young to run a tractor were used to pack the hay down.

A dump rake was used to clean up any bits left behind.

Using the stack frame made for more uniform stacks, it and a loader with a sweep are all you really need to make nice stacks If you take care when topping then they do ok without tarping. We never did but then we made a lot of hay. You may want to.

 

[Egon]

Re: Putting it up loose

That is the way my Dad worked his hay towards the end. Got a neighbour with a stack mover to place the stacks in the feedlot. Then there was a movable Stantioned type fence that allowed the cattle to feed. Pretty simple machinery and low manpower:thumbsup:

 

[stuckmotor]

Egon and Vtsnowedin,
Thanks. I might try to make a hay knife for round bales. A chainsaw might work but, I don't like the idea of having a hot exaust so close to a bale of hay.

 

[stuckmotor]

Re: Putting it up loose

Could a haysweep on a modern loader be used to take a layer off of a stack at a time and feed it?

 

[3v0]

Re: Putting it up loose

Could a haysweep on a modern loader be used to take a layer off of a stack at a time and feed it?

I doubt the teeth on a hay sweep are strong enough after the hay has settled.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Egon and Vtsnowedin,
Thanks. I might try to make a hay knife for round bales. A chainsaw might work but, I don't like the idea of having a hot exaust so close to a bale of hay.

Today I'd make it pretty big and mount it to the side of my loader bucket and let the loaders hydraulics do the work.