hay tarp suggestions?

[bazman82]

Hey guys, I'm using more round bales for horses now and I'll be needing to pick up some tarps to cover them. I do single rows stacked on tires (the farm used to be an old junkyard). I would like to buy just a few in 30' lengths but unsure if 8oz tarps would be heavy enough or too much. Right now, tarpswholesaler seems to have the best selection but its surprisingly hard to find hay tarps for just single rows. Any suggestions? I make 4.5' x 5' bales.

 

[DJ54]

Try one of your local outdoor advertisiing companies. Billboard signs anymore around here are made of tarp like material. When they take them down, fold them up and take back to the shop. Our local company gives them away, I suppose to keep from paying a disposal fee. On the back side, they are black, I suppose to make the advertisement stand out. They are stitched around the borders, and come in various sizes. Some 20 long, some 40' long. I think height is 12'-14'.

Amish get most of them to make tarps. They buy the eyelet kits, and put them in at whatever spacing they need. Don't know how you plan to hold the tarps down, but just a suggestion on the eyelet kits.

I got 6 or 7 a few years back to pile industrial steam coal on, and cover it up. It was on there for 3 years, and held up well enough, I saved the one's on top. The others were pretty grungy from the coal dust, so went to the burn pile.

 

[5030]

Post number 2 is what I used to do as well, but be apprised, tarped rounds thend to sweat and you will have quite a bit of material loss. Horses don't like nasty hay.

 

[oosik]

Most of the farmers around here are using tarps like are used on the cross-country semi trucks. Really heavy and held down with those twist-in ground stakes. However - it would appear that tarping is on the wane. Tarping mostly for square bales. Covered storage or individual nylon wrap for round bales.

 

[Hay Dude]

Never had luck tarping bales. They would mold under the tarp because the tarp holds in the moisture from the ground below and the moisture the bales give off while sweating.
Instead, I put them on plastic pallets and rely on the net wrap to shed water. Of course, theres no option when you dont have inside storage, you gotta do what works best.
After several rains, I have found the outer 1 inch may be spoiled, but the rest looks pretty good. If I tarp them, it seems to create even more spoilage.

I take the very best bales and store them inside. The rest are left outside and sold as lower quality hay.

Your results may vary

 

[bazman82]

So i've seen a site that sells the vinyl billboards to specific sizes. I'd rather not go that route and have to spend the time to put the eyelets in. I would be using tires and hay string to hold them down. I have hundreds of them...if anyone in the WNY area needs some and are not that far from me I would be more than willing to bring a dump trailer load free of charge!!

I never noticed the bales sweating under the tarp I used last year. It was just a cheap tarp I had laying around and tried it out. Actually kept the bales looking pretty decent but was way to big. I believe it was a 20x30 tarp. The bales also don't set on the ground either. I use the bigger tires that I have on hand and place the bales on them. If sweating would be a big issue, I could try salting them like I do the square bales but I'm not sure how effective that would be considering their size difference.

 

[5030]

When I ran squares, I never salted them. No need. I bailed below 15%RM always. Rounds themselves don't sweat (unless you bale with high moisture. What happens is the temperature change from day time (warm) to night time (cool) causes moisture to condense on the underside of the tarp and drip on the bales causing mold to form. I gave up on that method years ago. I have a very large Clearspan storage building I store mine in. I store them vertically, on end, 3-4 high with the bottom bale on a plastic shipping skid. That way, they stay out of the weather, don't bleach out and retain their round shape and don't get oval. I sell them so my customers want round bales, not flat oval ones.

 

[5030]

Never had luck tarping bales. They would mold under the tarp because the tarp holds in the moisture from the ground below and the moisture the bales give off while sweating.
Instead, I put them on plastic pallets and rely on the net wrap to shed water. Of course, theres no option when you dont have inside storage, you gotta do what works best.
After several rains, I have found the outer 1 inch may be spoiled, but the rest looks pretty good. If I tarp them, it seems to create even more spoilage.

I take the very best bales and store them inside. The rest are left outside and sold as lower quality hay.

Your results may vary

EXACTLY. Net makes a great roof with 2 wraps on a bale. Been my experience as well. Tarps do not breathe so the dew and condensation drips on them and basically ruins the bales after a time.

Cattle aren't that particular but nags are. I have a genuine dislike for horsey people anyway. Dealt with them for years but no more. All cattle people now.

 

[5030]

To the OP... You can listen to experience or wing it and find out the hard way. One thing about crappy bales, they stink when roasted and you'll be roasting quite a few.:laughing:

 

[bazman82]

Well i would love to put a building out in the one field for both hay and horse arena but the funds dont allow for that at the moment. We do make the bales tight and I string them close together so the runoff is pretty decent. Usually by Feb. just a few inches of the outter layer is crap and the rest is good. I will still give the tarps a try to cover about 40 or 50 bales and see how it goes. Its all I have as an option right now.

 

[Hay Dude]

Well i would love to put a building out in the one field for both hay and horse arena but the funds dont allow for that at the moment. We do make the bales tight and I string them close together so the runoff is pretty decent. Usually by Feb. just a few inches of the outter layer is crap and the rest is good. I will still give the tarps a try to cover about 40 or 50 bales and see how it goes. Its all I have as an option right now.

Are you using net or string?

 

[bazman82]

Are you using net or string?

String. I have Gehl 1460 tdc, nothing fancy or new thats for sure.

 

[Hay Dude]

String. I have Gehl 1460 tdc, nothing fancy or new thats for sure.

I understand. “Hay don’t pay” is pretty much true. A net wrap baler would help you a lot, though.

 

[two_bit_score]

Hey guys, I'm using more round bales for horses now and I'll be needing to pick up some tarps to cover them. I do single rows stacked on tires (the farm used to be an old junkyard). I would like to buy just a few in 30' lengths but unsure if 8oz tarps would be heavy enough or too much. Right now, tarpswholesaler seems to have the best selection but its surprisingly hard to find hay tarps for just single rows. Any suggestions? I make 4.5' x 5' bales.

If you are serious about your hay you might want to consider building a hay barn. The smart kids at Texas A&M say a hay barn is the first AG building that will certainly pay for itself.

Hay bales are an investment worth protecting | AgriLife Today

INSIDE HAY STORAGE WOULD PAY FOR EAST TEXAS PRODUCERS | AgriLife Today


Definitely on the right track with stacking off the ground on tires and covering it but a Hay building would be a better investment.

>>"The same study showed that storing hay outside on pallets or tires brought the losses down to about 12 percent. Hay stored on pallets or tires and covered with a tarpaulin brought losses down to 7 percent. But hay stored on the ground (without pallets or tires) and covered, lost nearly 13 percent.

By far, the lowest losses occurred to hay stored inside barns or sheds — only about 3.5 percent. You say you don’t have enough barn space to store all your hay? Then building another barn, particularly a relatively inexpensive one such as a pole barn, might pay off, said Greg Clary, economist with Texas Cooperative Extension."<<

 

[Hay Dude]

If you are serious about your hay you might want to consider building a hay barn. The smart kids at Texas A&M say a hay barn is the first AG building that will certainly pay for itself.

Hay bales are an investment worth protecting | AgriLife Today

INSIDE HAY STORAGE WOULD PAY FOR EAST TEXAS PRODUCERS | AgriLife Today


Definitely on the right track with stacking off the ground on tires and covering it but a Hay building would be a better investment.

>>"The same study showed that storing hay outside on pallets or tires brought the losses down to about 12 percent. Hay stored on pallets or tires and covered with a tarpaulin brought losses down to 7 percent. But hay stored on the ground (without pallets or tires) and covered, lost nearly 13 percent.

By far, the lowest losses occurred to hay stored inside barns or sheds — only about 3.5 percent. You say you don’t have enough barn space to store all your hay? Then building another barn, particularly a relatively inexpensive one such as a pole barn, might pay off, said Greg Clary, economist with Texas Cooperative Extension."<<

You can also benefit from partial indoor equipment storage. I have a tractor shed and my equipment looks much better for it. It retains its value and is a welcome sight in bad weather. Keep snowplows in it too.
I have found some local property owners who have unused hay barns and I farm their properties for them. I have been able to offer to fix them up a little in return for storing 50-100 bales in them.

 

[bazman82]

As much as I would love to put a building up for hay storage, its just not in the cards for money reasons. Even if i buy new tarps every year, itll only cost me about 200 bucks at the most. So 200 bucks a year and about an hour or 2 more of my time per year is way cheaper than a building. I would also have to sacrifice one of my smaller hay fields to build on. Now, we will most likely have an arena built for the horses on that field in the next 10 years or so. At that time, i will work into that building an open covered end for hay storage and equip storage. I only do about 120 - 150 rounds a year and about 900 small squares a year and we use mostly all of it ourselves.

 

[Hay Dude]

As much as I would love to put a building up for hay storage, its just not in the cards for money reasons. Even if i buy new tarps every year, itll only cost me about 200 bucks at the most. So 200 bucks a year and about an hour or 2 more of my time per year is way cheaper than a building. I would also have to sacrifice one of my smaller hay fields to build on. Now, we will most likely have an arena built for the horses on that field in the next 10 years or so. At that time, i will work into that building an open covered end for hay storage and equip storage. I only do about 120 - 150 rounds a year and about 900 small squares a year and we use mostly all of it ourselves.

I see you live in Lockport NY. That’s a damp area, near lakes and up north with lots of snow.
Another thing you can do is get yourself some big stone, like 3 inch and spread it over a large enough area to assist in draining the bottoms of the bales.
Funny story: I store bales on a customers property alongside his stone driveway. After decades of snow plowing, some of the 3/4 inch stones are cast by my plow onto the lawn area alongside my driveway. It looks like nothing, because grass grows through them, but they make a BIG difference in the way the bottoms of the bales look.
You may be able to make a few calls to local excavators and paving contractors and let them know youll take any extra stone that they have left over from jobs they do.

 

[bazman82]

I see you live in Lockport NY. That痴 a damp area, near lakes and up north with lots of snow.
Another thing you can do is get yourself some big stone, like 3 inch and spread it over a large enough area to assist in draining the bottoms of the bales.
Funny story: I store bales on a customers property alongside his stone driveway. After decades of snow plowing, some of the 3/4 inch stones are cast by my plow onto the lawn area alongside my driveway. It looks like nothing, because grass grows through them, but they make a BIG difference in the way the bottoms of the bales look.
You may be able to make a few calls to local excavators and paving contractors and let them know youll take any extra stone that they have left over from jobs they do.

This is actually in part of my plans. I have been buying stone for our horse winter area to help make a base. We started a good chunk of it quite a few years ago and it worked out really well so we are doing it again this year. I wont get to the round bale area this year with stone since i already started placing them there but next year for sure. All I have for dirt to work with is clay and right now its been really dry so its hard to work with..

 

[shooterdon]

When I wanted "protected" storage for firewood and attachments, I looked at carports. They are quite reasonable in cost. IIRC a 20x20x9 was about $2000 installed and they are up in less than a day. I decided to go with covered IBC totes I can move around for the firewood.

 

[bazman82]

When I wanted "protected" storage for firewood and attachments, I looked at carports. They are quite reasonable in cost. IIRC a 20x20x9 was about $2000 installed and they are up in less than a day. I decided to go with covered IBC totes I can move around for the firewood.

My neighbor did this for her square bale storage. She bought lumber and built sides and ends on them as well. They actually look really good and I bet she only spent several hundred in lumber. She got 1 then a few laters got another 1.