Cutting Round Bales - Chainsaw?

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

I have an old electric chainsaw gathering dust, and my plan is to modify the blade

A chainsaw does not have a "blade". It has a chain. That chain has teeth.

..., replace the oil with vegetable oil,

Bad idea. Vegetable oil will polymerize when exposed to oxygen. That means it will harden. Think tung oil on your chain. And in the oil passages. I once killed a chainsaw that way. :thumbdown:

Mineral oil won't do that, and won't poison your cattle.

 

[MF283]

Has anyone unrolled a bale, seen it done around these part's?

Ronnie

 

[Argonne]

But my suggestions work way more easily than trying to cut pieces of a bale off while it is lying on its side...

I don't have the option of transporting the bale to the livestock, I don't have the space to lay a round bale on its side and unwind it, and if I make this too difficult for my wife (whose physical capabilities you are unaware of), I will end up doing this myself every day all winter. So the plan is, for this one year we will use round bales, is for me to hack the bale up into usable chunks that she can easily handle, estimate the weight of, and feed her horses. It's not efficient, but that's the way it has to be this year. Next year I'll harvest my small squares and all will be right with the world.

 

[Argonne]

A chainsaw does not have a "blade". It has a chain. That chain has teeth.

Actually, they don't, they are called "top plates", if we are being hyper-technical.

 

[Brakeman]

Hey guys, when my Dad was still farming we used an electric chainsaw. We used the top Of the bar to cut the bale. This kept the hay from clogging up the saw as quick

 

[holeycow]

Well..um.. I might have to try that someday. The straw bale planting idea sounds interesting. Good luck with the greenhouse. It sounds like a ventilation issue?

Using the top of the bar is what that fellow did in the video in this thread.

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

Actually, they don't, they are called "top plates", if we are being hyper-technical.

The top plate is part of the tooth. This may help.

Guide Bar & Saw Chain Menu

 

[powerscol]

Has anyone unrolled a bale, seen it done around these part's?

Ronnie

On one of the Dr. Pole episodes a dairy farmer has an overhead lift on a track. They showed him with the bale hung on a spike through the center, unrolling it in front of the cows along a feeder. Looked like a simple set up. The spike looked like and oversized ice block tongs with the lifting eye.When you pick up it wood spear the center.

 

[MF283]

On one of the Dr. Pole episodes a dairy farmer has an overhead lift on a track. They showed him with the bale hung on a spike through the center, unrolling it in front of the cows along a feeder. Looked like a simple set up. The spike looked like and oversized ice block tongs with the lifting eye.When you pick up it wood spear the center.

I have one of those, it's just a decoration at the barn & something for folks to ask questions about. I told them i'd hang the kids up when they were younger & misbehaving with it

Ronnie

 

[TemporaryKubotaOwnerMark]

I told them i'd hang the kids up when they were younger & misbehaving with it

Hmmm. I think I need one of those....

 

[Jerry/MT]

Has anyone unrolled a bale, seen it done around these part's?

Ronnie

I use a bale spinner to feed the cows. It's basically a bale spear with a a hydraulic motor and chain to rotate the bale spear and spin the hay off in a wind row.

 

[Walkin Horse]

I used to cut bales all the time with my farm boss. I didn't even use oil, I just had a dedicated blade.
I also stand them up if I have one horse in the barn. Use a pitchfork and pull it off. It works better on a pallet.

 

[powerscol]

I don't have the option of transporting the bale to the livestock, I don't have the space to lay a round bale on its side and unwind it, and if I make this too difficult for my wife (whose physical capabilities you are unaware of), I will end up doing this myself every day all winter. So the plan is, for this one year we will use round bales, is for me to hack the bale up into usable chunks that she can easily handle, estimate the weight of, and feed her horses. It's not efficient, but that's the way it has to be this year. Next year I'll harvest my small squares and all will be right with the world.

Do you have a place where you could just lift it off the ground. Run a pipe through the center and use a simple chain hoist to lift it up. The lovely Boss Unit could then unroll like toilet paper. Just a thought.

A while back I watched a show where they unrolled round bales on a pair of rollers that fed it into a machine that made those hay/alfalfa cubes. Kind of a slick set up. Hope you solve the problem. For cutting I would recommend a sawzall with a long blade as I think someone mentioned - easier to use than a chain saw. You could probably cut strips she could handle, rather than the full roll width.

 

[Wagtail]

Do you have a place where you could just lift it off the ground. Run a pipe through the center and use a simple chain hoist to lift it up. The lovely Boss Unit could then unroll like toilet paper. Just a thought.

So, you like my suggestion from post #5.

Ta, Mate.

 

[powerscol]

So, you like my suggestion from post #5.

Ta, Mate.

Yep I had a senior moment . But instead of the posts he could just let it hang. Probably should post on the senior moment thread I cant remember after changing pages - I guess I can call it the page syndrome, like walking through doors and forgetting things.

But then again like my friend from Perth says - I am upside down and backwards. I just tell him to start driving on the correct (right) side of the road. The fun we all have here.

 

[mad_planter]

On our dairy farm my father used to cut them in half with a gas chainsaw, never had any issues.

 

[cmyoung2]

I have cut round bales with a chainsaw for a couple of reasons. As an ag agent, I would take hay samples for displays at fairs. Square was easy, round bales I would cut a section and retie to "resemble" a square. Second, Mom had horses, hay was scarce, I could find big round bales, so I put a bale on end, sawed it in quarters, Mom could feed just fine, she was 75 and very small. I did the same for my sheep and goats so I could use the hay racks-less waste. Just used my firewood saw, Husky 257 XP with a 20" bar. Didn't change anything. If I kept the RPM's up, usually had no problem with clogging. When I did, just took the cover off, cleaned it out, started again. It is really not a big deal. I also have set the bales on end and unwrapped them with a fork. Not hard, but Mom probably would not have enjoyed it much.