Hay Customers?

[Hayboy83]

@Holycow- Your right, humans can adapt. It might take a little while (and a couple of layers of clothes) but living in the cold might not be that bad.

As far as using a meter or not, I wouldn't consider using one a disadvantage. To me it's an extra tool. Also, if you don't use one and your still putting out good bales than that's great. Y'all obviously have a lot more experience and I'm gonna take both of y'alls methods with me to the field. Hope y'all have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

 

[holeycow]

Yes you are right. The moisture meter is a tool. An instrument among a sea of senses and good sense.

And yes TxJim, I do have the luxury of attempting perfect timing. And you do not. I understand that. I also see that being able to show a customer that the moisture is too high with an instrument test might come in handy at times. But please don't for a minute think I'm guessing on my stuff. That is ridiculous at this point. I take calculated risks at times just like you. And I know those times when I do that. I took one this season and lost cause I broke down for the first time in years and didn't get a piece of a field baled before a rain I knew was coming.

Good luck Hayboy!

 

[Tx Jim]

Actually testing the moisture of hay by weighting then heating in a microwave oven for a short period of time then reweighing sample then determining the moisture content lost is the most accurate method for determining moisture content.
G3151 Using a Microwave Oven to Determine Moisture in Forages | University of Missouri Extension
How to Measure Moisture Content in Forage with a Microwave - Hay/Grass - News | Agweb.com

 

[holeycow]

Obviously the method by which the instrument is calibrated/checked in the first place. Science rockets.

That's how we would determine moisture content of aggregates for concrete mixes for example. The ONLY way that is accurate. The innaccuracies are derived from the variability of the sample and how representative the particular sample is. More captain obvious.

Try to get a truly representative sample out of a hayfield. Very few fields are uniform enough in all ways to gain that sample (s). Much more difficult than a pile of rocks.

The moisture meter can be a valuable, but somewhat crude way of determining whether hay will keep or not, given all of the variables not taken into account by the meter and the fact that measuring devices like these rely on some form of indirect measurement method (meaning that the instrument does not dry down a sample to determine wet and dry weights).

Sheesh.

Jim, after all these years if you are relying solely on a plastic box to tell you if your hay is ready to go then I am simply dumbfounded. I think you need to elaborate. You know better.

And to say that "YOU ARE GUESSING" leads me to believe that YOU are the one that is guessing.

I had a discussion similar to this last winter with a fellow in his early 20's who has worked for a custom guy for a few years. Him telling me that I could not possibly make good hay without a moisture meter. He couldn't, so apparently it is impossible. This young guy is a workin' machine, so I'm sure he's pounding out the bales. Given the size of the operation, he may already have knocked down and picked up more pounds of hay than me. That means nothing in this case.

You, on the otherhand have been knocking out bales for 30 years. You know better than to trust the instrument wholeheartedly. You did not clarify that detail. People read this stuff to learn. I was trying to teach. You were trying to be the dominant male. Right.

I did a little googlin; no forage specialist or experienced hay man suggests to trust the meter as a final say. When in doubt, they say, trust your hands. Taking that one further by me and RedNeck, trust your nose (and I found that that was only mentioned in one of the 1/2 dozen articles; so much for specialists). When your nose (and your face, which is more sensitive than your hands) knows, you have reached a level of confidence that no plastic box will improve.

You took me to task by saying "my sandbox is bigger than yours". There was no need of that. You should have known by what I was saying in my first post that I had a clue.

I have far more clues than you know regarding instruments and such...

Your rebuttal, if any, will not be answered.

 

[houstonscott]

I buy these small alfalfa bales at TSC with three plastic ties that are wrapped in green plastic. They are beautiful. They come from Idaho. What type of baler produces these? HS.

 

[rustyshakelford]

When I lived in Oklahoma and worked on the farm with my grandpa we put up thousands of bales a year. He was old school but would occasionally use the moisture tester. Me, being the young thunder cat and from a generation that has a higher desire for technology didn't care for it. I like holycow knew the feel and trusted it more than the tester. Results were I put up better bales than my 70 yo grandpa much more consistently than when he used the tester. For me I would grab a handful and bend it. The weight and feel told me what I needed and it worked.

There's a bunch of ways to skin a cat but that is what working for me. We sold alfalfa for $3 per sq bale and grass for $2 I think. Prolly 2-3k big rd bales also

Brett

 

[Tx Jim]

Obviously the method by which the instrument is calibrated/checked in the first place. Science rockets.


Try to get a truly representative sample out of a hayfield. Very few fields are uniform enough in all ways to gain that sample (s). Much more difficult than a pile of rocks.

The moisture meter can be a valuable, but somewhat crude way of determining whether hay will keep or not, given all of the variables not taken into account by the meter and the fact that measuring devices like these rely on some form of indirect measurement method (meaning that the instrument does not dry down a sample to determine wet and dry weights).

Sheesh.

Jim, after all these years if you are relying solely on a plastic box to tell you if your hay is ready to go then I am simply dumbfounded. I think you need to elaborate. You know better.

And to say that "YOU ARE GUESSING" leads me to believe that YOU are the one that is guessing.


You, on the otherhand have been knocking out bales for 30 years. You know better than to trust the instrument wholeheartedly. You did not clarify that detail. People read this stuff to learn. I was trying to teach. You were trying to be the dominant male. Right.


You took me to task by saying "my sandbox is bigger than yours". There was no need of that. You should have known by what I was saying in my first post that I had a clue.

I have far more clues than you know regarding instruments and such...

Your rebuttal, if any, will not be answered.

You sure like to assume a lot. I never stated or implied I relied solely on a moisture tester to determine if hay was ready to bale or that knew your knowledge of instruments. I have no idea how you think I'm trying to be the dominant male????? I could really care less if you reply to this post or not.

 

[powerscol]

I buy these small alfalfa bales at TSC with three plastic ties that are wrapped in green plastic. They are beautiful. They come from Idaho. What type of baler produces these? HS.

As far as I know they are reprocessed by a special machine that takes the bales from the field and compresses them into smaller cubes that are then wrapped in plastic. Saw it once on one of the horse shows my wife watches.

 

[joeu235]

People argue about the dumbest ***** on the internet.
There is always more than one way to do things right.

 

[Tx Jim]

People argue about the dumbest ***** on the internet.
There is always more than one way to do things right.

There's a world of difference between arguing and STATING FACTS. :drink: