......
hay bails
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 7,404
Likes: 52
From: Wheatland, Mo
Now is that tied or not?And for those of you saying $4.50 a bale...for horse hay?
OK...Watch for a ticking package arriving on your door step. I pay $8.50 a bale for good horse hay...the small bales that is. The large squares are $185. 
Hell I pay $5.50 for STRAW bales for bedding! ugh.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 7,404
Likes: 52
From: Wheatland, Mo
Oh now don't blame it on the horses...... Sucker. Although I can't say much....I only buy from one guy now. More expensive but the big critters love his hay.
Elder User
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 578
Likes: 0
From: Massachusetts, USA
Billy
with a good size tool box you can load:
6 - 8 bales on the floor with tailgate down each consecutive row is good for 10 good size bales or 12 smaller ones( small bales can be heavy & good quality)
stack the first 10 facing each other five to a side( you could cheat and add 2-3 down the middle here)
the next row is a 4-2-4 pattern( or if you cheated a 5-2-5) then 10-12for the third row top it of with 6-8 to lock it in.
Strap it down and ride it home. Oh yeah I put the ratchets on the tie down in the middle of the bed and ratchet the load forward, the front tie down is just over side 2 side.
hope this helps
with a good size tool box you can load:
6 - 8 bales on the floor with tailgate down each consecutive row is good for 10 good size bales or 12 smaller ones( small bales can be heavy & good quality)
stack the first 10 facing each other five to a side( you could cheat and add 2-3 down the middle here)
the next row is a 4-2-4 pattern( or if you cheated a 5-2-5) then 10-12for the third row top it of with 6-8 to lock it in.
Strap it down and ride it home. Oh yeah I put the ratchets on the tie down in the middle of the bed and ratchet the load forward, the front tie down is just over side 2 side.
hope this helps
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 10,600
Likes: 3
From: Carhenge
Wow, the high end you're talking $260/ton. So far this year I've sold my 100lb bales for $7.50 each and the 80lb bales for $6.00, that equates to $150/ton, all to horse clients, but it's grass hay not alfalfa. The dairy quality alfalfa is in the $200/ton range here.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 7,404
Likes: 52
From: Wheatland, Mo
How far do you deliver?
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 7,404
Likes: 52
From: Wheatland, Mo
Billy
with a good size tool box you can load:
6 - 8 bales on the floor with tailgate down each consecutive row is good for 10 good size bales or 12 smaller ones( small bales can be heavy & good quality)
stack the first 10 facing each other five to a side( you could cheat and add 2-3 down the middle here)
the next row is a 4-2-4 pattern( or if you cheated a 5-2-5) then 10-12for the third row top it of with 6-8 to lock it in.
Strap it down and ride it home. Oh yeah I put the ratchets on the tie down in the middle of the bed and ratchet the load forward, the front tie down is just over side 2 side.
hope this helps
with a good size tool box you can load:
6 - 8 bales on the floor with tailgate down each consecutive row is good for 10 good size bales or 12 smaller ones( small bales can be heavy & good quality)
stack the first 10 facing each other five to a side( you could cheat and add 2-3 down the middle here)
the next row is a 4-2-4 pattern( or if you cheated a 5-2-5) then 10-12for the third row top it of with 6-8 to lock it in.
Strap it down and ride it home. Oh yeah I put the ratchets on the tie down in the middle of the bed and ratchet the load forward, the front tie down is just over side 2 side.
hope this helps
AH HA! I don't drop the tailgate....
I go 7 on the floor....8 cross ways on layer 2 then one row of 4 on the third row...no tie downs.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 10,600
Likes: 3
From: Carhenge
Most of your grass hay down there come out of the Walden/North Park area? That's where we always bought grass hay from when I lived in Laramie.
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 7,404
Likes: 52
From: Wheatland, Mo
Nope...I only go there if my regular supplier is out. My supplier grows his own...about 5 miles east of Kiowa.
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Junior User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
From: Marion Ohio
We have 36 horses and grow our own and buy some
We have been paying around 2.50-3.00 for timothy/alflafa mix around here. They are about 70lbs per bale. In our long bed we can get about 55 bales, just make sure you are locking them together by stacking long ways then side ways and you have your straps tight, if you are hauling them a long way, check the straps along the way to make sure they don't settle in and loosen up. Good Luck!
Senior User
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 325
Likes: 0
From: Wake Forest, NC
[quote=BillyBob69;6600192]SHOW ME!!!!! I would go more than 40 but I haven't figured out the stack pattern. Now is that tied or not?
Ok, Billybob69 with the tail gate down I can stack 12 per row @ 5 rows hanging off the back. And yes, as I said earlier that's secured. Now, since you also mentioned price the avg here for timothy/orchard is $7.50. Hope this helps!
Ok, Billybob69 with the tail gate down I can stack 12 per row @ 5 rows hanging off the back. And yes, as I said earlier that's secured. Now, since you also mentioned price the avg here for timothy/orchard is $7.50. Hope this helps!
Tuned
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 393
Likes: 0
From: Santa Clara, CA
San Francisco area..grass hay $17..about 100+lbs
We don't really buy that many 20+ (since the horses are on pellets) but usually we use a small trailer....so that we don't have to unload them, just cover them....
Lead Driver
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 5,946
Likes: 62
From: in the woods of MA
~50 lb square bales: 50-60 bales with no ropes in an 8 ft bed, short distance, no problem. 60-65 with some ropes for longer distances... Love those telescoping mirrors for hauling square bales - you can actually see behind you!
I would imagine you'll lose about 10 bales to the tool box...
bottom row: 4, 3 and 4, on edge
next row (x3): 3 down the middle, lengthwise, 5-6 on each side perpendicular to direction of travel (some rotation for interlocking)
last row: a few bales placed at a diagonal on top to "lock in" the lower rows
That's about... 50-60 bales. If you got good tight bales that stack nicely, no problem...
I would imagine you'll lose about 10 bales to the tool box...
bottom row: 4, 3 and 4, on edge
next row (x3): 3 down the middle, lengthwise, 5-6 on each side perpendicular to direction of travel (some rotation for interlocking)
last row: a few bales placed at a diagonal on top to "lock in" the lower rows
That's about... 50-60 bales. If you got good tight bales that stack nicely, no problem...
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 10,600
Likes: 3
From: Carhenge
Once again I am wondering about the regional differences of how we do things, and I've got some questions.
Fifty pound hay bales? You guys must tie bales shorter than we do out west, a 50 lb bale would be so soft it wouldn't hold up to any handling and certainly wouldn't run through a bale wagon. I've always set the baler to tie at 48"+/-, and if the bales aren't at least 70 lbs they are too soft to handle. So what length do you tie them at and how do you stack them, all by hand?
Fifty pound hay bales? You guys must tie bales shorter than we do out west, a 50 lb bale would be so soft it wouldn't hold up to any handling and certainly wouldn't run through a bale wagon. I've always set the baler to tie at 48"+/-, and if the bales aren't at least 70 lbs they are too soft to handle. So what length do you tie them at and how do you stack them, all by hand?