How much does a bale of silage cost?

Silverdream · 18-01-2023 9:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120126054#Comment_120126054

idk why they should carry the costs for months. I'm just saying why bother having to buy a few rolls of plastic when the contractor will get it at a better price plus you haven't to be dealing with the half rolls left over.

Bass Reeves · 18-01-2023 9:14pm

Always stack on the flat three rows high. I have fed over 100 bales this year 70 were summer' 21 second cut.I have not got 4 barrows of waste. Use a Flemming roller hydraulic handler to stack. Biggest thing is to go up.on the stack 1-2 times during the summer to patch the bales. Side effects of crows and feeding ration outside during the summer for finishing

mr.stonewall · 18-01-2023 9:31pm

Around here everyone supplies there own. Contractor carries a few rolls, to cover the small cash jobs and the time that plastic runs out. Charges for this accordingly

Used to spend years working with a contractor and what used to drive me spare was when guys used to bring out a heap of leftover rolls with plastic only suitable for wrapping 1 or 2 bales. Up and down changing and swapping them. Just get rid of one pair, the next time bales are being done

Next was the lads that fecked the rolls of plastics in a corner or on a heap of small stone. The plastic would be tearing for ages due to the pin holes as it stretched. The similar folks would let the cardboard core sit in water for the winter and then expect it to work on the wrapper despite the cardboard core having collapsed. Try it with a fusion sometime

And then the farmer who is gone AWOL and you are trying to get plastic to field or yard, always happened in a short weather window with rain on the way.

Something strange was the above types always had slatted tanks that were a pig to empty and a fierce gra for baling twine on gates and pallets for fencing

Bass Reeves · 18-01-2023 9:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120126394#Comment_120126394

What pisses me off is the contractor that will not finish off the couple of rolls with anything from 4-15+ bales on them but instead starts with two full rolls. The reason there is bits of rolls is that someone was unwilling to finish them.at the start of the next baling session.

6 rolls with 3-5 bales each have about 100 euro worth of plastic on them. Beef is a small margin game. If you saw 70-80 euro on the ground would you pick it up

mr.stonewall · 19-01-2023 8:02am

Used to use up the end of the last pair of rolls. Any contractor refusing to start with the last pair of rolls of wra, yo need to have a chat. Most of the time it's the farmer who has left them in a shed and refuses to bring them out until one day and bring out anything from 6-12 bits of rolls with small bits.

The amount of time that is wasted messing with damaged plastic can be huge in some places. I never had a problem using up anything from 2-4 old rolls first, but on the caveat that the were in usable condition

Motto @Bass Reeves is for all farmers is to store this plastic dry and off the ground, a bit a care shown with handling it

And most importantly, leave out one pair of used rolls, it's a bit of give and take on both sides.

weatherbyfoxer · 19-01-2023 9:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120126462#Comment_120126462

What pisses a contractor off is when the farmer comes running across the field looking for you to use a bit of a roll he found in the back of the hayshed that rats have been using as a bypass for the previous 9 months then has the neck to complain "your up and down out of the cab alot rooting at that wrapper!' When the roll keeps breaking

davidk1394 · 19-01-2023 9:25am

@DBK1 I agree with your view on the soft hands. Last year, the sides of nearly every bale were rotten. An air pocket formed after using the soft hands, I got a contractor to bring in the bales with a Keltec and I went back to the standard bale handler and noticed a huge reduction in mould on bales.

I actually still use the soft hands to bed sheds and feed out bales. It's actually a great job.

@mr.stonewall nothing worse than a 3/4 full roll and the middle of the cardboard tube out of shape or the plastic full of holes because it was fùcked into the back of a shed and forgotten about until the following summer. I could be up and down off the tractor 10 times trying to use those type rolls. Since I have a baler wrapper system it doesn't bother me too much because the baler is still working away, but if I had a fusion I'd leave the rolls there and explain why I did.

mr.stonewall · 19-01-2023 9:47am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120127748#Comment_120127748

I came across a fecked roll one year, didn't use it and explained why only to be treated next year with the same roll with a companion.

roosterman71 · 19-01-2023 10:45am

How do farmers end up with multiple rolls with only small amounts left? Are the contractors not using up the full rolls or what? We'd only have 1 roll partially used at any one time (old wrapper comes with just one roll dispenser). At the end of the wrapping that's left and then when they come again it's the first one to be used up.

893bet · 19-01-2023 10:57am

My experience is if the roll is less than half used the contractor will ignore it and pick the full roll over it.

Only chance of getting rid of partials is to put a few of them out when taking a smaller paddock

dohc turbo2 · 19-01-2023 11:02am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128044#Comment_120128044

Can't figure that one out either, no joke have feck all left over each year, what's it roughly,28 bales for 16 wraps and 20 ish for 24 wraps, I just leave the two last used and new box's, and contractor starts off with the two used ones next time, so I've just two part used the season

roosterman71 · 19-01-2023 12:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128093#Comment_120128093

Or have a word with the contractor. Tell them what to use first. You're in charge of what to use and when

Anto_Meath · 19-01-2023 1:05pm

@dohc turbo2 We would be the same, our contractor is a baler followed by wrapper, at the end of any visit there would be a part roll but that is the first roll to be used when he calls the next time, it has never had to be said to him its just understood. The boxes of plastic would be stacked just inside the gate with the partial roll on top. He will put the partial roll on the wrapper dispenser and then place a few more full rolls on the roll carries on the wrapper.

DBK1 · 19-01-2023 1:08pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120128766#Comment_120128766

That’d be the way we do it too. I’d generally always be baling but if I saw any of the wrapper drivers coming into the field and not using the half roll first I’d be pulling them up on it myself long before the farmer would ever get the chance to.

Cavanjack · 19-01-2023 3:17pm

what about lads dumping the empty tubes in the middle of the field 😡

Fine Day · 19-01-2023 5:58pm

Never noticed any problem with mould when using the soft hands. Not a fan with stacking bale's. I leave them on there ends and never have a problem. I have noticed with stacked bale's if the the silage is any way fresh the bale's go out of shape and it's a pain to get the plastic off then. Granted it takes up Abit of space alright when not stacked.

Bass Reeves · 19-01-2023 6:05pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130388#Comment_120130388

Not really an issue with them going out of shape even if they do it helps preservation. Trick is to have bales @40%DM or better. When you are feeding I use a two spike bale lifter. I always put it as near the bottom of the bale as possible. When at the feedface take the plastic off and unroll the net fast.

Fine Day · 19-01-2023 6:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130417#Comment_120130417

How does it help preservation. I would of said it reduced preservation. The bale loses shape and the plastic may become stretched etc thus reducing it's tightness around the bale. That would be my view anyways from what I have seen over the years.

Bass Reeves · 19-01-2023 7:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130662#Comment_120130662

The bales squash into each other in the stack. The more bales sit into each other the less likely there will be damage to them. Any hole in the plastic will be sealed. You only ever end up with a small layer of bad silage on top row if that even happens. Less likelyhood of mould either

Fine Day · 19-01-2023 7:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130701#Comment_120130701

Not sure how that would work. I am gonna stay storing them on there ends and not stacked going forward as it works best for me.

DBK1 · 19-01-2023 8:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130760#Comment_120130760

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120130417#Comment_120130417

If stacked on their round then what Bass says is a great job. If stacked standing up like bean tins it’s a disaster as when they go out of shape the plastic will loosen and create air pockets.

I also don’t agree with the 40% dm comment, the only bales there’s ever waste on here is the dry ones. You need a certain amount of moisture for the silage to properly ferment and for it to keep then. I’d be saying 30-35% dm max is the sweet spot.