BIG roll of hay~ maintenance so it won't rot?

Cheryl aka JM · #1 04/27/08, 08:01 AM

Last fall my nieghbor mowed and bailed my front pasture for hay. This year I was buying some bales of hay for the floor in my turkey house and my nieghbor was nice enough to give me one of the big rolls so I wouldn't have to buy it. I didn't ask for one~ I thought he needed it for his cows and he did all the work~ but he was nice enough to give me one. So now I have this HUGE roll of hay~ but I can't use all of it at once. I'd like to use some of it and keep the rest from rotting until I need more of it. I don't have a building to store it in~ right now it's just sitting in the yard~ and I can't move it unless I ask the nieghbor to come back and move it for me). I could cover it with a tarp~ but I really don't know if I need to or not ~ the nieghbor did not have them covered all winter~ but he was using them to feed his cows while I'm using it to keep wind and rain from creeping under the sides of fort turkey.

Will it be okay if I cut the strings and take some of the hay off of it~ is it heavy enough not to just blow all over the property? Or should I go ahead and cover it with a tarp when I cut the strings?

What is the proper care and maintenance of a monster huge roll of hay?
Thanks!

Beeman · #2 04/27/08, 08:54 AM

I guess the best would be to place it on a pallet and cover it with a tarp. It will be hard to take hay from it with the strings cut as it is probably rolled very tightly. For your use sitting it on a pallet with a flat side down would allow you to unroll it a little at a time. Otherwise you will have to either push it to unroll it or cut it with a saw if it's tight.

CIW · #3 04/27/08, 10:18 AM

I tip them over on their side, onto a pallet. You can unroll it around the bale as you need it. They tip over pretty easily before you cut the strings. If you can't do it, pound a heavy rod in the bale, down low, on the away side. Tie a rope to the rod and throw it over the top and tie it to a vehicle. Make sure you put your pallet on the near side to tip it onto. Pull it over onto the pallet.
Put a tarp over it. Using the strings that you cut off the bale, hang 4 tires over the bale in a cross and put one on top. Maybe tie a string around the bottom.
This should stand the hardest blow.

michiganfarmer · #4 04/28/08, 08:04 AM

Put it on a pallet, and cover it. It will last many years.