HOW TO STACK BALED HAY; ADVICE GIVEN ON SEASONAL WORK

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 34, 18 December 1950, Page 6

HOW TO STACK BALED HAY; ADVICE GIVEN ON SEASONAL WORK

(By E. R. Marryatt ,Fields Instructor, Whakatane)

Rectangular Bales

When stacking rectangular baled hay in the open the following points should be remembered: — (a) Elevated and well-drained ground is desirable, and a level foundation is essential.

(b) Slight tilting inwards of the outside bales in the bottom tier by careful packing with loose hay helps to secure stability and to maintain a sound, tight stack. Time spent on doing this well is time well spent. (c) Siting the stack end-on to the prevailing ’rain presents the least surface to the most damaging weather.

(d) All bales which will have a side, exposed to the weather should be placed so that the exposed hay ends in that side are pointing downwards to act as thatch and turn Water and NOT upwards so that the bale will take water. The exposed side should be the side opposite to the “cut” side and examination will show which is the right way up when the bale is placed on a wide side. Many bales in the outside walls of stacks have hitherto been placed upside down or with the “cut” .side out and so have encouraged penetration of rain. (e) Better sides and safer corners will be built if only the best bales of even size and shape are used in these parts of the stack. (f) There should be no protrusive or recessive bales in the sides and ends of a stack if good protection from the weather is to be had, and this can be achieved in some designs only by finishing building each tier after the first at some place other than the ends. If the last one or two bales are too big for the gaps left for them they should be omitted from the tier.

(g) A rain-proof roof is essential. Good methods are to use corrugated iron or aluminium on a lean-to roof gunning the length of the stack and with the higher end towards the prevailing rain so that the run-off will not be blown into the bales of the lower end, or else to build a stack with eaves and a ridged roof and cover with loose hay and a treated sack cover or a tarpaulin. Rolled Bales The stacking of rolled bales is a great deal simpler but may present difficulties if never done before. The following method is satisfactory:— The stack can be made any length and should be two or three bales wide with these bales placed end to end. Two or three stayed posts or poles are necessary at each end to prevent spreading of the stack beyond . the determined length. Build, tier upon tier until high enough and then vee-off by reducing the width from three bales to two and then from two to one and finally cover with loose hay, rake, and secure with netting or a waterproof cover. Designs For Tiers

An article on methods of stacking baled hay appeared in the Jourpal of Agriculture, for December, 1946, but the designs given there are not entirely satisfactory through a weakness in the interlocking of the corners and publication of improved designs is long overdue. I expect an article on the “Addison” method of stacking baled hay to appear in an early issue of the Journal, perhaps this month’s, and when the “Haymaking” bulletin is rewritten, care will be taken to discuss this important subject fully. For the benefit of those who want a good method now, however, here is a method which is easy to remember an very efficient. It is not possible to reproduce diagrams of the designs in this newspaper but they can be obtained from me on application. Designs Described

Almost all bales are stacked on their narrow edge in this method and only two simple designs are used for tiers up to the eaves. These two designs alternate. The first is eight rows of nine bales laid lengthwise. This is also the third and fifth tier. The second (and fourth tier) is three rows of 24 bales laid side by side. The sixth or eaves tier, is made wider by introducing into the three by 24 design a row of nine bales laid end to end. This extra row should be inside the design and not on an outer edge. The seventh tier is similar .to the first tier but reduced by one row of nine bales, that is to say, it consists of seven rows of nine bales laid end to end. The eighth tier is similar to the second but reduced by one row of 24 bales, that is to say, it Consists of two rows of 24 bales laid side by side. The ninth tier is simply nine bales laid end to end alongside 24 bales side by side. The tenth is two rows of nine bales laid on a wide side and the ridge row consists of nine bales laid on a narrow side on top of the tenth tier. -You can easily sketch an end view of this stack if you will follow these directions. Start at the bot-

tom of the stack and sketch the ends of eight bales each resting on a narrow side. Above these sketch the sides of three bales end to end on narrow sides. These three exactly equal the width of the eight bales below. Alternate these sketches for the first five tier ends. Then from left to right sketch a side of a bale, an end, and two more sides taking care to protrude the extremities beyond the stack sides by half a bale width. Then seven ends should be fitted in for the next tier and taking care tto begin vee-ing off the top of the stack. Above this sketch two bales on their sides, and above them one end and one side. Then come two ends but this time the bales are resting on wide sides. Above them is one bale end on its narrow side. Finishing The Stack

The stack is covered with loose hay so that it droops over the eaves and so to some extent protects the exposed twine in the walls of the stack. To do this battens are placed under the outside rows of bales in the seventh tier which is the one above the eaves tier. The battens project about 18 inches beyond the eaves and a 9-inch board is placed on the top of the projecting battens. This forms a platform about two feet wide which is ample to support the first lot of loose hay and overcomes the tendency of the hay to slip. Each successive row of loose hay is well tramped until finally the cap is covered. The hay is held in position by wires or wirenetting or by a waterproof cover, the battens are removed, the boards fall to the ground, and the hay overhangs the eaves diverting water away from the sides of the stack. Proven Value Stacks built and covered in this way have stood for two winters with little waste and only an occasional broken twine. The weak parts of the stack are the ends and particularly the weather end. This is common to all stacks of baled hay, however, and is difficult to overcome. If trees can be made use of in siting the stack this difficulty is sometimes circumvented. The stack readily divides into three sections which should be fed out one at a time.