16,000 sisal in roto baler
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Topic: 16,000 sisal in roto baler
Posted By: darrel in ND
Subject: 16,000 sisal in roto baler
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2017 at 10:23am
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I knocked down some oats to hay for the second time this year this last week. It actually produced more the second time than it did the first time. But, the point of the story, a friend decided that he'd take a bunch of it in roto bales, if I wanted to make them. Having no roto baler/binder twine on hand, and needing some fast, I tied a five gallon bucket on the side of the baler twine box, dropped in a ball of 16,000 sisal, and it worked every bit as good as the binder twine. After seeing that it worked, I called the pastor from our church to see if he wanted to make some roto bales for old time sake. He couldn't get there fast enough. He grew up on a farm in north eastern Nebraska, where they made up to as many as 10,000 roto bales a year. Well, I left him with two balls of the 16,000 twine, plenty of hay raked up and ready to go, and plenty of gas in the tractor and told him to go until he had enough, whether it was 10 bales or a thousand. Next time I heard from him, he was out of twine. I haven't counted up how many bales are out there, but man that roto baler can burn through a lot of twine in short order, and I guess I won't be messing with binder twine any more. Glad I don't have to pick em up out of the field. And I hope that their claim to fame of shedding water holds true, because they've gotten about an inch of rain on them now. Darrel |
Replies:
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2017 at 12:11pm
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Awesome! I'm sure others will be glad to hear that. I know I would if I had a Roto-Baler (Someday!) As to their ability to shed water, I wouldn't think it'd be much different than a big round baler.
Just curious...what tractor were you using? |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2017 at 12:42pm
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I have the D17 on it this year. The PD really works great for roto baling. Darrel |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2017 at 6:27pm
Bales shed water pretty good, but the string rots off real easy. I usedta take a 4 wheeler, wif a 4' snow plow on it, and roll the bakes, closer together, even if I couldn't get them picked up, all at once, the constant moving of them keeps the string from rotting, and makes it easier, to pick up later, cause the bales are closer together and you have less ground, to cover, when you do pick them up...
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Posted By: olivetroad
Date Posted: 16 Sep 2017 at 8:44pm
| My first job was following the rotobaler with a hay hook dragging the bales out of the terrace channels so they stay drier on the bottom. I remember some old magazine ads for the rotobaler that showed a kid on a minibike zipping down the rows bumping every bale to roll it over so the string would last longer. |
Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 7:42am
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I have always used the plastic 20,000/110 twine with my Roto-Balers. I made an extra can that holds 2 balls to bolt on beside the standard twine can. The knife has to be kept "razor sharp" for the plastic. ------------- If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere. Real pullers don't have speed limits. If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY |
Posted By: Gary
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 8:08am
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what is Sisal ! A plastic twine. http://www.aamstrand.com/sisal-twine.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.aamstrand.com/sisal-twine.html |
Posted By: Ky.Allis
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 12:31pm
| I've never been around roto balers but always wondered what are the dimensions (width,diameter,weight) of the bales? How do you handle/stack them (fingers under strings,hay hooks,bear hug)? And finally why would you bale with one instead of a good square baler (for fun/enjoyment?) |
Posted By: olivetroad
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 12:53pm
| If memory serves, they were about three ft wide, and 18 inches or so tall. We loved them because unlike a square baler, you didn't have to pick them up right away for fear of being rained on. We always used a hay hook in one hand, and a glove on the other. Swing the hook down on the far end, lean down and grab the other end, and swing up onto the wagon, with a bump froM your knee if needed. Or you could reach put with the hook and stab in the middle and pick up if you had enough horsepower to do so. Dad always kept the tension band pretty loose, so they weren't real heavy. Life is short enough... |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 1:09pm
| They are about 3 feet wide, 16 to 20 inches in diameter, and around 35 to 40 pounds. How to handle em....? Well, I don't, but most people use a pitch fork. If I did handle em, I would use hay hooks. To stack them, just make a pyramid. I use it instead of a square baler so they can sit in the field and get weathered on without ruining them, and also I do it for shear enjoyment. Darrel |
Posted By: Smiling John
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 1:33pm
| There were rotobale loaders that you pilled by hitting them to a drawbar on the sid of a wagon or truck. you drove along and when the bale enter a guide on the bale loader it tripped a mechanism that activated sn arm that clamped the bale and the arm swung up and the end of its travel released the bale. You didn't need to align the bales before hand because as you drove along the guide into the bale loader could be used to align the bale. They worked well and saved a lot of work. The power for the arm was from the drive wheel on the bleeding loader. There was also another type that was basically a small elevator that got pulled along beside the wagon or truck. I preferred the first one I described |
Posted By: olivetroad
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 3:23pm
| We used a loader like the first one you describe. It was a Snowco brand and worked great. We had a 1967 Ford truck and we bolted a grader blade to the frame so it stuck out the side for a hitch. I bruised my shins several times walking into that hitch in the dark. We used it about 15 years ago the last time my uncle baled up some rotobales. Its sitting in the shed waiting to go again.... |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 6:18pm
| John, there is a bale loader like the first one you described for sale not too far from me. I have a hard time imagining how they work, but maybe I should go buy it. It's cheap enough, and sounds like it works alright. darrel |
Posted By: DiyDave
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 6:41pm
I always enjoyed baling korean lespedeza, with the baler I had. It was what I call cow calling hay. Them buggers could smell that a mile away. Could bring 'em out'n a cornfield, in the middle of July... When handlin by hand, use 2 hay hooks, one in each hand...
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Ky.Allis wrote:Posted By: caledonian
Date Posted: 17 Sep 2017 at 7:17pm
| D17 & POWER DIRECTER worked great on a ROTO BALER. |