# help please - weight of an average bale of hay (small)



## birchave0 (21 January 2011)

we use haylage but are having a debate on how much hay in in the average small bale??  I don't know anyone who uses small bales, so anyone???

cheers ;o)


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## Jacobi (21 January 2011)

Can't speak for your balers over there, but in Western Canada our bales are generally 50-75 lb (22-35 kg). The heavier bales are often spoiled - baled with too high a moisture level, so one tends to be a bit wary of them. They're easy to pick out if you're loading a bunch of bales, you get a good feel for the weight.


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## Honey08 (21 January 2011)

They vary so much from each farmer that I don't think that there is such thing as an average really.

Haylage doesn't really have an average weight a bale unless it comes from a large professional producer and is aimed at the horse world..


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## martlin (21 January 2011)

Nowadays it varies loads, but the general rule of thumb should be 40-50 small bales to a tonne, so 20-25 kg per bale


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## birchave0 (21 January 2011)

thanks guys


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## c2b (21 January 2011)

The small bales I use, made on the farm where I keep my mare. Weigh between 30 and 40lb. Usually nearer the 40lb mark.


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## Spyda (21 January 2011)

I'm getting x3 7Kg nets from my small bales of soft meadow hay. So ours are 22Kg max. Pretty typical of an average small bale I'd say.


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## lilaclomax (21 January 2011)

22 - 24kg a bale 2011 
Last year our bales weighed 25 - 26kg a bale... makes a big difference over the winter!


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## FairyLights (21 January 2011)

I always say 50 small bales to the tonne. size can vary though,depending on how much screw you put on  the baler dependant on grass species and dryness. 
i reckon 50 bales is a good measure so if its £100 a tonne then its £2 a bale A big hesston bale is about 18-20 small bales a big round bale about 15-18 small bales.


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## lachlanandmarcus (21 January 2011)

According to the farmers forums they normally look to make small bales about 25 kg BUT lots of lady horse owners moan they are too heavy even when told they are better value than lighter ones. 

So lighter ones (say 15kg) may seem like a swizz but as long as they are priced accordingly (somewhat cheaper but not directly proportionately cos of the price of fuel for tractor, baling twine, effort of loading/unloading and storage etc, so will be a bit more than 3/5 of the cost).

Personally (we make our own hay for the sheep, made it for the first time last year), the first bales we made weighed about 5kg and the last ones about 25kg (we had got the hang of the baler twine tightening by then....:-O


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