baling straw and a combine ????

Anonymous-0 · May 2, 2010

Hey folks,
I've seen some combines spit out straw that was chopped in short pieces and was wondering if there was a setting to adjust what spits out or if it is chop or no chop...
And.... Has anyone baled the chopped stuff in small squares?
Reason I'm asking is I'm thinking about going to just straw bedding this coming winter and could save the expense of a bale shredder if I could just bale the short stuff to begin with.

Thanks, Dave

Michael Soldan · May 2, 2010

I always liked the chopped straw, it was easier to spread and it was far more absorbent. I had to get the guys to drop it because it wouldn't rake very well and a lot got lost. Not really lost, it went back to the land for compost. When they dropped it, I came right behind with the square baler and loaded it onto wagons. I even fed some of it when I was short feed and upped the corn and grain I gave the cows
Long unchopped straw seemed coarse and not very absorbent for bedding.

Anonymous-0 · May 2, 2010

I use sawdust from the local mill but can't always get it. Also, I have containers that hold about a cubic meter for the 3PH on the tractor that I fill and haul off. I've noticed that the ones that I fill at foaling time (straw bedding) start cooking right away andseem to compost a lot quicker than the sawdust.

Dave

Fordfarmer · May 2, 2010

Some (seems like most, these days) combines have choppers on the back. I've never baled straw that has gone through one of those. Rotary combines (Case/IH Axial Flows, NH Twin Rotors, etc) tend to chop/grind the straw pretty short even without a chopper on them. I have baled that a couple times (small squares). You do loose some. A lot if it ends up getting rained on so you have to tip it to dry.

showcrop · May 2, 2010

I saw on a video on U-tube where in Australia they pull a large square baler behind the combines and the straw goes right into them. Then a transporter comes and picks up the bales, and takes a load to the road where a forklift transfers them to a waiting road truck which takes them to the docks in Perth. Then they are loaded onto waiting ships and taken to Germany.

Fordfarmer · May 2, 2010

That wuold result in moldy straw-bricks here... allways needs a day or two to dry before we bale. But... we don't swath the grain, and we nearly allways have seeding growing with it - there's a little green in hte straw.

RayP(MI) · May 2, 2010

I do my oats thru a thrashing maching at local steam/old tractor show. Thrashers chop stuff pretty good. We go in and bale resulting straw stack with square baler. Produces good to fair, sometimes pretty loose bales. One guy has a JD 24WT baler that makes excellent bales. My NH268 tends to make looser bales. Biggest problem is that some oats go into piles, and get into the bales. That attracts mice to my barn. Saw some Amish that had a wooden rack of some sort attached to the intake on their baler. Had chute from thresher directed right into intake of baler. Thrashed and baled in one process. Enterprising bunch, the Amish.

If you could take belt off chopper, drop it in the stubble, then go in with rake and bale it you might get fairly good straw with minimum grain retained. That's how we used to do it. There will be some straw loss that way however.

Athol Carr · May 2, 2010

A large number of the German and French made combine harvesters, IH D8-62, F8-63 etc, had the option of a small square baler attachment located at the back where the straw-spreader was usually fitted to older US made combine harvesters. These made a slightly longer combine harvester but no extra wheels etc. were involved.

John Harmon · May 2, 2010

When my dad and eventually myself Dairy Farmed, Oat Straw was very important to our operations. Neither of us used a straw chopper on the combine and when done combining we clipped the stubble ,let it dry and then raked and baled some small bales and chopped a great lot with a Fox Chopper and put it into a Barn Mow which had only one purpose and that was to store our winter straw bedding in.That Barn on the bottom was our dry cow loafing shed.We moved bedding for the Stanchion barn in a big cart and bedded the milking herd in the stanchion barn all winter.Our calf Barn had a mow also and got it's share of chopped straw for the little guys bedding.The baled straw was held in reserve for what ever.

DickL · May 2, 2010

Also wheat straw that has been rained on a couple of times before baling it will sop up more liquid when used as bedding. I have both a spreader and a chopper that fits on the back of my Gleaner E's. I never used the chopper.

Russ from MN · May 2, 2010

On our JD combine in the 60's my dad used to tale the knives out of the chopper but let the straw go thru. This broke it up some but it was long enough the bales didn't fall apart.

Anonymous-0 · May 2, 2010

I have baled straw behind a rotory combine. It comes out chopped up and is very good for bedding. You need to handle the bales with care because the twine slips off the bales very easy. I baled it 2 days after being combined(darn city job)and stacked it the same day. My wife likes it for her chickens also. Bud

baling straw and a combine ????

Anonymous-0

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Michael Soldan

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Fordfarmer

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showcrop

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