wheat straw

I'd love to have a baler that re-bales into the mini-bales they sell at Walmart for $5 per bale.

I had a relative some 30 years ago made a scale model working square baler that ran off air, made a bale about a foot long. He’d take that thing to shows and fairs, set it up, make bales, price them at a quarter apiece and couldn’t sell them. On a bet, he raised the price to a dollar and couldn’t keep up with demand. At at 25 cents people didn’t see any value, most that bought them were using them for rabbit bedding.

some dude in PA is re-vamping full size New Holland balers into making them little bales, uses all New Holland parts. sells the balers, was always gonna buy one, but couldn't afford the shipping on it. said it would poop out 32 little bales a minute at normal baling speeds. if I remember right...the bale sizes were about 5x5x12 inches. I thought it would be great for the horse people.

shameless dude wrote: some dude in PA is re-vamping full size New Holland balers into making them little bales, uses all New Holland parts. sells the balers, was always gonna buy one, but couldn't afford the shipping on it. said it would poop out 32 little bales a minute at normal baling speeds. if I remember right...the bale sizes were about 5x5x12 inches. I thought it would be great for the horse people.

Dirt Farmer wrote: Guy around here makes bales about a third the size of regular bales and calls them she can bales. Horse folks love them cause "she can" pick them up and she can feed the horses.

shameless dude wrote: be great for the horse people because the little kids can carry and feed the horses with them and be able to carry them. great for hauling to shows, easier to keep track of how much feed goes along to shows, one bale can feed one horse each feeding or each day depending on the quantity fed. and be alot less messy. when I was hauling horses to shows I wish we would have had those size bales. and at home it would be easier for the kids to feed while mom and pop sat in the house drinking coffee! less confusion on the amount fed each time.

Well obviously we just totally disagree. I figure I was about 6 when I began feeding calves in the barn with “full size” square bales. There was a stack at the front of the barn, I used a hay hook to drag them down the alley, take the string off and kick it up to the animals. When the strings were too tight for me to slide off, I figured out how to take the hook and twist the string until it would break. No, at 6 by myself I didn’t carry a pocket knife.

The bales mentioned at a third size would be PLENTY small for a kid to manage. The size you describe sound ridiculously small. Making, storing, transporting, using would all be a PITA in my opinion.

Yep, my opinion. Like I said, we just completely disagree. It happens.