Lets talk about stacking

Growing up, everything we put up was with a knee and a truck. My Grandpa taught me how to stitch together and stack hay so you didn't have to worry about anything falling over. He was strict on this because he had a good friend who was seriously injured from a stack falling on him.

 

When Stackwagons came out, he had a really hard time believing they would be used. They just didn't stack a 'stable haystack'. Well... they are still around, and towards the end of his life, after I'd left for college, he even hired one a time or two.

 

But... now, I'm looking at something for myself, and I guess I must be channeling my Grandpa. I see these accumulators, turning bales on their side, dropping them relatively loosely onto the ground, an 8 bale grapple grabbing them and putting them on a wagon to be taken off and stacked in the same manner, back in the shed. When I look at those stacks, I cringe. They look like they are ready to fall over at a moments notice. 

 

I think about stacking hay like that and my wife pulling down a bale and everything toppling down on her head. I just can't do it.

 

So, I've been thinking about what I will do for myself, and I'd like to talk about with 'YOU IN THE KNOW'. 

 

1. Side stacked bales vs flat stacked bales. We never had a bale on its side in our stacks. I know they can be picked up in larger sets in the field, thereby faster out of the field, but is that the only reason I see accumulators set up this way? It just seems like dominos... they would be more stable flat. 

 

2. Bales stacked without any cross tie bales. When I see some YouTube videos of guys stacking hay 20ft with big grapples and they are simply side by side by side stacked to the rafters, I wonder what is up? Is is just because ALL HAY will only be handled with a tractor and grapple, therefore the threat of catastrophe is lessened? Can't be crushed if on the tractor, kind of thing? 

 

 

3. Bales transported one atop the other without tie in. Reliance on straps to keep the load out of the passing Minivan's sunroof. 

 

I understand that my 'hay experience' is 30yrs out of date, but gravity and internal bleeding still works the same. 

 

What are people doing with their haystacks... and why??? 

Lets talk about stacking