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hay strings (cut or uncut)

M

mb58

Member
Do you cut and remove the strings from your round bales when you feed them or leave them on?
We've tried both ways over the years. Of course we feed no more than ten to fifteen bales a week so that makes a big difference. If you are feeding a lot of round bales weekly it would be to time consuming to remove them all I'm sure.
 
Bought our 1st big round baler (Vermeer 605C) in mid??-'70s and sold the last of the cattle (and equipment) about 5-6 years ago. Averaged feeding about 100 ( 5 x 6 ) bales per week during the Winter. Have never removed the twine from a SINGLE big round bale.
 
Feed about 1,000 round bales a year. I remove the string all winter long. Makes a royal mess in the manure spreader if I don't. I can haul over 100 loads of manure out of the barnyard and only have a few strings to cut out of the beaters at the very end of the job.
 
I only have from 35 to 50 head of cattle each year so I make and feed small squares. I always cut the strings and remove them. I don't suppose it hurts the cows too much, but when I miss a string, the cows often partially eat them and then puke them back up.

I buy about 20 big rounds from my neighbor each year and feed them out individually in anticipation of feeding the cows if I have to be away from the farm during normal feeding time. I always remove as much of the string as I can, but usually miss some of it.

Tom in TN
 
I feed rounds to horses and always remove the strings. Left on, they could get wrapped around a foot and cause injury and definitely cause a mess if not removed.
 
I use poly twine on my haylage bales. I don't even cut it, I pull it all off the end of the bale and wrap the ball of plastic with it. It's time consuming, but it's impossible to get it all picked up otherwise. I'm worried about cows eating it and jamming up their intestines.

If I'm not wrapping the bales, I use sisal twine and those sit outside, so there's no cutting necessary there either since it's already rotted pretty good. If I'm unrolling the bale in pasture I don't even pull them off, if I'm feeding in the yard, I pull them just to keep my spreader beater from getting jammed up with them in the spring.
 
Interesting question and from what I've observed it depends on where in the country someone is from and what animals they are feeding to. I sell hay all over and it always amazes to discuss strings with the locals.

Generally, cows getting hay in the east and southeast get sisal twines left on the bales. Net wrap and plastic twine is considered undesirable. Ive got locals who wont buy from me unless its sisal twines. Horses usually get the strings cut and removed regardless.

West and midwest, strings removed regardless of species. Id suspect its related to rainfall. Usually within 30 days treated or untreated sisal twines here have lost all integrity.

For me, plastic twines I cut and pull, sisal stays on and goes right in the ring. Doesnt matter if its horses or cows. Only problem Ive ever had was with plastic that got by me. Had a foot wrap with a short piece on a cow that I had to cut out after it got nasty infected. Thats over a 26 year period of feeding around a thousand rolls a year. As to customer experiences, Ive never heard a documented case of a problem with sisal left on. Lots of anectdotal and friend of a friend but not direct this happened to me.
 
Most of our hay is put up using net wrap but what little plastic twine we have is ALWAYS removed before being fed.

I got some rounds from a neighbor last year and he must have had problemswth the tie mechanism ecause i had piece of small plastic twine through out the bales. I tried to pick it all up but come Spring I found all the little balled up pieces that the cows had eaten and brought back up.

I really like the net wrapped bales becaue they are easier to remove in freezing weather than frozen strings and the bales hold together better.

I"m getting off topic but we found that laying the net wrapped bales on the ground in rows has less loss that stacking them two high in a "T" shaped formation. The water runs down the side of the upper bale saying attached to the bale and gets into the bottom bake thats standing on end and ruins the hay. Not so with twine wrapped baled. The surface is so rough on the twine wrapped bale that the water does not stay attached to the bale like it does on the net wrapped bale and drips off the side. i ruined about a dozen bales that way last year, learning my lesson the hard way.
 
Twine always comes off here. All of our round bales are netwrapped and that comes off too. If you leave twine on, it's only a matter of time till it's in bearings or caught in plows, discs, mowers, manure spreaders, etc... Also cows are real good at getting twine wrapped around their ear tags, and then stepping on the twine. Goodbye ear tag.
David
 
off definitly,ive had two known cow deaths caused by the stupid things eating enough it kills them. Wads up in their stomach. I dont have a clue as to why they eat it,(sort o like the rat and wire thing),but the ignorant things will sometimes and it will kill them. If i get two years or more invested in one, i hate to say they died because i was too lazy to roll up the strings!
 
I take them off the ones that I feed in the feedlots on concrete (2 a day) and the ones that are stored inside that I feed out in the field to the cows (4 a day out there). The bales that I set off in the fencerows that I don't have room for in the barn,that I feed to the cows in the field,no. Probably should since they're not degraded totally by the time I haul the manure,but they're generally froze to the bales.
 

A few years ago one of my field owners was feeding round bales. I offered to spread the manure onto my field. I didn't know that they just left the twine. What a job to clean the spreader afterwards, and I declined to spread the manure again.
 
If you do ever get yourself in that situation again,I've found an angle grinder makes quick work of'em. Just make a pass,peel them off both ways,make another pass,peel more til you're down to the shaft.
 
We've had people get sloppy with twine, was poly at the time, just makes a mess.

I always wondered about horses ingesting sisal, but with the way I am about feed, twine gets tossed out, I keep a bunch hanging for other uses, even the scrap the knotter leaves on each knot,(small squares) I make sure to toss before feeding, and I instruct the help to do the same.

Our NI flail type spreader, gets sisal twine wrapped in it, but ironically, its never tangled, just pulls back off, same with long grasses and the like.
 
I bale graze, the twines stay on. The bales get spread out over an area and the cattle move to different bales as the bales are eaten up so they don't camp out in one spot for too long a time. With most of the hay gone where each bales sat, there really isn't much garbage left to hold the twine in. Usually quite easy to pick up.


Since I calf out in May, I have time while checking the cows, to pick the twines off the field.

The ear tag loss has been minimal since I switched brands. I find it much quicker to replace 2 or 3 tags than cut twines all evening long. I work til 5PM during the winter weekdays, just don't have enough time to cut twines and complete the other chores in what bit of evening I have left.
 
Ive fed round bales since the late 70,s also and never removed a string , all were sisal wrapped. all the round bales i bought that had plastic ? string was removed , that stuff is a real PIA. as far as square bales all string off , i kept for use later around the farm. i sold out all equipement and cattle in 2000. I dont miss the cattle at all! P.S. I unrolled round bales , and fed them in feeders never took strings off NO PROBLEMS just my .02cts
 
We probably fed 2 dozen per week before we switched to chop. Always removed the strings as much as possible. It's a lot less time consuming than unwinding twine from manure spreaders and disc mowers.

Rod
 
Never remove it... well almost never. We use sisal twine and by the time it gets stepped on, pushed around, rained on, scraped up and sits in a pile it's gone, gone gone. Never had it cause any trouble with the critters or the machinery. One less thing for me to do, and I like that...
 

I suppose it sounds funny that it has always bothered me when I take someone elses manure for my fields (never horse manure) that people don't see the need to keep manure clean.
 
(quoted from post at 09:37:53 11/29/11) Do you cut and remove the strings from your round bales when you feed them or leave them on?
We've tried both ways over the years. Of course we feed no more than ten to fifteen bales a week so that makes a big difference. If you are feeding a lot of round bales weekly it would be to time consuming to remove them all I'm sure.
Click to expand...
allways remove the twine, big deal,it takes only a few min per bale.
I just hate seeing twine all over the fields and getting in wheel bearings or plugging up cultivators and manure spreaders,never mind cows and calves getting it stuck and dragging it around on their feet.
Besides that it looks ugly and shows not caring for the environment.
( i got a neighbor like that,twine plastic and barb wire all over the place,and he has horses too boot :roll: )
My farms PO never removed a piece of twine it seems,after 18 years i still find that plasic crap everywhere.
I wish him bad things :twisted:
 
If you use plastic and ear tag your cows you need to remove it before feeding. The strings will catch and tear the tags out.
 
I've always cut mine, net wrap is easier but really expensive compared to regular twine. I always wondered what happened to the cattle if they ingested it, will they choke or will it ball up in their stomach's? The plastic is hard to get off but is the way to go. Most people around here with the rope twine, if left in the field 2 weeks or so the string is already rotted off, which is useless in holding the bale together and a waste of money to the man buying it for the baler.
 
I will tell you what my dad would do.We feed square bales in the 60s and beded with straw and if he ever seen a peice of twine my rear end was sore for 2 weeks,and GOD help if he found a string in the manure spreader

jimmy
 
Friend had a new new holland spreader with plastic floor.Both beaters were wraped with twine so they poured on diesel fuel and lit the strings,then walked away for a few min. when he came back there was a large hole melted in the floor.LOL We always used an ax to cut off twine,dad said burning was hard on beaters and bearings.
 
I think you have got it right. We bale a little hay, repeat customers who feed a lot, want sisal twine because it rots and they don't have to mess with it. Horse guys want plastic because the bales stand up longer and look better. My neighbor who feeds 16 to 20 bales every few days, bought some net wrapped bales. He will never do this again if he can help it. To much work, getting off and on the tractor.
 
Any strings in a feedlot can be a problem later. Either a problem with the animals, or disposal later. We feed small squares to our sheep. Have to be very careful not to leave any strings in the pasture. For sure, one of "em will get tangled in it - a sure recipe for injury. Or twine will get tangled in machinery, spreaders, rotary mowers, etc. We will not use plastic twine, if it gets into the fleece, it is almost impossible to remove. At least sisal breaks down in time. Were I feeding large bales, every piece of twine, wrapper or plastic would be removed before any animal got near them.
 
Any strings in a feedlot can be a problem later. Either a problem with the animals, or disposal later. We feed small squares to our sheep. Have to be very careful not to leave any strings in the pasture. For sure, one of "em will get tangled in it - a sure recipe for injury. Or twine will get tangled in machinery, spreaders, rotary mowers, etc. We will not use plastic twine, if it gets into the fleece, it is almost impossible to remove. At least sisal breaks down in time. Were I feeding large bales, every piece of twine, wrapper or plastic would be removed before any animal got near them.
 
mb58, I have to ask? So Don't think me rude... And are you seriously asking So ludicrous and Stupid a Question???????????????????
Yes, Cut & Remove ALL Strings/Net Wrap of Nylon/petroleum base!
I saw a 800 lb Steer Snap and break a leg one time, that I was helping a neighbor load a bunch to take to market. He had gotten older and thought it was too much trouble to pull strings. OBTW at that time market wt steers were $1.00. lb on the hoof before the break after the leg break maybe $50.
Not only is is a danger to your livestock, How about YOU getting tangled up and cant get away from an angry Bull or Mama Cow or worse Your Wife, Daughter, Son, Grand Child!!!!!!!!
ALWAYS pull all strings, pick up any string riments that are missed and get buried up in the mud, and half eaten hay, manure.
PLEASE, PLEASE Save yourself a train load of heartache "pick up all string/net wrap"
Later,
John A.
PS to answer what you want to hear if I were Grinding hay on a regular basis I would use Hemp string. It is bio-degradable and is digestible by most live stock and will rot off if it get wrapped around a cows hoof or beater in a mixer.
jas
 
I use plastic twine. So I try to remove all that I can. But when they are froze on their aint much you can do. When its 5 degrees and the wind is blowing 20 mph, I get real forgiving about strings. I try to still hack through the strings in a few spots so I have a bunch of 2 foot long pieces left when the hay is gone instead of 1 100ft long tangled mess. As others have said the long pieces catch on everything. The short small pieces seem to be easy enough to retrieve. If I don't find them the manure spreader will. I don't mind hacking strings off the manure spreader beater. It is usually 60 degrees and sunny when I do that job.
 
walk out and find a piece of twine or net hanging out of an a$$ that could have just as easily plugged up the guts...... You'll very gently pull it out, count your blessings, and cut/remove strings religiously the rest of your feeding life..................
 
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