wrapping bales

Wrapped hay this yr for the 1st time.Seems pretty neat.Wanting to buy one.The guy that came here had a inline Frontier.Nice machine.We are looking at wrapping 400 rds a yr.Can you guys tell me what brands you prefer and maybe the pros and cons of inline/individual wrappers

i personally like tubeline wrappers, simple and reliable, although trying to make a straight row is an art and/or luck... tube type wrappers also often allow you to wrap medium square bales if you have to or if the need ever arises, some individual wrappers can too though

Individual bales use more wrap, and as far as i'm concerned are only worth it for dairy cows, and individually wrapped need a picker that won't damage wrap if wrapped in the field...

I do individuals , cost about three bucks a. bale for plastic. Bought my wrapper at a auction sale for two thousand dollars, three years ago. I wrap about four hinder a year.would like to up load a picture for you , but the darn thing won't load. The feed is good, and let's you get on with haying without a week of sunshine. Bruce

Got a photo to load. This is a picture of the MRS. wrapping hay last year. Bruce

Around here they charge about the same for individual or inline wrapped. Neighbor has an inline anderson that uses 2 30" rolls of film at once. It pretty much wraps as fast as you can load it.

Bruce do you move all bales to one spot and start wrapping? Do you have to load the wrapper with a skid loader? Also wonderins say how long it would take to wrap 100 bales with an ind.

I've wrapped bales both with an inline and individually. The inline is much faster and uses less plastic. The inline wrappers also cost a whole bunch more. There is much more maintenance on an inline wrapper. I think the University of Kentucky did a study comparing the two different wrappers (inline vs individual) and stated that for 400 or less bales per year, the individual wrapper was most economical. I used custom guys for the inline wrapping. Basicly, all went well. Bad side is that when you open up that row of bales, you're committed to continual feeding so as to prevent spoilage.

I bought my own individual wrapper two years ago for $3,000.00 (Vermeer model # 2500) used. It has worked flawlessly for me. It is slow....especially if you move the bales away from the wrapper and stack at a different location as opposed to dumping them directly behind the wrapper and moving the wrapper forward each time. That in and of itself is time consuming. This method also uses a LOT more plastic. You need a special handling unit to move the wrapped bales....more cost there, however that unit can also be used to load in the field so maybe that isn't an issue. The feed keeps MUCH better individually wrapped. I have bales that are 2 1/2 years old that are still perfect inside. The guy I bought this from went to an inline wrapper because he was wrapping 600-1000 bales a year. He told me the bales would keep GOOD for up to three years if invidually wrapped. My experience with inline wrapped bales is that after a year...you better be getting them fed. If you sell hay, the indivual bales are much easier to sell. I can feed a bale anytime I need to and don't have to open up an entire row. I like that! Disposal of the plastic is a problem no matter which wrapper you use. I get rid of mine by burning it in my wood stove. It takes a hot fire to completely burn it up otherwise you end up with a gobby mess. My next wrapper will be an individual with "infield loading and wrapping" capability. I wrap about 250 bales a year with mine. I also do a "little" wrapping for neighbors. Like I said, it is slow. By the time we get the baling done, hauling into the wrapping location etc., about 45 bales an afternoon is about all my wife and I want to do at a time. I'm 65 years old.