Single bale wrapper, who has used one?

I have rented an inline bale wrapper several times, but never used a single bale wrapper.

I am looking to buy my own, and can buy a new single wrapper and the skid loader attachment to move the bales for less than half the price of a used inline.

I'm thinking I would wrap 50 bales a year for my own use, and who knows how many more to sell. That would depend on the year, demand, weather conditions.

I'm really liking the idea of the single wrapper, just don't have any experience with them. They seem simple enough. The one I looked at only needs one hyd and a three point.

The problem I have with the inline is that it's hard to rent one for 10-20 bales here and there, plus with the single I can move, stack, and sell them.

Of course, the salesman said I'm crazy not to buy one. They are the best thing since sliced bread.

I would really like to get some feedback from someone who has used them.

Thanks in advance BW

Single wrappers:
Advantage:
1) You can usually use a smaller tractor to wrap with.
2) They cost less than a inline wrapper.
3) You have less risk on spoilage as it would only effect one bale not a whole row.
4) Better feed quality as they usually are it is easier to get a single bale to have a good seal.

Dis-advantages:
1) They are much slower to use than a inline wrapper.

2) They will use about 30-40% more plastic than a inline wrapper.

3) Single wrapped bales need to be handle with a grabber over a bale spear. So you have some additional cost there.

4) Single wrapped bales require more room to store than inline wrapped bales. You usually leave a few inches between bales. If you try to stack them tight you can easily tear the wrap on one of the bales.

These are just some of the high lights off the top of my head. I would not buy one for myself. I have access to two different dealers that rent them. Also there are three different fellows that do custom wrapping around me, two inline and one single.. I can easily hire it done for less then it would cost me to ever own one.

IF you have issue on getting them wrapped in your area then buy one if it fits your budget. The cost can easily be gained back in a wet year. You can just get hay made faster if you can wrap it.

Everything JDSeller said is true. I would however take exception to his comment that the single wrapped bales take up more room to store. I see his point, however, you CAN stack the single wrapped bales in a barn if you so choose. You can't do that with inline wrapped bales. YOu ask, "well, why would I ever want to store single wrapped bales in a barn"? Answer: Have you ever tried busting the snow and ice off of a plastic wrapped bale? Especially ice! It sure is nice to not get all wet from handling the plastic.

I have owned a single bale wrapper for 2 years now. It DOES use considerably more plastic. It also is very slow compared to an inline wrapper. With only doing 50 plus bales a year, I'd certainly use a single wrapper. The University of Kentucky did a study where they compared the inline wrapper to the single unit. Their conclusion was that 400 bales was the amount necessary to justify the inline wrapper. I like the fact I can feed one bale today and maybe wait 2-3 days (or longer) before I feed another bale. When you open the inline row........you're committed to continuous feeding. The single wrapped bales keep so much better over a longer period of time as compared to the inline. The "extra" plastic does have a benefit.

I have a older style single bale wrapper. I have owned it for the past three seasons.I bought it on an auction for $2200.00. Yes , it does take more time to wrap bales with a single wrapper, more time with a old style wrapper like mine , where I have to put each bale on the wrapper with the loader tractor, as apposed to the new style which will load and wrap the bale for you, all from the tractor seat. But , we get along just fine with ours. I will make around 400 per year. cost about $2.75 per bale for plastic this year. I have tried to stack the bales 3 high , but found if the bales where very wet, they would tend to sag and leak air over time. This would soil the bale. Now I just place them on their ends, about a foot apart. Cows love the feed, I like the ability to make hay sooner, and get more hay done with high feed quality. Thought that hiring someone to wrap for me, in-line or single, was like buying my own hay back, just too many dollars going down my driveway. I have posted some last years pictures, hope that my comments will help, and glad to answer any questions you might have. Bruce

Will asingle wrap do rds and sq bales?Can you wrap different size rds?

Why are you looking to buy your own? The rental one not readily available/hard to get? For 50 bales a year I guess you could buy an individual wrapper, but I would think you could rent the inline one for a lot of years before you would pay for the individual one. I tube about 100/year and it costs me $6/bale for the neighbor to come do mine. For that money, I would have to tube a heck of lot of hay to pay for owing my own. Not to mention the costs of owning, maintaining, and storing yet another piece of machinery.

Its $8 a bale to rent an inline here. No one I have found rents a single wrap.

I would probably wrap 50-60/yr for my use.

I bale anywhere from 700-1000 bales/yr between alfalfa and grass hay, with the potential to pick up more alfalfa ground over the next couple years. So I could see wrapping more to sell. The inline doesn't work well for that unless you are moving it right off the field to the buyer to wrap it.

Doing some in my head number crunching using 200 bales. that's $1600/yr to have done without being able to move them once they are wrapped.

Figuring some fuel/maint and using Bruce's cost on wrap per bale, I was thinking $3.50bale to wrap my own or $700 yr (200 bales). If I pay around $8k for the wrapper and bale mover for the skid, it would take me about 9yrs to come out of it.

On the other hand, if the wrapped hay sells for more per ton, or the fact that a smaller wrapped bale is heavier than a dry bale, that gap can close faster.

I agree with you that to wrap 50 bales/yr would probably be better to have it done, its all being done in my yard anyway, and they are fast.

Thanks BW

Thanks for the replies. You guys have been really helpful.

I have only looked into one wrapper that I seen advertised. It looks very similar to Bruce's setup. When I get more serious I can start looking around and asking questions about service, parts, etc. Thanks BW

I have a bunch of custom guys in my area that do wrapping. Inline guys charge the same price as single bale wrappers. If you do the work yourself with your own wrapper this doesn't apply...
I have an older wrapper like Bruce. Mine works fine,although bale quality does matter. You need a good tight round bale.

You would be a kit on the single bale wrapper to do square bales. You can do various sizes of round bales but there's a practical upper limit in terms of tonnage depending on what you have to handle them or if you have to handle them manually. 4x4 is the most common size. Once you get beyond 4x5 they get pretty heavy... Most trailed wrappers are not going to self load much more than that without a large counterweight.

Rod

Randall If you put the single wrapped bales in a line like most around here. It takes more room.

I see Bruce stacks his. I have seen that tried around here and they fall over after a while. The alfalfa bales seem to soften after awhile.