He Stores Round Bales on Wooden Pallets

Hw Stores Round Bales on Wooden Pallets HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 20-1-32 When the foundation of Mark E. Schuette's old barn collapsed a couple of years ago, he was left without storage for his big round bales. "I was dead set against storing them on the ground because you can get so much spoilage," says the Napoleon, Ohio, farmer who puts up 250 4 by 5-ft. alfalfa and or-chard grass bales a year. "So I came up with a low-cost way to store bales just above the ground and limit spoilage." Schuette stacks bales on wood pallets. The best pallets he's found for the job are 4 by 4-ft. or 3 by 4-ft. burr oak pallets he gets for $1 apiece at his local recycling center. Because of the high quality wood, the pal-lets will last three to four seasons, Schuette notes. He lines up pallets in a single row, approximately 200 ft. long along his driveway. He leaves a space of 1 or 2 in. between each one. Then he simply stacks bales one high on top of the pallets using a tractor-mounted 3-pt bale spear or Bobcat loader-mounted spear. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark E. Schuette, Rt. 2, Co. Rd. 16982, Napoleon, Ohio 43545 (ph 419 758-3128).

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