Easy Way To Dry Stack Of Wet Bales

Easy Way To Dry Stack Of Wet Bales BALE HANDLING Bale Handling (31B) 28-1-19 "Third crop hay can be hard to get off dry because it's later in the year and there's less drying time," says Ken Allison of Fairmount City, Pennsylvania. Allison found a simple way to dry stacks of high moisture hay that he says would work well for any small operation like his. Allison dries 120 to 130 square bales at a time on each of his "bale thrower wagons" by stacking them in such a way that a narrow one-bale empty strip is left down the center of the wagon, closing up the back and sides of the stack. Then Allison sets a 20-in. dia. electric furnace fan in front of each of the open spaces on the wagons. With the air being forced into the stacks, he walks around the outside of each wagon, feeling with his hands for air leaks. Whenever he finds one, he stuffs the holes with plastic mesh feed bags to block the air. Once he's satisfied that the fans are blowing the air through the bales, Allison lets the fans run for several days, checking periodically with a moisture probe untill the hay is dry. No heat is used. Just air. He built boxes on the ends of the fans to direct air into the hole. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ken Allison, 3020 Pumptown Rd., Fairmount City, Penn. 16224 (ph 814 275-3762; email: kanddallison@ yahoo.com)

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