Skip to main content

Homemade Hay Stack - Temporary Hay Storage


We don't have a big barn to store hay in and we want to make better use of the small shed that we do have. Looking around the internet I found a neat little hay storage solution at this site. That site (One Scythe Revolution) got me to thinking seriously about buying a scythe since we don't have a hay mower and only use a small amount of hay. Anyway, here's how to make my version of Botan Anderson's hay rack:


Materials:        6 - 2x4's 8 feet long
                       12 - 2x2's 8 feet long
                        polypropylene rope (like a ski rope or heavier)    
                        2 plastic tarps or plastic sheeting for ground and top cover


Tools:              Drill with 3/4" bit
                       Measuring tape (you can also guess and be fine)
                       Lighter to burn ends of rope

1. Drill 4 of the 2X4's. Drill two holes in each 2X4, one hole about 4 inches from the end:

And the other hole about 20 inches from the other end:

2. Tie the 4 2X4's together through the holes at the 4" (short) end and spread them out tee-pee style over your ground cover.
You can loosely tie the rope and then tighten it after the boards are in place. I used a square knot.

3. Cut 4 ropes about 2 feet long and loop a rope through each hole at the other end of the 2X4.

4. Slide the other 2 2X4's through the 2 loops on opposite ends of the tee-pee.

5. Space 6 of the 2X2's across the 2X4's on the bottom to start a platform.

6. Lay the other 6 2X2's perpendicularly across the first 6 to make a cris-cross platform.

7. Stack with hay, then cover. It will supposedly hold a ton of hay, but I only had 10 bales. This went together in about 30 minutes and knocks down easily for storage.

    - Daddy


Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 6, 2012 at 12:20 PM

    W.O.W. Do I ever need this!! Thanks for linking up a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Owen Family at Far Better FarmsteadOctober 6, 2012 at 7:22 PM

      Thanks! It seems to be working great - we had 4 inches of rain earlier this week and the hay is still bone dry and easily accessible. We didn't take a picture with the tarp on top, but we just threw a large tarp over it and weighted it down with a few rocks. Michelle lifts the edge of the tarp to access the dry hay inside.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Building a Whizbang Wheel Hoe

I am a fan of Herrick Kimball from  the Deliberate Agrarian . I have read every blog post at his web site, built a whizbang chicken plucker (see it  here ), and own most of his books. So imagine my joy on Christmas morning when I unwrapped a Whizbang Wheel Hoe kit from Herrick's  Planet Whizbang  web site.  The contents were just some metal pieces, bolts and washers:
2 comments
Read more

David Bradley Walk Behind Tractor and Engine Swap

"A scythe is great for your back but very hard on your patience" - Patrick at Far Better Farmstead      It all started when it rained 80 inches this summer. Yes, I said 80 inches! Needless to say, I didn't get to put up much hay with my scythe and rake. I did do one good cutting, but should have got 2 or 3 and even the one cutting didn't cover the whole field. As much as I like the scythe, I started wanting a quicker way to cut a small amount of hay.  My fantasy rig is my old 600 Ford tractor with a sickle bar, rake, and old square baler. I sold the 600 several years ago and have regretted it every since. My second fantasy was a BCS or Grillo walk behind tarctor. You can get a sickle for them and many other implements as well. Both options are out of reach of our budget right now, so that's why I call them fantasies rather than options! As I searched around the web, I found out that Sears used to sell a walk-behind tractor called the David Bradley. ...
4 comments
Read more

Outdoor Wood Furnace

It's that time of year again! Every year about mid-October we fire up the wood furnace and it stays lit until April or so, depending on the weather. This will be our 5th winter with this stove, so we have plenty of experience with an outdoor wood furnace in case anyone is interested. I know what the advertising says and I know what the reality is. So let's get started! Purchased in 2008, our wood furnace keeps us really warm!
12 comments
Read more