# Heating with hay?



## cjk (May 4, 2008)

Another post got me thinking about this again. I have heard of someone heating with round bales but cant find any info on it. The "stove" was semi buried, loaded with a round bale and closed and was good for a week of heating. 

A friend told me he heard about it somewhere and didnt know anymore about it. 

This would be a great way to use up old hay, and a week between loadings would be sweet!!!

Anyone ever hear about this???


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## nametrux (May 4, 2008)

*Hay*

I think I saw something about this not too long ago. Don't think it was buried though. They had a large round door and loaded 2 large round bales with a tractor. Sorry I can't remember where I think it was a Dairy Operation.

The pioneers on the praiers used hay burning stoves. One the side of the stove there was a chute which was filled with hay and a plunger compressed it agnest a door. You then opened the door on the side and pushed it into the stove to burn.


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## splittah (May 4, 2008)

http://www.ruralmissouri.coop/08pages/08JanHayStove.html

http://www.grassbioenergy.org/downloads/Bioenergy_Info_Sheet_3.pdf

http://www.wattpoultry.com/LargeVolumeGrower/View.aspx?id=18670


That should keep you busy for a while.


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## mimilkman1 (May 4, 2008)

I saw a hay burning boiler on a program on RFD TV called Prairie Farm report where they burned hay. They load the round bales into the boiler with the tractor, I think he built it himself. If you go to the RFD website and click on the Prairie Farm Report link you may find more info.

Kyle


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## mysawmyrules (May 4, 2008)

There was two featured on the Prairie Farm Report one was stand alone outside took one up to 6' round bale through a side door and the other one was buried in a bunker next to his shop bale was loaded through a lid at the top and all the pumps and tank were inside the building under the burn chamber. All the programs are available for purchase on the PFR website. I can't remember the burn time on either of the systems.
Jon W


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## logbutcher (May 4, 2008)

....sorry guys, hay is for the animals. 
And the BTU/pound of hay is what ? This sounds like another ethanol scheme.  :spam:


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## Old Goat (May 4, 2008)

logbutcher said:


> ....sorry guys, hay is for the animals.
> And the BTU/pound of hay is what ? This sounds like another ethanol scheme.  :spam:



Did you look at Splittah's links? They are burning a waste product that had no market value prior to their use for heating the broiler houses. This is pure ingenuity. The article claims that they are getting a 10 hour burn with 2 round bales.

My first thought was, no way, with alfalfa hay running over $150 a ton here locally and talk of hitting $200 a ton this summer, it would be cost prohibitive. Sorta like the stoves that burn corn, unless you grow it yourself it is not cost effective with the price of whole corn right now. But then I got to thinking, my hay grower has piles of small bales of old moldy hay and straw. Some that has been rained on in the field, stuff that would kill a horse and isn't even worth feeding to range cows. I have been using this stuff for a mulch and as an organic additive when I till the garden. I could burn this for the cost of hauling it about 10 miles. Even though the burn time is short you could build a super thermal-mass outdoor burner and store that heat. This has promise. A burner for 60 to 70 lbs small bales built out of brick and sand would be within reason for the home owner. 

The dairy down the road dries out their manure after it runs through the slurry ponds and uses it for bedding for the milk cows. This stuff would burn great. The source for fuel would be endless. 

Has anyone tried burning small bales of hay in their OWB?


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## logbutcher (May 5, 2008)

Still sounds like a scheme O.G. Those "wet, moldy" bales weigh a ton +; what does ( BTU) it take to move the beasts? The building of the "thermal mass boiler" takes some doing and materials ( more BTU).

What ever happened to trees ?


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## YCSTEVE (May 5, 2008)

*Bio Mass Burner*

Being from Yates Center, KS. *Prairie Hay Capital of the World.* Thank you, Thank you, I know all of you are impressed now. Our little claim to fame. There was some discussion at our city council meetings about setting up a Bio Mass Burner that burned round bales for generating electricity. Shortly after that we had a dry year and hay was hard to come by. Ranchers and feedlots were looking all over for the stuff to get their cattle through the winter. 

It would probably work pretty slick for personal use. Most years you can find some junk hay somewhere. If you were a farmer and you had some kind of boiler system you could heat you house and shop easily with it. This would be real useful in Western Kansas where there are *no trees *but lots and lots of grass. Out there instead of discussing chainsaws on-line they discuss weed-eaters.


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## Old Goat (May 5, 2008)

logbutcher said:


> Still sounds like a scheme O.G. Those "wet, moldy" bales weigh a ton +; what does ( BTU) it take to move the beasts? The building of the "thermal mass boiler" takes some doing and materials ( more BTU).
> 
> What ever happened to trees ?



They are not burning wet moldy hay, they are burning dry grass straw. The grower had to bale it just to get it out of his field. It was a byproduct of his grass seed operation. This is a win-win situation for both of them. They paid for the burner quickly with savings in heating cost.

It probably takes about as much BTU's to move the same volume of wood. I would assume that the wood would burn longer, maybe not, baled hay will burn for a long time, it is compressed, just ask anyone that has had a barn fire. The time to cut and load the wood should also be taken into consideration. It looks as if they can load the burner in less then 5 minutes with a tractor. It would take a lot longer to load the same burner up with wood, and they could burn wood if they found a supply as cheap and easy as the hay. The fact that they are saving over $40,000 a year is proof enough. That was in 2006 and the price of natural gas and propane has only gone up. Its not for everyone, E85 and bio-diesel is not for everyone also, but for them it seems to work well.


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## cjk (May 5, 2008)

Thanks for all the info. I had heard about it and when I searched awhile ago nothing came up. 

It sounded almost too good to be true. A week of burn on one loading would be great. 10 hours not so great. I guess you could control the damper and get a lot more out of it. 

Next year we will be farming our own land and selling hay. I am also planning on installing an outside woodstove of some kind. Garn has not responded to any requests for info or dealer contact #'s. I was thinking a "dual fuel" system would work great for the hay that didnt sell. With the prices of hay lately it doesnt look like that will happen. Hopefully.


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## Corley5 (May 6, 2008)

My Dad and I burn 60lb square bales in our outdoor boilers on occasion. A bale will last 6-8 hours depending on the outdoor temp. It's a good way to get rid of weedy or rained on hay. The smoke is pretty nasty on the 1st couple burn cycles


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