Effective storage for your hay

Factors like shed height, bay spacing, and configuration will determine how much hay you can store in your hay shed.

Action Steel find the ideal height for your hay shed will be governed by the equipment that you use to load and unload the shed.

For example, a front-end loader will stack big square bales up to six in height meaning a shed height of six metres will be required.

With a telehandler though, big squares can be stacked more than eight bales in height.

Common eave heights when storing big square bales are 6.75 metres (seven bales high) and 7.5 metres (eight bales high), and remember a shed can be made longer in the future, but it cannot be made higher.

Increasing your shed height in the design stage is often a cost-effective way to fit more bales in.

The team at Action Steel usually recommend a bay spacing between eight metres and eight and a half metres for both hay and machinery sheds.

The reasoning behind this is these bay widths allow you to stack three 2.4m long square bales or five 1.5m wide round bales between the shed columns.

This means there is room for loading and unloading, and provides adequate air movement between the bales.

While these bay spacings are most common, Action Steel are flexible with their designs and are more than happy to discuss other options with you.

Action Steel's team of estimators and building consultants regularly break-down costings to a 'cost per bale' figure as this really helps to determine what hay shed configuration will work out the most cost-effective for you and be best for your hay storage.