How to keep leftover baling products season ready: A Tama quick guide

At the end of a hard season, throwing leftover baling products in a shed and calling it a day is a natural impulse. But unless it’s your first year in the field, you know the result: soggy cardboard cores on your wrap, tangled twine, and countless other small issues that add up to headaches when the next season rolls around.

That doesn’t have to be the case. With a little effort, and quality baling products, you can keep your supplies perfectly usable from one season to the next. Our latest quick guide explains.

Improper storage exposes baling products to environmental conditions that can shorten their lifespan. These are the most common problems by product type:

Netwrap

With netwrap, the biggest concern is protecting the inner cardboard core. Mechanical damage to the core ends can cause problems with fitting rolls into the baler. Similarly, netwrap rolls stored haphazardly (or out of their protective sleeve) can easily get snagged, causing issues with feeding through the baler and increasing the potential for burst bales.

Allowing cardboard cores to get wet or damp is another common mistake. Wet cores can easily collapse or deform, causing issues with fitment and feeding out through the baler.

Twine

Baling twine is typically pretty tough (there’s a reason it’s used to keep gates closed). But that doesn’t mean it can’t be damaged by rough handling or environmental exposure. Like netwrap, your twine should be kept dry, out of the sun, and neatly stacked on the pallet to avoid damage. You should also ensure that spools aren’t being crushed under the weight of excessive loads or compression in your storage area, as this may cause issues with feed out next season.

 Silage wrap

For silage wrap, the most important consideration is maintaining the material’s integrity so that it performs well both in the baler, and throughout the fermentation process. Store it:

• Out of the sun (because UV weakens the film)
• Away from excessive heat (which can cause the sticky layers to soften, making it hard to unwind film and causing breakage during wrapping)
• Separate from fuel or chemicals (as fumes can affect the sticky layers of the wrap)

Any mechanical damage to the wrap can also compromise its ability to protect wrapped bales, leading to spoilage or issues with silage fermentation. To avoid that, store silage wrap rolls standing upright on their ends, on clean pallets, and with the cardboard boxes still on for extra protection.