[Strawbale] How uniform are most 2 string bales?

[Dave Howorth]

On Sat, 2015-09-05 at 11:22 +0100, james wrote:
> I believe that, nominally, a 2 string bale will be 'about' 36cm by 
> 'about' 46cm by a length that can perhaps be specified by a baler 
> setting and will be between 0.9 and 1.2m.

The dimensions are set by the baler. The baler uses imperial measures,
not metric, so the bales are 14" by 18" which translates as 356 by 457.

> Its the 36cm dimension I'm interested in.
> 
> How accurately are bales 36cm?
> 
> In particular, will they tend to be over and compress easily to a 36cm 
> space (so they can be forced in by hand, rather than needing compression 
> systems)?

It depends on what you are trying to force them into, and how the bales
were made and what type of straw and ...  In short, people don't usually
build with bales in such a manner for good reasons. I'd recommend
getting some bales and experimenting with whatever you have in mind
before committing to it wholeheartedly.

HTH. Cheers, Dave

> Or will they tend to be a bit smaller than that anyway and need some 
> padding?
> 
> Thanks