Kiesler explains that marking the center of your trailer can make loading round bales a breeze. Doing this helps him ensure the load is centered. He also adds that, when strapping, he does things backward. Instead of rolling his straps with the hook in the center, he rolls them with the hook on the outside.

“I think it throws over cleaner, and you don’t have as many twists in the strap as it goes over the trailer,” Kiesler says. He adds that it saves time having to walk around the trailer to tighten the strap, with less trips around the trailer since you start with the hook on your side.

A hay load loosens up the most at the beginning of a trip, so Kiesler recommends stopping to check straps after embarking.

“On the first 10% of a trip, that’s where they’ll loosen up the most just because the load kind of shakes and settles in and pulls together,” Kiesler says. “So, it’s always good to stop on your first 25% to 50% of where you’re going to make sure it’s still tight and everything’s good.”

Developing these habits and routines didn’t happen overnight. Kiesler says it took years to find what works best for him. Whitford adds that these practices are not one-size-fits-all, but rather, each producer needs to find what meshes well with their operation.

“It’s just what people try to do based on experience to keep that hay in place,” Whitford says. “There’s nothing more dangerous, in my mind, than hay falling off of a truck.”