A report on the new Bale Basket

Bret4207

Well-known Member
I recently bought an EZ Trail Bale Basket, only the 2nd one I've ever laid eye's on. I finally got to use it yesterday. All I can say is- This thing is FANTASTIC!. Once I got it figured out ( to the tune of 3 shear bolts on the flywheel) it worked flawlessly. Any issues where related to operator error, ie- it doesn't like sharp corners any more than a kicker does. It also allowed me to see that there are still a couple issues with my ancient NH68 baler related to the flywheel bushing and shear pin bushing. Hey, it's 57 years old! I'm 56 and my parts are pretty worn too! On the long smoothly curving sections or straight runs the 68 just spit out blocks of hay and the basket collected them without a pause. I'm impressed. For anyone who is still loading off the bale chute or doesn't want to go to a kicker or accumulator system, I'd strongly consider the bale basket alternative.
 
Very nice. Pics?

That 68 you got is newer than mine! My model 68 is only 58 years old....

I recall you live in Maine. I'm going to be in Walpole on a semi-business/R&R trip late the week of September 11th. If you are
nearby, I'd like to put a face to a name. Email is open.

Bill
 
One other benefit is a friend had one on a
John deere before that he had a hard time
keeping the bales tying right when he put
the basket on never missed a bale . All
the shaking of thrower was causing
problems with the knotter. Side bonus had
12 + acres of hay to bale lots of help
lined up it turned out it was just me
myself and I yes that was a long day run a
bunch on run back stack repeat I wanted to
tell the hired help what I thought of them
but I still had a lot of hay to go
 
Seems like I have to back the tension off
10-15 cranks when I hook the baskets on the
back of the 311. Shortened the bales up a
touch too. Can make a 80lb bale of alfalfa
if not paying attention and checking bales.
We like ours. You'll be looking for more
soon. It's nice to able to stuff a bunch
full when you're in a hurry and have a
couple mile long trip.
 
(quoted from post at 11:59:10 08/25/16) Very nice. Pics?

That 68 you got is newer than mine! My model 68 is only 58 years old....

I recall you live in Maine. I'm going to be in Walpole on a semi-business/R&R trip late the week of September 11th. If you are
nearby, I'd like to put a face to a name. Email is open.

Bill

I live in the St Lawrence Valley along the NY-Ontario border Bill. Thousand Islands area. Have a safe trip.
 
(quoted from post at 22:20:40 08/25/16) Seems like I have to back the tension off
10-15 cranks when I hook the baskets on the
back of the 311. Shortened the bales up a
touch too. Can make a 80lb bale of alfalfa
if not paying attention and checking bales.
We like ours. You'll be looking for more
soon. It's nice to able to stuff a bunch
full when you're in a hurry and have a
couple mile long trip.

Know what you mean. I didn't have to back the tension off a lot because this particular hay was real dry. My problem was not realizing you want to get a couple bales in the chute before starting any turns. I got in 4 loads in the time I would have gotten in maybe 2 loading the flat rack.

If I ever see another basket I can afford (this one was a stretch) I'll grab it in a heartbeat. I'm supposed to pick up some baler parts today, but I'm pretty proud of the old 68. She was making pretty darn good hay cubes for something most people would send to the scrap pile. :wink:
 
I use an accumulator and have the same problem in turns... I find if you can manage it at all, make your turns when a bale is half way
between the baler and the basket. As long as both ends are planted firm the bale will bend... It's not really a problem making a turn if
you're baling steady... it's the turning with nothing going in that's the killer...

Rod
 
Ive been looking for something of an accumulator...

When full does it dump in the field or do you run it to the barn and dump and stack??

Kinda wondering how this would work for me when couple fields are 30 miles from barn...

Does it save time dumping in field and stacking to trailer??

Also how would this work in small fields, like 5 acres. I can really see this working on large field..
 
OK - thanks!

I don't know why - but I was thinking Maine.....

I gave a LOT of consideration to bale baskets - especially the EZ Trail. In my perfect world, I'd have a large barn where I
could pull in with the bale basket, back it to either side and dump. The barn would be long enough to accommodate many loads
like this. Bale as fast as reasonably possible and stack another day.

For now we are going with loading up on wagons and shelters/carports. Load the wagon off the baler and leave it parked under a
shelter - loaded. If we can sell the hay off the wagon we will leave it there, otherwise we will unload/stack another day.

Other than youtube videos, I've never seen a bale basket in action. Believe it or not - on a recent business trip through Ohio,
I saw for the first time a New Holland baler with thrower shooting bales into a kicker wagon. It looked slicker than deer guts
on a door knob...

Good to hear the 68 is doing a great job. We still have and use ours - even with the newer JD348.

Thanks,
Bill
 
They work well, in a one person operation lets you bale small squares.

They are real 'messy' unloading into a pile, the bales make a long pile of scattered bales, not a nice high pile. It's best to open the gate and stack from the back of the basket, not drive away and leave that long windrow of bales. I too was hoping to back in the barn, dump and run, but my barn door wasn't high enough, and it seems the pile would spill out the door anyhow.

Like it tho, works well for what it is.

Paul

Huh, is the photo upload feature broken, it won't allow me to upload a pick of my basket? I can select it, but it won't actually upload the pic.
 
Try this pic thing again.

Paul
a235706.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 11:45:49 08/26/16) Ive been looking for something of an accumulator...

When full does it dump in the field or do you run it to the barn and dump and stack??

Kinda wondering how this would work for me when couple fields are 30 miles from barn...

Does it save time dumping in field and stacking to trailer??

Also how would this work in small fields, like 5 acres. I can really see this working on large field..

I dump at the barn, it would make no sense to dump it in the field, restack on a flat rack or traier and then go to the barn. They trailer down the road nicely, but it's 11 feet wide and at least as tall as a steel kicker rack, so it would be the same pain in the keester when the hay is a long ways away. That;s where a real accumulator and tractor-trailer come into play, but that's way, way out of my league. I might draw hay 1/2- 3/4 of mile but thats about it. It's still faster than stacking on the flat rack, worrying about someone falling off or hitting a previously unknown hole and tipping to the point we spill bales, running the flat rack back to the barn and me having to help mow it away because 2 kids are required to climb the hay and load the elevator. Now I dump it (it all ends up in a 20 foot long area, a bit of a mess, but not a big deal) and one kid loads while the other mows the hay and I go back and get another load.

If you have a kicker and several good kicker wagons AND you have access to 3 or 4 people to help, a kicker makes sense. I'm basically a one man show with a couple kids to assist and a lot of small fields close to home and a very limited budget. A kicker would work but I'd need at least 2 wagons and a different baler with a good kicker.

None of my fields are over 20 acres or so. Some are less than an acre. Last night I raked a real small 1/2 acre area (we're desperate for hay here due to dry weather). I just cut off the corners and made straight windrows. It works.
 
glad to hear it. i used to use 4 of the units and loved them, yes you need to set baler after you
have the hay chute full because of the extra compression you now have. also make sure you have it
hooked as close as possible to the back of baler. with all extra baler chutes removed. i used two
springs and cable set up on both sides of chute and turning was never a problem. also make a
special short hitch pin you use so unhooking when loaded is simple. always pull up the hitch
retract lever and let wagon push back they will then unhook real easy . if have other issues let
me know cause i ran them for several years, them did accumulator setup later, no no longer do it
now period. all ground was baling is now govt program and nets out better cash wise, and no weather
issues to worry about. baskets all ended up in state of ohio
 
I am 77, and hay with a baler with thrower & kicker wagons.
It's all tractor work, except for unloading. My brother, 73, and I do the unloading. He offloads onto the elevator, and I mow away. I can put 4 wagons under cover without unloading.
 
That spring idea is a good one. I've never had an issue with hay, but Straw I have.

I bought a short latching style pin and push it up from the bottom.
 
I've got a Agrilink bale basket and I am the only one I've seen in my parts of north central MD using one. Sure beats stacking or worse picking bales off ground like I did years ago. Works good when you are a solo team and you can drop them close to your barn. I also run a NH S68 baler. I make as big windrows as possible and creep along so that I have as few turns to make. Like others say the only issue is in turns, so I cut of PTO in turns so bales are pushed sideways at transition from baler to ramp. A simple piece of equip, more ideal when you have long straight fields. Cheers and good luck
a235748.jpg
 
(quoted from post at 22:24:17 08/30/16) How do you unload the bales? Does it have a gate that opens?

Yup, the back side is a gate that pivots from the top. Pull a cable and the bottom swings open, drive forward and it lays the bales out over a 15-20 foot area. Very simple to grab a bale and load the it on the elevator. It does leave a little more chaff on the ground than a a flat rack, but we just rake it up and feed it out.
 

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