So I'm loading up on flat bed wagons that we stack off the baler and pull under shelter
until we can unload another day - if at all.
Kind of thinking down the road a bit if/when my kids may not be available that I might
convert these flat wagons to kicker wagons. Perhaps this route would give me a one man
haying operation. Kick bales on the same wagons I've got, but with kicker rack sides
added (I've got anywhere from 14 ft to 20 ft long wagons) and park them in the shelters
for unloading another day.
How practical is it to put sides on a wooden wagon, even a short 14ft wagon for a
kicker? It would be great if I could just recycle the wagons I've got rather than buy
the really nice steel purpose built steel wagons. Anyone converted a flat bed wagon to
a kicker wagon?
Looking at youtube videos, these throwers put the bales in all kinds of positions. I
gather that when you throw a bale from the baler into the wagon, ultra tight is the rule
for the bale strings. If the bale is tight, does it keep the bales from getting bent
under the weight of other bales - causing them to take a "set" and become difficult to
stack - after setting in the wagon a day or week?
I think a kicker would be the next step for us (one of these days) and kind of a natural
progression with our wagons and shelters designed to accomodate pulling wagons into
them. All I'd need to add is wooden(?) sides to the wagons and a pan thrower (for a
JD348 square baler) and I'm down to a one man operation if it comes to it.
Speaking of the 348 and pan thrower....
Just looking at the youtube videos, while a pan thrower probably isn't as fast as a belt
thrower (like on a New Holland baler), it seems to me that the arc of the throw for the
pan thrower and just the way it tosses the bale into the wagon would give more control
in filling the wagon - especially if I have a few 14 ft wagons? Is a pan thrower more
wagon filling friendly filling than a belt thrower, i.e. you can get more bales on a
wagon with a pan thrower via the throw arc/gentle placement vs rocketing a bale off the
top of the bale pile on the wagon with a belt thrower.
For now - we are getting along fine stacking wagons off the baler, but....
Down the road/long term, convert everything to kicker wagons and add a pan thrower for
the JD348 - what do you think?
Thanks!
Bill
until we can unload another day - if at all.
Kind of thinking down the road a bit if/when my kids may not be available that I might
convert these flat wagons to kicker wagons. Perhaps this route would give me a one man
haying operation. Kick bales on the same wagons I've got, but with kicker rack sides
added (I've got anywhere from 14 ft to 20 ft long wagons) and park them in the shelters
for unloading another day.
How practical is it to put sides on a wooden wagon, even a short 14ft wagon for a
kicker? It would be great if I could just recycle the wagons I've got rather than buy
the really nice steel purpose built steel wagons. Anyone converted a flat bed wagon to
a kicker wagon?
Looking at youtube videos, these throwers put the bales in all kinds of positions. I
gather that when you throw a bale from the baler into the wagon, ultra tight is the rule
for the bale strings. If the bale is tight, does it keep the bales from getting bent
under the weight of other bales - causing them to take a "set" and become difficult to
stack - after setting in the wagon a day or week?
I think a kicker would be the next step for us (one of these days) and kind of a natural
progression with our wagons and shelters designed to accomodate pulling wagons into
them. All I'd need to add is wooden(?) sides to the wagons and a pan thrower (for a
JD348 square baler) and I'm down to a one man operation if it comes to it.
Speaking of the 348 and pan thrower....
Just looking at the youtube videos, while a pan thrower probably isn't as fast as a belt
thrower (like on a New Holland baler), it seems to me that the arc of the throw for the
pan thrower and just the way it tosses the bale into the wagon would give more control
in filling the wagon - especially if I have a few 14 ft wagons? Is a pan thrower more
wagon filling friendly filling than a belt thrower, i.e. you can get more bales on a
wagon with a pan thrower via the throw arc/gentle placement vs rocketing a bale off the
top of the bale pile on the wagon with a belt thrower.
For now - we are getting along fine stacking wagons off the baler, but....
Down the road/long term, convert everything to kicker wagons and add a pan thrower for
the JD348 - what do you think?
Thanks!
Bill