handling hay

Hi folks.

I have an opportunity to get some large round bales of hay. Normally we have small squares for the few amimals we have. The complication is that the only loader tractor we have is a trip bucket kind and a bale spear wouldn't work to we on it. Is there any tricks anyone knows of that I could use to unload and move these bales around? I can make a 3pt bale spear but that wouldn't lift very high.

Actually a 3- pt bale spear works really well. If
you have a small, older tractor handling anything
on the front end can be hard on the front end and
possibily dangerous. A low trailer like a car
hauler type you can back up to with the spear and
usually get the bale high enough to unload bale.
Tying a rope to a bale and pulling it off a higher
wagon or truck can work also. Sometimes when I
deliver hay to people who do not have a tractor we
take the bales directly to the feeding area and
unload there and then put temporary electric fence
around them so they can feed them. Avoid or be
very careful if your tractor is small being on
hill even on the 3-pt. Also, don't stand anywhere
near a load of stacked round bales, every few
years here in Michigan we have one or two people
killed that way.

(quoted from post at 10:33:16 10/12/14) Actually a 3- pt bale spear works really well. If
you have a small, older tractor handling anything
on the front end can be hard on the front end and
possibily dangerous. A low trailer like a car
hauler type you can back up to with the spear and
usually get the bale high enough to unload bale.
Tying a rope to a bale and pulling it off a higher
wagon or truck can work also. Sometimes when I
deliver hay to people who do not have a tractor we
take the bales directly to the feeding area and
unload there and then put temporary electric fence
around them so they can feed them. Avoid or be
very careful if your tractor is small being on
hill even on the 3-pt. Also, don't stand anywhere
near a load of stacked round bales, every few
years here in Michigan we have one or two people
killed that way.

Click to expand...

That was dumb the hay will be delivered by tractor and hay wagon. he can just take it off for me i'm sure then we can just use a rear 3pt bale spear to move it. I agree the loader on the b275 isn't made to move the heavy loads very far.

Pull the loader up to the bale with the bucket tripped. Wrap a chain around the bale lift a little. Drag the bale off being ready to drop the loader when the bale gets to the edge of the trailer.

I unloaded hundreds of bales this way until we got a spear on the loader back in the 70's.

gary

When I had a lot of round bales to move I used a hydraulic dump loader to put them on the wagon, but it took too long to take them off individually so I just pushed them onto the ground. Then later moved them into rows. Maybe you could just push them off and then pick them up with the 3 point spear.

I stagger my bales in the field and set a hot wire
around them .When I feed just move the hot wire and
move the feeder.i have also moved bales by using a
chain and dragging them.

Make a ~3'W x ~6'L sled out of a couple 4x6 hardwood runners and whatever cross pieces are available, chain or cable to pull it with. Put beside bale(s) and butt bale onto it with loader, secure bale to sled with come-along. Tow sled to feeding area. Cheap and low tech, but similar worked well for FIL for about 3 years, bales were already on ground .

All good ideas. I think I have a nice dry spot I can stick the bales in ahead of time and just keep it rationed with wire. thats a great idea and another farmer near me does that too.

If I know that tractor, and I think I do, it wasn't built to move a round bale ANY distance with a FEL. Drag it or 3 pt spear. Listen to what Ray has to say. He has it all covered.

(quoted from post at 12:01:15 10/16/14) If I know that tractor, and I think I do, it wasn't built to move a round bale ANY distance with a FEL. Drag it or 3 pt spear. Listen to what Ray has to say. He has it all covered.

Click to expand...

Yes he seems to. I will get a 3pt spear or make one if I have time and be ok. Carrying that weight on the front isn't going to work

First caution on FELs and hay is the round bale rolling out of the
bucket, down the arms and across the "station" and you. I use a
hay spear and stick it in the end of the bale; no safety problem.
If you have a grapple that and the bucket should do fine. If you
tie it into the bucket, I'd advise keeping the bale low to the
ground so that it is lower than the station and no way can it roll
back on you.

Smaller tractors, as said have a problem on the front end and
tires with the large 5x6 bales that were popular here for 10's of
years. Nowadays the 4' wide bales are popular and are usually 5
or 5.5 in diameter. Seldom 6' as they advertise.

A 5x6 can way up to 2000# if wet and tightly packed. Down here
they usually ran about 1600. Either way by the time you get that
much weight out in front of the tractor you have a lot of stress
on the front end. Adding weight via the 3 pt helps to take some
of the load off the front end; put a 3 pt heavy implement on it.
The 4.5 weighs about half the 5x6.

Problem with 3 pt spikes is height. You need a low trailer to get
into them and trailers, like my 16' tandem have a rail around
them and a small tractor can't get over that.

I have used the rope trick to pull them off the trailer onto the
ground where the 3 pt spear can stick them. The loader slides
the bales into the trailer end to end. He sets one on then pushes
it forward with the next and so on. If he has a large tractor or a
FEL he can set them in from the side which will be easier to roll
them out with the rope but they can also roll off the trailer
enroute too......

When time to unload you can tie the rope to the rear of the
trailer, looping around the bale and using your tractor to pull on
the other end and drag the bales onto the ground. Sometimes
takes a little work, to work the rope down between the bales as
they are pushed together in the loading process, but do it and
get the rope below the center of the bale...won't try to tip over
on you and will come out easier.

3 pt. spears aren't hard to build. Just look at sales catalogs to
see what you need in the way of a main spear and sub spears if
you choose to aid in preventing the bale from spinning on the
spear. However, if you stab the bale above the center, that
pretty much solves the spinning problem and you don't need the
sub spears.

I make the length of the spear about 6" shorter than the width of
the bale to be hauled for a couple of reasons. On my last one I
used an axle from an 18 wheeler, sharpened the end with a
grinder and bolted the hub to the 3pt framing. Worked great
and cheap...got the axle out of a wrecking yard.

When I only had my little Ford 2000 (30 hp) and used it to haul
5x6 bales, I made a frame out front of the tractor and bolted it
onto the holes in the front axle. I made it large enough to stack
6 concrete blocks in it and that was adequate counter weight to
keep the front tires safely on the ground.

Others here have done as hayman said and staggered them on
the ground with a movable hot wire around them. This is the
best setup for really wet conditions.

A hay ring is imperative in my opinion as in no time flat the cows
will be all over the nice new bale, use it for a toilet and bed. The
ring prevents that and is well worth what you pay for it. If you
don't know why they are made round, when the bale usually sits
on the side, you will find out the first time you move one. Grin
I leave my bales sitting on the side and that has worked best for
me.

Now that you have some ideas from all of us, find out what works
for you and go for it.

HTH,
Mark