building big round bale trailer

TP in IA

Member
How wide(far apart) should i space the bale carrier arms ? bales weigh around 1200 to 1400 pounds plus or minus thanks
 

Diameter of bales not weight would dictate distance between bale supports(carrier arms).

I think if you have 5' diameter bales one should space arms around 66'' apart center to center where bales sits & 3' between each set of arms where bale will be sitting.

That's the measurement I utilized on a trailer many yrs ago & bales hauled very well.
 
I used to have a wagon of that style, but found a flat top, mesh, check plate or even wood, with decent bolsters on the end to keep bales from rolling off, made a much more versatile wagon. I could haul bales of and confirmation, even large squares. If you make your wagon for only one size, it limits its use.
 
There are at least two popular styles.

Are you building a trailer that hauls the bales like a tootsie roll, or two sitting crosswise, with four in front of the axle and two behind and more on top?
 
(quoted from post at 10:03:25 08/05/20) building one 3 on each side 2 in front and 1 behind axel

Please Post pictures if possiable I would be very interested to see what you are doing.

Tks
 
Dad built his oldest brother a big round bale cart out of the chassis of a junked out school bus. He had the junk yard remove the body, front fenders, cowl, and enclosure for all the kids, engine and transmission. The rear axle with dual wheels would and have cost way more so Dad got the front axle only, towed it home backwards. Frame spend lots of time on 55 gallon drums, loader moved it easily. Front of the frame was cut and bent together and formed the hitch, front axle had kingpins welded solid so it couldn't turn. It was designed to haul 6 ahead of the axle and 4 behind the axle, 3 per side ahead, 2 behind the axle each side. With 10.00x20 truck tires on a 12,000# cap axle and 2 bales carried on the tractor drawbar everything should have worked well. Dad found some 4-5 ft lengths of 4-5 inch diameter heavy wall pipe to weld on the frame rails to support the bales. To put a proper bead on that thick steel he REALLY leaned on his Miller Thinderbolt 225 AC/DC welder! He had a neighbor use it a day or two to haul bales before he pulled it the 20 miles to his brother's.
Then a couple months later Dad pulls into his brother's yard for a family get-to-gether. There's his bale cart with 18 bales on it, not ten like he planned. Dad was regretting getting talked into making the bale cart. He knew his older brother was terrible with equipment! Over 27,000# on two 6,000# capacity truck tires on a 12,000# axle.
 

Like Bruce says, you will likely be happier with a wagon that lets you haul different sized rounds, and also squares.

This is what a neighbor built for me over the past few months. I have only hauled a couple loads, but I am liking it better than the other ones I made a few years ago. The crossmembers are 20 inches apart. It hauls any diameter round bale and square bales as well.


mvphoto59918.jpg
 

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