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There were basically three kinds of bale loaders in the '50s and '60s being used. As mentioned, the pop up kind that in my opion THREW the bale at you, and two versions of the other. Think of the latter two versions as a metal trough setting at a 45% slope on two wheels. An arm/tongue was at the side of the loader and slipped into a stake pocket to facilitate pulling the unit. The trough had a link chain running up the center of it. Every few links had a link that had a projection that would catch the bale to move it up the trough. Usually at the top was a short flat area for a bale to rest on until you removed it, or the next bale up would kick it on off the end. I mentioned that there were two kinds, one was ground driven as mentioned, the other had a one cylinder gasoline engine to drive the bale moving chain. I preferred the latter since just driving faster wouldn't bring the bales up faster. With these loaders a driver and stacker can load and set in a stack 1200 to 1600 bales in a long day. I know, I worked one summer for custom bale haulers. The year would have been about 1964. I received 1� cents for each bale when it went on the truck, and another 1� cents when it was placed in the stack. Good money for a young kid, but very tiring in the heat of the summer. The worst were heavy rain soaked bales that HAD to be removed so that the next operation could begin. Most were alfalfa bales. Similar devices are available today to move bales from trucks/wagons into haymows. They are electric.
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