OT Runaway Round Bale

Question, anyone ever have a round bale get away and cause damage? I watched one get loose as some neighbor was loading them and head down towards the highway. It was larger on one end and made a curving turn. But it got me thinking if it had been nice and solid what it could do if it hit the wire fence with any kind of momentum.

Couple years back a drummer from a rock band was killed in europe when a bale rolled down a hill and into his car. Can't remember who,but he was from a well known band.

I had one roll right over on to the seat and steering wheel of the tractor one time. VERY luckily nobody was on it at the time. I was up in the top of the barn rolling one out by hand on to the loader so it didn't hit the ground so hard. Never did that again. Raised hob on the steering wheel,seat and lights.

The man who cuts my hay had a round bale take off 2 years ago. It was sitting on a hill and took off for the road at the bottom. No damage though.

Then last year he rolled the baler on the same hill. Fortunately his Ford didn't go with it. After a lot of welding and elbow grease, he was back to baling again.

That's one of the advantages of square bales. Haven't seen one roll yet.

When I got my NH 855, one of the first bales I made with it took off and rolled into my 5-strand barbwire fence at high speed. The fence held it somehow, but it bent a T-post and stretched the wire out. It was really fluffy hay though, I could easily see a tougher bale completely leveling a fence like that. Luckily those heavier bales tend to squat a bit and are less prone to rolling away.

I had just upgraded from a NH 850 which never really did make a "round" bale so I was pretty surprised to see a bale take off like that. After that, I learned to just drive around more on my steep fields and only drop off bales in "safe zones".

Mike Edwards from Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

Aaron

Da in Ga
come to central ohio, you can see a square bale role!!!!!!!!!

Have not caused damage yet but put one in irrigation canal the first year with a round baler. I always pull out a put on flat ground.

i know a guy who dropped one at top of hill it jumped a fence and ended up on the road

Our nanny governmanet is talking about outlawing round bales, anyway. Their thoughts are the animals aren't getting a square meal--

Remember reading about some sap having a round bale roll down the arms of his loader with him sitting in the seat with no rops or any other protection. Bale spears are good.

Yes, I had been helping a friend/farmer with hay for a couple of years and most of the hay ground is hills, much better with round bales, but they do take off, end up in hedgerows, small ravines/creek beds, and swamps. We use a 3150 fwa jd for loading and retrieving those.

In '09, I was driving the tandem mack with a sileage/grain body, to haul the bales to the barn where they are stored under cover, and I turned around, one was coming right at me, his son was on the round baler, and had been trying to drop em where they would stay, but there were some that rolled down the hill.

This was a big field, 30 acres or more, and the 4440/315 NH was also baling at the same time, his brother had parked his pick up at the bottom of the field, and just like murphy's law, one started from the top, right towards it, while he and I were standing by the Mack truck. Both balers stopped to watch, they could not do anything.

Before you know it, I was sprinting across that field to the other side to head it off, they are 5' bales, and they average 700 lbs, tight and dense too. I caught up to the bale, got behind it and jammed my elbow/forearm into it to act like a brake, just kept working on it, till it slowed and I got it stopped, turned it sideways too, both of them said "I don't know how he done it". I wish my good friend the farmer saw this, he'd have gotten a good laugh and a funny memory in that field. It was dead on to that truck too, bet he won't ever park there again.


In '07 we did like 40 or 50 acres, before he got the new baler, had a big square custom bale and another round baler do the same, nice dry, no humidity stretch, so much hay down, he called me to load the truck, and don't you know I bump one of those rounds, it starts going, but being quick thinking, I just headed it off with the tractor and got a fork in front of it, was headed to a strip of nice corn and then a swamp. This farmer is no slouch when it comes to money, losing bales from rolling off hillsides is not on the agenda nor acceptable, money is money and that hay pays the bills on this new equipment, he sells to a huge dairy 2000 head.

We had another, the town called him on it, was in a V shaped creek/ditch, the 3150JD with FWA got it, had those wheels in the ditch too, a$$ end up but got 'er out. Another one ended up in the swamp, farmer was working alone, he called me, I went over, he got the NH skidsteer buried, went back for the 3150 and got that one out of a swamp.

Won't be the last of them I am sure, lots of fun getting em out of tough places or keeping them from rolling. I suggested that this could be a new sport, bale rolling, in that big field on a side hill, field is perfect for it, just don't hit that big new house at the bottom, for sure I thought we would see one on their back deck/patio or in the living room.

Farmer was killed about a week back near Hedrick, IA due to a big round bail and a rail road tracks.

That happened to a guy about 15 miles west of me 12 years or so ago. Hate to say it but that whole family is dangerous around equipment.

Rick

Not a round bale, but I caught a square bale that came over the loader at me. It was high enough it cleared the muffler. I leaned ahead, face into the steering wheel, but my back took most of it. Seat broke straight down and it pushed the fenders out against the wheels.
Lucky day for me!

Ha! When I read the title, I thought you were going to say that it rolled down the hill and wound up in the pool/pond/tand/body of water at the lowest elevation.

Never lost one, but had to stop a few over the years....new ones are especially troublesome.

Mark

Had a MF 1450 (Vermeer 504F, I was told) and baled some nice, dry hay. Dropped a bale on level ground, went home. High wind and rain came up, blew one of the bales into the road, which fortunately was not thickly traveled. Went to field with my daughters and pushed the bale back into the field. That bale dosen"t make quite a 5 foot diameter bale.(4 feet wide)

KEH

It raises he!! with the side of pichup boxes,don't ask how I know.

Every once in a while, I'll have one get away, as I am dumping the bale, on the baler. Once they sit for a week they lose much of the tendency to roll.

We bale green wet grass here in Ireland, about 1 ton in each chopped bale,when they take off you don't go after them!. Had one let out off the baler by the contractor, it rolled into the front wheel of the rowing tractor and nearly overturned it!!
Sam

That ain't funny. I DID have one break away one day and wound up in a neighbor's pond. Just far enough in we couldn't get it out. Best fishing for two years was right around it.

Happens too often. Nearly every year I get at least one in the pond. My staging area where I store my feeding hay drops off pretty fast. We unload several loads before moving into the feeding lot. Good sign of when weve got too many staged....

Fences, posts, etc are all part of it baling on 30 percent and greater slopes that may break in 2 directions. No matter how good a job you do, every so often one gets away. One of my customers lives at the bottom of a bluff along the river. Her method of delivery is I open the gate, drop the tailgate, back up and stop. Bale heads over the hill. So far, in 10 years, 52 rolls a year I've gotten 1 shed, 1 porch, 1 dog, and 1 in the river.

Several years ago a man was lifting round bales with an IH M fitted with a loader near my hometown. One rolled back on him and he is in a wheelchair for life.
Always, please use the right equipment.

It flattens a nice path through a mature cornfield. I too know of someone who was put in a wheelchair from a falling bale. Jim

Have a couple fields here in southwest PA where the square bales roll away.

About two years ago a friend of mine was killed when one rolled off the trailer and crushed him. It was on the top and rolled off when he released the tie downs.

What Happened?

Yes, I've had wind move bales too.

Sounds like bowling.......or target practice LOL

Last winter my son was feeding his cows by letting the bale unroll while going down hill. One of my grandsons (8 years old) sure thought that was fun to watch....and decided to participate. He ran after the bale as it was unrolling and jumped on! That bale promptly flipped him forward into its direction of travel and pushed him down into the mud and up and over him it went! 'Didn't hurt him....in fact I don't think he even knew "what hit him". Sure was funny to watch. I told my grandson, "'Bet you won't do that again"!

I was off the farm by the time the big round bales became popular, but do live on a hill above our old farm, and have watched a few of them roll down into a low spot more than once. What was funny was when lightning hit one out in the filed, with several others not too far away. Fire Department came, but truck could not put it out. Did smother it down enough that Jeff picked it up with loader and headed for creek. and let it roll off hill into creek, then picked it up when sure fire was out.