Hay Rope Questions...

Super-H-Mike · Dec 10, 2016

I am kicking around the idea of putting the old hay trolley/track and rope set up back in use in my old barn. I currently use a PTO elevator to unload which works fine, but it is slow,especially when I am by myself which happens more and more it seems, and the bales need to be dragged away from the end of the elevator and stacked. I have everything except a rope. My barn is 80 foot. The rope needs to be about 250 foot because it runs the length of the barn and back, plus about 30 foot up to the peak and 30 back to ground level, plus some extra . There is a pencil written note in the barn from 1955 that says a new rope was bought then , of 240 feet, but 250 would have been better. I cant seem to find a good used rope that length , that is still usable. New ropes are pricey. I did find some new rolls of poly rope for sale at a good price. Any reason poly would be bad for this ? And what diameter would you say ? The guy has several to choose from anywhere from 3/4 to 1 1/2 inch x 300 foot. I put up only about 1000 small squares a year but it seems like it would be much easier the old way.( Maybe , lol ) It was always pulled by a tractor but I think I could rig up an electric motor or stationary engine to pull the rope for those times I am by myself. Just blue sky for now, ideas ? Thanks

K Effective · Dec 10, 2016

Great timing- I was just about to toss the old rope on the burn pile to get it out of the way! The trolly is still up there, the forks hang on the wall to get them out of the way. I still have the rails at the peak, from which we hung the elevator that runs the length of the barn and drops the bales about anywhere you want. I remember that the trolley was giving us fits before we replaced it with the elevator- it would start to drop the bales as soon as it made the trip up to the peak- before they entered the loft- not so good.

We replaced the rope probably late 1980s or so, I think Dad had to order it from a hardware store even then. It is sisal, not nylon. Not sure the nylon would like the friction under load, just a guess.

I dream of adapting this system to round bales, so I can be completely autonomous, but I'm still not sure how to move them around or stack/unstack them once up in the loft

jCarroll · Dec 10, 2016

I have concerns about the poly rope stretching .......... and then snapping back when the load is reduced.
But WTH, just stay out of harm's way and see if it works.

Charlie M · Dec 10, 2016

My first job as a kid growing up on small farm in the 60's was to run the tractor on the hay fork. I think I was about 7 years old and used a Farmall A. Our fork could take up to 12 bales at a time so Dad stacked the wagon so the bales didn't have to be re positioned, my mother stabbed the forks and Dad did the mow.I can remember a few times of bales falling off before reach the top of the barn. You needed to be getting out of the way in a hurry.It was another 4-5 years before we bought an elevator.

gab · Dec 10, 2016

I have the same story, different tractor, Super C.

gtractorfan · Dec 10, 2016

It was a step forward when we got an elevator and quit using hay forks. I "prided myself" by stacking 8 bales on top of the 12 that were within the hooks. Dad was in the mow and he used to say something about being "concerned about the track" but he never told me to quit with the overloads. Thinking about it later, I'd think it wasn't only a danger to the track but to the rafters holding up the track. What a mess it would have been if the rafters gave way! In your situation can't you run a pile up there and when they're up to the elevator stop and stack them?

gtractorfan · Dec 10, 2016

By the way, if your track and carriage aren't up I think it would be a terrible job getting that up. I wonder how it was done in the old days.

IA Roy · Dec 10, 2016

The setup I thought would be the greatest was an inclined elevator that fed into a horizontal elevator, near the peak of the roof and then a diverter that could be adjusted to drop them anywhere the length of the barn. I only removed them from that barn and did not see it put the bales into the barn. I have heard of just dumping the bales and not stacking them. I heard that taking them out of the barn was twice as hard and they went back to stacking them. Also that would depend on if you needed all the capacity of the barn as stacking them utilizes the barn capacity to the max.

P I Pete · Dec 10, 2016

There was a company that built a winch run with electric motor to pull hay fork rope, it was mounted in the hay mow then the fork sticker would control it. If my memory is correct it was built by Hedlund, the barn cleaner people. Pete

cool hand · Dec 10, 2016

I too have the same story, only I rode a horse. His name was Duke.

FBH44 · Dec 10, 2016

Learn how to do long splicing.

gab · Dec 10, 2016

I haven't been around the farm in over 40 years but for a thousand bales a year I'd drop them off the elevator and mow them on a rainy day. When I was making hay with my brother, in the big milking barn the bales went up an elevator onto a conveyor the length of the barn. Had a rope controlled diverter on to dump them where you wanted, mowed them when ever we had a little time. we used to put hay in four barns, two were filled to you couldn't wedge another one in. I usually ran the kicker baler and he hauled and unloaded.

jon f mn · Dec 10, 2016

Same story with a ford jubilee.

teddy52food · Dec 10, 2016

Albany Mn. has a rope making machine. I think they make rope to sell.

JMS/.MN · Dec 10, 2016

I don"t think that would be a step up, especially if you work alone. I built my own conveyors- outside one was 3/4 inch pipe, and the inside horizontal one was made of angle iron, with a tipoff that I designed which could be slid along the top angle iron of the conveyor and locked in any position with a vice grip. The tipoff was simply quarter by 4 flat steel on a hinge on one end and a supporting rod on the other end. One of these was mounted on either side of the #55 flat chain that brought the bales through. Whichever side I locked up made the bales tip to the other side. I imagine with so many dairy farms quitting milking, there would be used units available.

For fun, google "vertical auger hay conveyor".

NEKS · Dec 10, 2016

Dad told me the story when his brother and him were putting up hay. Had a little ole cart that this old man rode on to drive the team pulling hay up in the barn. Dad younger brother was a ornery cuss. Dad said he would spread the forks out as wide as he could to take all the hay he could. The old man was pulling it up and it would not go in the hay mow door. The horses on the cart started to dig in. When it popped through the door the old mans feet were above his head and holding on to the reins.

mtny · Dec 11, 2016

I do about 3000 bales a year , sometimes no help . I picked up a decent 48 foot New Holland elevator for 750 bucks , cut a hole bout 10 foot above mow floor . Neighbor had an old 24 foot skeleton elevator he gave me just needed a motor . Hung that at an angle to within 3 foot of the peak . Lets me drop 600 or so in without a problem. Next morning when it's a little cooler , go up and stack.

Bob NY · Dec 11, 2016

We unloaded baled hay that way from 1959 through 1967. It was loose hay before that. We had a belt driven winch and a 4 tine grapple fork that lifted 10 bales at a time and moved the length of the barn. I sold the farm in 1984, but I wouldn't be surprised if everything is still there.

Leroy · Dec 11, 2016

The carriers are made for a 1" rope Larger would not go in and smaller would not fit in mounts correctly. And I have seen when the complete unit came down while loaded in the mow, luckily no one was under it at the time. Don't remember how many bales were on it at the time. It was back up and operating the next day, I have no idea how they got up to it. And that was possibly only 3 years ago and it was in use last year, team of horses pulling load up, I think it was considered to heavy a load for one horse. It is still in my barn but not used since 1954. Rented farm used one in 60's-70's and I cannot see how one person could do it. Was one sticking fork, one on trip-pull back rope, one on tractor pulling load up and 2 people in mow stacking. And the bales will not spread out to fill mow and if you just drop in pile very hard and dangerous to get out, you cannot clime on stack to take out and having to pull out from under hard to get them out and when you get some out the rest of stack might come down on top of you. We ended up cutting a door in sidewall of barn for elevator as it was second mow and unreachable other wise. I first helped in putting up the hay in that barn when I was 13 in 59. I was tractor driver for baler. That was the last year neighbor was alive and I was second person to see him when he died. Heart atack while forking out the cow barn, laying on his back in the manure with the fork across his chest, something a young boy does not forget. We farmed the place for years after.

rrlund · Dec 11, 2016

I have to second what Ia Roy said. Skeleton elevators with tip offs is the way to go.

Dean · Dec 11, 2016

Same story at my uncles farm in Iowa with an 8N in reverse.

My job beat the heck out of stacking the bales in the loft.

Dean

GordoSD · Dec 11, 2016

Got any friends or kids in the Navy. Any Bosn's Mate worth his salt should be able to Kumshaw you what you need,huh RicH?

sandel · Dec 11, 2016

Dad put up loose hay until mid-fifties. I started my life as an operator driving straddle of a windrow pulling a MH hay loader while he built a load. Then I drove on the rope while he set grapple forks, tripped to drop and pulled back forks to do it again. Usually unloaded several loads along the length of the 60 foot mow floor then went up and started mowing it back to the sides.
Then the following spring he handled the hay again when he forked the manure into an old case spreader. Almost unbelievable how many tons he handled multiple times with a pitch fork-year after year.

But I digress. Reason for comment is to urge caution if you try to drop bales from trolley track. Those old barns would stand under lots of weight but couldn't take the stress when we started dropping bales from a height. Broke quite a few bales to begin with and wasn't long before the native lumber floor joists(walnut and oak) started to break from dropping 7-8 bales at a time.

In this part the country(east. Ks)it would ordinarily make sense to spend a little money and time putting up an open front shed. Doesn't take all that big a shed to hold a 1000 bales. Simpler to unload, load out and alternate usage options. For what it's worth. Good luck.

Mike in Mn. · Dec 11, 2016

We still use forks in one barn, it works best with two people though, one sticking forks and one driving. We usually pull up a half a load and then stack till were done. Forks take four down each side with two down the middle and throw one on top of each end for a total of 12. My Son and I have handled many bales and we both agree we would both rather unload this way than pulling tangled up bales out of a kicker rack and using an elevator. One plus is they can be spread out the length of the barn. Your original question was cost, we installed a new rope in 2014, got it bulk from Fleet Farm, 7/8 sisal rope, it was $.65 a foot. We always coil it up inside and never drive over it with the wagons etc. and get close to twenty years or so.

Super-H-Mike · Dec 12, 2016

Thanks, that cost would be reasonable to me.

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