Question about a Joe Dog

So I am knocking ideas around on how best to haul more bales of hay in one trip, without spending a fortune on a new purpose built bale wagon. And I hit on an idea. Could a fella hook a joe dog fifth wheel rig to the tractor hitch , and pull a old semie trailer, say 30-40 long? I realize this rig would take some skill to put through some gates/lane ways , but is this a practical idea? These old trailers that are no longer fit for highway trucking, can still handle a lot of hay. Regrettably I don?t have a tractor with air brakes, so I couldn?t make use of existing brakes on a trailer, and would have to cage or remove existing brake, and rely on tractor for stopping. Any thoughts, experiences, ideas or suggestions welcome. Bruce

It would work just like any other wagon with no brakes. Plus a very heavy duty one too.

A fellow here uses the same idea but with a single axle grain trailer. He does not have to have a CDL or license the trailer this way. He got ride of his grain trucks. He likes it as he saves money on the fees and fewer engines to maintain. He found an hydraulic to air system. It does not have the brake away/parking brakes like normal air brakes but when he pulls the remote lever it creates air pressure to the brakes.

Get an old bus, remove the body and engine. Attach a tow bar arrangement to the front axle. Now your wagon tows like any other without the Joe dog, albeit not as sharply. If the bus has juice brakes, you could even supply power to them from the tractors hydraulics using a purpose built valve. A forty foot wagon at less cost than a semi trailer.
Ben

I had to look up Joe Dog hitch. LOL I assume it’s a ‘Dollie’ hitch as we call it here. A farmer around here used to haul corn to town with a tandem axle Dollie and a grain hopper semi trailer. He must have had some kind of an air brake system hooked up because he pulled it with a 4430 Deere and had the trailer full from front to back. He probably had 800 or 900 bushels on board. He used that rig for five years or so till the hopper trailer broke in two.

Bruce, My neighbor built a dolly for his 5th wheel flatbed trailer that worked good for hauling round bales. My friend here welded a ball hitch on his 3 point bale spear and pulls a 28 ft. 5th wheel flat bed with his NH TS 6030. The dolly could turn that trailer on a dime which you had to be careful with a load on. Just a couple different ways they haul round bales around here.

Take an old truck frame or axles. Make a wagon or trailer in a length that will facilitate a certain number of bales. We used old axles with some wood timbers about 26 feet long years ago, for dry hay when we would chop it and blow in the mow. We have an old truck frame about 24 feet long we use for round bales. Put some wood 4x4's across it and load. We also run a plank along the edge to help with making them tip in for the top layer so they will stay in place better. It does turn kind of long. the truck tires will handle the load much better than those cheap implement tires and no spindle trouble either. We use truck axles or frames for lots of wagons and trailers. More durable over time.
Why not just use one of your older trucks for the joe dog deal with a fifth wheel where the bed is and pull with a tractor like that. Would eliminate one set of maintenance. Or you could use a regular single axle dolly like UPS or such the tongue would have weight on it like that. A tandem dolly would pull like a wagon with little weight on the tongue.

I have gone through the same dilemma and thought about doing what you are describing.

Which way to go depends on how far you are hauling your bales and how many you have to haul.


Self load self dump wagons are great for short hauls but if you need to to move the bales more than a few miles behind a tractor the time saved loading and unloading gets eaten up by the slow tractor speed.

Using an old trailer with a converter dolly like you describe will haul more bales at a time but then you need a tractor at each end for loading/unloading and another to pull it with.

Inline wagons behind a pick up work well for longer hauls, the self unloading ones make for a quick trip turnaround time.

Myself I use an old Louisville with an over sized rack on the deck. 2 rows of 4 on the bottom front to back like a tube and another row on top.
Real heavy silage bales I only take 8 at a time.

I only need 1 tractor in the field for loading.
Hauling 12 bales at a time and using the hoist it unloads a nice row in less than a minute.

On a 9 mile (each way) haul I average a load of 12 in 50 minutes.

Even with a tractor and wagon doing 10 mph a trip is going to take you an hour each way plus at least half an hour each to load/unload so probably 3 1/2 hours per trip.

In 3 1/2 hours I do 4 trips which means you would need to haul 48 bales in one trip with a wagon to move the same number a day as a truck can.



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I know a guy who did just that. He said it was hard to stop on the road when it was loaded. He had a 4030 and a 4440 Deere. He said it would push the 4030 right through an intersection if he wasn't careful.

old school bus longest you can find. Remove body , possibly moving rear door section up to driver area. could fabricate self roll off if desired. make sure rating is below cdl requirements. another possibly cheap older u haul as all are under cdl classification. Remove box sell for cost of whole truck. My two cents worth , would give you change back if wanted. LOL

Been using a 18 foot flat bed truck with a hoist in
the past but, it is becoming a unfriendly world for
farm trucks here in South Central Ontario.
Emissions test on heavy trucks, annual safety
inspections, and draconian rules about oversized
loads and weight restrictions, as well all loads
carried on a truck must be strapped down. All of
these things are making it not as easy to run a hay
truck. Just strapping the load, and removing the
straps again will eat 20-25 minutes each load. For a
5 mile trip. So any advantage gained in road speed,
is soon lost. No reason that I can see why the
tractor that loads the bales couldn?t pull the load as
well.

I have loaded thousands of semi trailer loads in the field with tractor and dolly. Taken a few home at night with tractor.Stopping is the main issue. A big heavy tractor with good brakes and plan yuor stops in advance.
In my old vegetable growing area around here dollies and flat bed trailers could be bought cheap.

(quoted from post at 09:55:13 12/01/18) Been using a 18 foot flat bed truck with a hoist in
the past but, it is becoming a unfriendly world for
farm trucks here in South Central Ontario.
Emissions test on heavy trucks, annual safety
inspections, and draconian rules about oversized
loads and weight restrictions, as well all loads
carried on a truck must be strapped down. All of
these things are making it not as easy to run a hay
truck. Just strapping the load, and removing the
straps again will eat 20-25 minutes each load. For a
5 mile trip. So any advantage gained in road speed,
is soon lost. No reason that I can see why the
tractor that loads the bales couldn?t pull the load as
well.

Click to expand...

If you are having issues with oversize loads and heavy truck inspections then have a look at the inline haulers.

Google "Red Rhino Self Unloading Hay Trailer"

A friend has one and is very pleased with it.
The way it is designed there is no need for tying down and a half ton will pull it at highway speeds nicely.

Tandem axle set up that hauls 8 rounds in a row, so under legal width.

Self unloading with the pull of a handle, no hydraulics required.

The only mod he did was to add about 2 feet to the back of it so it would comfortably hold 8 5x6 bales.

I have sold straw to him in the past and found it very easy to load up.

They make some pretty good 12 volt compressors nowadays. Leave the spring brakes, if you need more WHOA! power, just cut the air supply.

I bet it would not be hard to set up a compressor head to run off the PTO. Some air line, a couple gladhands, and a Johnny bar (or floor-mounted treadle valve) and off you go.

With working brakes on the trailer and dolly, you wouldn't even need to use the tractor brakes.