Movin' BIG bales

So, I have a few ideas in my head already but I figured i would see if anyone around here had any genius thoughts. So, this year i bought 30 tons of hay- 1/2 in small bales and 1/2 in big rectangular bales. I wanted to try to ease my way into using big bales because the small bales are getting harder and harder to find and the cost is more. Anyhow, I have a ford 2000 with a loader, but only a bucket. I do not have forks or bale spears and I probably wont have them this winter. Worst case I will flake off the bales into a trailer, but it's time consuming. I just built a bale feeder out of some scrap metal and i would like to move a whole bale into it. Building some bale forks right now is not a good option with our recent snowfall. I figure I can pick them up with some lifting straps, but that's a pain too. So, does anyone have any ideas of a better way to move these? They approximately weight 1000-1200lbs and are currently single stacked 3 high in 1 row.
 
With out fork your pretty much stuck with straps or chains. Before I had a bale spike I moved round bale by way of a chain going form one corner other bucket to the other.
 
The ford 2000 I used with a loader on it would not safely pick
up 1200 lb bale to any useful height. The axle on it had been
rewelded at least once too and didn?t appear very beefy.
 
Be VERY careful lifting those,that they don't come right back over the bucket,down the loader and on to you. There's a real good chance you'll die,or at least spend the rest of your life paralyzed. I pushed a round bale out of the top of the barn on to the bucket one time and it rolled right over the back of it. It bent the steering wheel and fenders,and that was just straw.
 
With the bucket lifting one end a foot or so, put 2 2X6s under the bale about 1/4 the length in from each end. Then use ratchet straps (load rated) or tow straps to sling each end
to the loader frame at the bucket. Lift carefully, it may not move when lifted. As noted by others, you are pushing the far side of best practices. Jim
 
Hmmm. Well I may have to get creative. I can always push em into my truck and flake em off with a pitch fork into the feeder from the bed. Thanks for the warnings rrlund, I actually just got done reading about those exact scenarios! This is the exact reason I only got half of my bales in big bales- so I could experiment and find a good way to use em.
 
Whatever you do never lift the bale so high with the
bucket rolled back so it rolls down the arms and
smashes you . The neighbor hauls round bales with
just a bucket and chain all the time and has for
years .
Untitled URL Link
 
Do you have a scraper on the 3 point ? You can
carry round or square bales buy backing tight
against the bale and using a 3 inch ratchet strap
around the bale to scraper and pull it tight
 
As others said with bale rolling down loader arms,
also it this tractor loaded? 2000 is a pretty light
tractor, you may be better off buying a 3pt bale
spike or a set of 3pt pallet forks. Won't help if there
stacked 3 high, but you could pull them down with a
chain. I had to work with big squares last winter I
hated them, cutting them open, loading the flakes
that always fell apart into a pickup, then they fell
apart further carrying them into the pasture. Good
luck.
 
You might be at the tractors limit with a 1200 lb bale. You could make a platform
attached to the three point, and roll a bale onto that, and feed it off in flakes.
Or, take the bucket off, attach a looped chain to the bucket mount holes. Drive up
to a bale, unroll the chains, roll the bale over the chain and hook them back up
and draw them tight using the bucket roll back. Once over the feeder, just cut the
strings. Not real handy, but it's cheap!
Ben
 
Everybody is giving sound advice for moving ROUND bales. The OP has purchased large SQUARE bales. :wink:
 
(quoted from post at 13:29:54 12/03/18) Everybody is giving sound advice for moving ROUND bales. The OP has purchased large SQUARE bales. :wink:

Didn't think this through before posting. :roll:
I could see large squares rolling down the loader arms too in the right circumstance.
 
Buy forks for the back so you can carry a bale on the back for ballast and carry it low. Then rig up a couple of strong pipes sticking straight up from the back of the bucket spaced a couple maybe three feet apart to keep the bale from rolling back on you. Weld them to a piece of 4" angle iron that will hook over the back of the bucket and chain down with a load binder and a chain going under the bucket and hooking over the cutting edge of the bucket. Now you can more safely lift the bale high enough to get it over the top of the feeder.
 
Another thing to think about. Only lift the bale as high as you have to to get from point A to point B. Lifting a bale up say 10 foot In the air makes for an easy way to lay the tractor over on it side. I have a friend who got a tractor with a loader on it. He had never had one before and he filled the bucket with rocks and then lifted it up as high as he could and took off. He got the slop and laid the tractor over on it side. He got lucky he was able to jump clear of it before it rolled over on it side
 
I remember there used to be some show on TV called Rescue 911. I believe it was hosted by William Shatner. Some doctor had some cattle. He went out one day,in a hurry,didn't put the spear on,laid a chain down,pushed the bale on to it,got the bucket up close and looped the chain over the bale and hooked to the back of the bucket. He raised it too high,it came back over center,the chain slipped off the bucket when it went slack and it slid right down on him. It bent him right over the back of the seat. He lived,but he was paralyzed from the waist down.
 
(quoted from post at 12:58:11 12/03/18) I remember there used to be some show on TV called Rescue 911. I believe it was hosted by William Shatner. Some doctor had some cattle. He went out one day,in a hurry,didn't put the spear on,laid a chain down,pushed the bale on to it,got the bucket up close and looped the chain over the bale and hooked to the back of the bucket. He raised it too high,it came back over center,the chain slipped off the bucket when it went slack and it slid right down on him. It bent him right over the back of the seat. He lived,but he was paralyzed from the waist down.

Probably the Doctor here in Wichita.
 
Yes they will my boss smashed the top of the cab
on the new Holland tv140 last summer stacking hay
in the shed
 
You don't have enough tractor. I move 1000# round bales with a spear on the front of a 50 HP Kubota, and it's all that tractor wants. And all I want, when I get on a little slope and the uphill front wheel starts coming off the ground.

Build a little sled that you can tow, roll the bale onto it, and tow it out to the feeder.
 
You need a stone boat!
cvphoto4629.png
 
I don't have a solution to your problem, But I have watched several people Wrestle with those big square bales. What they saved in Cost They spent in time. I think You will end up Feeding them in flakes. My only idea is to build a big Platform On a 3 point carry all, then stack A pile of flakes On that. Maybe a Ratchet strap over the top of the flake pile would hold a larger load. You certainly need to be careful.
Where you are feeding Is a big consideration. If you are in a barn You can use a trailer But trailers don't work very well in A foot of mud. I have a 2 wheel Round Bale mover ( upgraded Level of a Bail buggy). Something like that might work for moving the bales, But once you cut the strings????? Do you plan on feeding a full Bale at a time Or just some flakes? Explaining How and where where you're feeding might help Generate some ideas from the folks.
 
You might be able to move one bake with a rar, 3pt fork.

The three high part is tough, really is nothing safe your tractor can do with that. Flake them off.

Paul
 
Thanks for all the replies. I think I will change my focus to just loading them into a truck or trailer for moving and then flaking with a pitch fork into the feeder. I actually have a VERY old several ton truck frame/axles with a hay wagon tongue on it. Maybe I will modify that for loading ease.
 
I was thinking about a stone boat, but ours had 6" sides on it. But yours makes more sense- can roll big rocks onto it without lifting it.
 
I bought this rear 3 point dump bucket at an auction. It is really handy and I have fed square bales out of it in real bad weather.
I am not sure they are made anymore, but perhaps you can fabricate a rear rack to do what you need to do.
cvphoto4639.jpg
 
Any farm friends around there with bigger tractors that can help you load it?

I really think your 2000 is pretty small for 1200 pound loads, it is a full load for my 6610 with 1800 pound round bales.
 
lay down 2 chains parallel the width apart of the bucket. Roll the bale onto the chains. hook the chain over bale and other end into cutting edge of bucket. Lift up till bale clears the ground. {if you must drive closer and hook into loader arm instead of bucket]{much more lifting capacity} Keep bale low until you reach the feeder, then lift up and set down in feeder. Unhook chain around bale but leave hook on loader, Use loader to pull chain out. Cut strings and you are Finished. It is that simple. Done many times.
 
My spelling, plus spell check, = disaster. Sigh.

You might be able to move one bale with a rear 3pt bale spear/ fork. There is a lot more lifting power on the 3pt than on a loader arm, and the weight is on the rear axle where it is safer.

Paul
 
Loaders are only rated for 1,000# and will not raise high enough for stacked like that.
 
(quoted from post at 22:36:52 12/03/18) lay down 2 chains parallel the width apart of the bucket.[b:24cf370fd7] Roll the bale onto the chains. [/b:24cf370fd7]hook the chain over bale and other end into cutting edge of bucket. Lift up till bale clears the ground. {if you must drive closer and hook into loader arm instead of bucket]{much more lifting capacity} Keep bale low until you reach the feeder, then lift up and set down in feeder. Unhook chain around bale but leave hook on loader, Use loader to pull chain out. Cut strings and you are Finished. It is that simple. Done many times.

Post up a video of you rolling these square bales onto your chains. Should be amusing.
 
Thanks for all the responses. My focus is going to shift a bit from actually lifting them to just transporting them in a truck or that old hay wagon and flaking em off into the feeder. I may try lifting them just to see if its possible with my current set up, although I don't like maxing out the capacity of my loader/tractor because things tend to break. I may look into building or buying something for the 3 point in the future- although since everything is buried in snow it will have to wait. Born2farm- if you want to make a video and have the time that may be useful. Thanks
 
If you have a truck frame, if you had a hoist. You could with the tractor pull from under the end of the bale, till you get a balance point on the bale. Back your truck frame under the end then finish pushing/ pulling the bale on to the truck bed when home can tip the bed up to dump it off. Repeat with next one. You might even be able to put 2 side by side on there.
Do you have to get them home or are they at your place? Would make a big difference on the flaking them off to feed. If you decide to flake the hay off and have to haul it you need to cover it or it will all blow away by the time you get home to feed it. If you need to haul them home I would just hire that done then feed them from there. Time fooling with them and hauling will cost as much as the savings. Most guys that can haul them would be able to load them. Or you could hire somebody to load them for you to haul.
 

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