Loader for picking up hay

Ole Man Legrand · #1 05/21/07, 04:53 AM

Does any one use a loader with forks and a platform,8 ft by 4 ft for picking up hay. It is becoming diffcult to toss the square bales up on the trailer. I would like to put them up there with the loader 20 at a time. Also where do I get forks for the loader? Jay

michiganfarmer · #2 05/21/07, 05:26 AM

tractor dealers usually have them.

We always build anything we need that is made form steel. Have you thought about pulling a wagon behind the bailer, and having someone stack the hay on the wagon as it comes off the baler?

Ramblin Wreck · #3 05/21/07, 01:33 PM

I bought a set like the one on the E-Bay link below, and they have been OK. It's been a few years, but my set was around $300-$400, not anything close to what these guys are asking on E-Bay. Metal has gone up, but not that much!

If you have a quick attach type loader, any set of forks that will work with a skid steer/Bobcat type machine should be OK.

Good luck in your search.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRACTOR-LOADER-C...QQcmdZViewItem

tinknal · #4 05/21/07, 07:29 PM

BTW, It's called a "hay bucker"

Sand Flat Bob · #5 05/22/07, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ole Man Legrand

Does any one use a loader with forks and a platform,8 ft by 4 ft for picking up hay. It is becoming diffcult to toss the square bales up on the trailer. I would like to put them up there with the loader 20 at a time. Also where do I get forks for the loader? Jay

Have no idea on how big a hay operation you have, but around here, unless they have a small horse hay type customer, they have gone to round bales, and you do everything from the tractor seat. I don't bale hay, but have lots of neighbors that do. I have forks on my tractor I bought from Versa-teeth. They are great for picking up down limbs, hay bales etc. One of my better investments. The forks bolt to your front end loader bucket.

Bob

Windy in Kansas · #6 05/22/07, 07:18 AM

I think that the bales will have to be put into accumulated piles before the forks lifts them.

Here is a url for a company that has both and shows photos
http://www.abcgroff.com/ag/hoel1.htm#1

tinknal · #7 05/22/07, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Windy in Kansas

I think that the bales will have to be put into accumulated piles before the forks lifts them.

Here is a url for a company that has both and shows photos
http://www.abcgroff.com/ag/hoel1.htm#1

Nope, you can pick up bales with a bucker right where they land.

Ole Man Legrand · #8 05/22/07, 09:49 AM

We only make 3 to 500 bales per year. It is just a small horse farm.I had thought about a round baler but the square baler is in good shape and is paid for.Thanks very much for everyones input. You All are the greatest. Jay

VALENT · #9 05/22/07, 05:25 PM

Up until a few years ago(maybe 20) in these parts, it was very common for the square baler to push the bales directly onto the hay wagon. No lifting necessary- well except to stack. The baler would have a hitch and pull a 4 tire hay wagon. One operator would drive the tractor, the other would stack the hay. Sometimes, they would even switch jobs.

rambler · #10 05/25/07, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ole Man Legrand

We only make 3 to 500 bales per year. It is just a small horse farm.I had thought about a round baler but the square baler is in good shape and is paid for.Thanks very much for everyones input. You All are the greatest. Jay

You might want to look at a 'hay basket' which ends up a lot like a bale kicker & a bale wagon that catches the bales.

Except you don't need the bale kicker/thrower. The bales just slide up a ramp into the basket.

You can bale 100 or so bales with one person driving the tractor.

Dump the bales by the barn or elevator, & _there_ you need a person or 2 to stack them - but it is easier to find people/ time to do that, then to get the bales out of the field..... Allows you to bale a load when the weather allows, and unload later when you have the help....

I don't know if you are looking for a hay grapple on the loader, to pick up several bales at a time. You need to use an accumulator on the baler to set up 12-18 bales in a slab, so it gets kinda expensive machinery. But it is real, real nice to handle bales several times, gathering, stacking, restacking if you sell, etc.

Never heard of a 'hay bucker' on a loader up here in the north, anyone got a picture of that type of setup?

--->Paul

Sand Flat Bob · #11 05/25/07, 08:52 AM

This might give you some ideas. http://www.hoelscherinc.com/testimony_balestacker.htm

Bob

haypoint · #12 05/25/07, 12:54 PM

I have an old attachment for my hay wagon. It looks like a short hay elevator. After the baler has baled the small square bales out onto the ground, Someone can slowly drive along, pulling my hay wagon, when the bales get to the "mouth" of this loader, they are pulled up by the ground-drive elevator to about shoulder high while I stand on the wagon. I can let them drop onto the deck or onto the stack. No lifting for the first 3-4 rows, then I can stand on the stacked hay and stack a few more rows with little lifting. Driving around gathering the bales is easy work and a good job for future drivers training students. Fairly simple machine and I've seen newer models, so they may still be available new. Have to put a couple mounting brackets on my hay wagons for it to attach.

Jackpine Savage · #13 05/25/07, 10:10 PM

A New Holland bale wagon would be another option. For those not familiar, you drop the bales on the ground behind the baler, then pull along the bale wagon to pick them up. The bale wagon has hydraulic tables that accumulate the bales and create a a stack on the wagon. To unload the wagon tips the stack up and you drive away. I think some models will also unload one bale at a time, say onto a elevator.