Hay question

FarmboyBill · #1 09/20/10, 04:06 PM

Now that its about over, Im wondering. Did anybody this year use ropes, hay forks hay carrier and track at the top of the barn to bring hay into the barn? I helped my grandad do that many times, as the origional owner had place a long hog shed around 25ft in front of the barn, so he couldnt use an elevator. I started out tripping the trip rope, then went to driveing the horses pulling the hay rope, and ended up in the barn stacking. did that for at least 10yrs
My son said that he was makeing $1.30 a bale when he last put up hay. I said Hail. When I ended up helping in the hay, I was makeing $1.25
AN HOUR.

rambler · #2 09/20/10, 11:43 PM

$1.30 a bale to stack???? We don't always pay $1.30 for the bale around here. A nickle, maybe a dime, a bale to stack. You should be making over $10 an hour at that.

--->Paul

Callieslamb · #3 09/21/10, 06:56 AM

We used to have a hay fork in the loft that we used to pull a stack of 6 bales up. I just saw one at a museum. Brought back the memories.

motdaugrnds · #4 09/21/10, 08:15 AM

We have two 3'x4' steps right under the loft door on which to throw our baled hay. Each step will hold 4+ bales at a time (unless you want to double it) and is easy loading/stacking in loft like this.

Hay question - Homesteading Questions

Txrider · #5 09/21/10, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FarmBoyBill

Now that its about over, Im wondering. Did anybody this year use ropes, hay forks hay carrier and track at the top of the barn to bring hay into the barn? I helped my grandad do that many times, as the origional owner had place a long hog shed around 25ft in front of the barn, so he couldnt use an elevator. I started out tripping the trip rope, then went to driveing the horses pulling the hay rope, and ended up in the barn stacking. did that for at least 10yrs
My son said that he was makeing $1.30 a bale when he last put up hay. I said Hail. When I ended up helping in the hay, I was makeing $1.25
AN HOUR.

1.30 a bale to stack?

Times have changed..

FarmboyBill · #6 09/21/10, 10:09 AM

MOT U mus like to work is all I can say. How many bales does your hay loft hold.

Callie. Was your forks loose, like my grandads, or was it built in a rigid frame. Grandpas, you could take a fork and stick it wherever you wanted, then the next , and the next, and the next. With the ones like my dad had, You had 2 forks each fixed to each other about a good foot apart hinged to the other 2. You set in the 2 on one side, and the other 2 on the other and that was that. I think grandads lifted 8 bales, while dads lifted 6, BUT I might be 2 bales too high in both counts. Been a long time ago. I never saw dads type being used. They both were origionally intended for loose hay.

rambler · #7 09/21/10, 10:29 AM

I have a drive in upstairs barn loft, barn is built into a hill. Dad got rid of the loose fork in the late 1950s. Replaced with a 8-hook bale grabber.

Actually you could lift 8 or 10 bales with it, the bottom rows of bales on the hayrack you could run a bale down the center lengthwise, with 2 bales on each side of it. The hooks would straddle this lengthwise bale (well 2 of them, with 4 bales on each side) and they would pinch in as you lifted and go along for the ride.

Pulling the carrier back with that long rope was a real workout.

--->Paul

FarmboyBill · #8 09/21/10, 07:42 PM

Folks here either sloped their hay track so that it would naturaly fall backward, towards the hay door, OR They would have a heavy rock that was tied to a cable that ran from the top of the tip end of the barn peak out and down to the ground, say around 40ft away. The rock would pull the carrier back to the stop at the hay door, by which time the weight was already at its stopping place. The bottom pulley would unhitch and the weight of the forks would carry the forks down to the wagon.
Ive seen those forks you talk about in OLD TSC catalogs. I have one here dateing 1960, and it has it in it.

rambler · #9 09/21/10, 10:08 PM

The upstairs of my barn had a big 11x11 door in it, slightly off-center on a sidewall. You push the loaded hayrack in, and the forks drop down from above. If you put the pulley & rope on the longer west wall side, you can drop a lot of hay there, never did restack the bales.

If you switch the pulley & rope over to the east wall, the shorter side, you can drop a fair number of straw bales on that side.

Never really have a long enough drop to attach a rock, and can't slope the track as it goes both directions from the middle.

Interesting how to it's done in other configurations. Many many barns have the top door & the claw comes all the way down to grownd level on one end, but mine is different.

--->Paul

FarmboyBill · #10 09/21/10, 10:19 PM

Your last para was what I was refering to. I had forgot that the first farm I rented had a barn like yours, a corn crib on the N side, than a driveway, then the haybarn loft above that you could drive in but had to back out, with pens below, and a shed on the S side for horses or cows. It was made in 1883 in Aug if I remember rightly, and like you say, the rail and carrier ran crossways from the rack

springvalley · #11 09/21/10, 10:24 PM

Hey Bill, did ya ever hook the fork in the hayrack and lift it part way off the gear? Had an older friend that got hit in the head when the fork came down and hit him when he wasn`t paying attention. Left a pretty good scar on his nogin, that same friend had a cable instead of a rope for pulling up hay. > Thanks Marc