Feeding Round Bales

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BoJack Cattle

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I'm looking for a way to feed round bales without buying a new tractor w/front end loader. Starting out I can't justify a tractor. I will be feeding 35 cows. Any ideas?
 
You could buy a manual one that you pull behind your truck.......
 
What do you mean "a manual one"? I have the same problem-no tractor but would like to feed round bales.
 
Get a "Bale Buggy". Hooks to the ball on your truck..back up to a bale, load it, deliver it, dump it. I'm sure there's a website for them. Saw a couple of used ones in the paper recently for around $600.
 
jonbri55":13fuombe said:
What do you mean "a manual one"? I have the same problem-no tractor but would like to feed round bales.
They are built out of pipe and have a pulley system(electric is great) that allows you to drop the spear to get the bale and then pull the spear up at an angle to transport the bale.

They are very common in my neck of the woods and are prob ALOT less then a tractor!
 
The only problem is that you cannot lift a round bale into a hay cradle. If I had no other choice, I'd use my hay dolly and a ring.

You can build a 3 point lift that goes onto the back of a conventional tractor pretty easily.

You can build a hay dolly pretty easily with a crank boat winch and an old axle.
 
I'll have to look around for one-it sure would help. Price of hay is outrageous and more and more farmers are baling round bales instead of small square ones. Thanks for the info!
 
jonbri55":r2ocofu7 said:
I'll pass this on to my husband. It sure seems handy until we get a tractor!

I wasn't looking for mine when a guy offered it at $150. I bit at that price. I always figured it would be cheaper to build one with an old axle than to pay what the mfgs want for them. They are quite proud of them it seems. Now that I have it, I use it to haul bales to the house occasionally. I have also used it to haul a feed bin from one pasture to another etc.
 
backhoeboogie":20udoz1s said:
jonbri55":20udoz1s said:
I'll pass this on to my husband. It sure seems handy until we get a tractor!

I wasn't looking for mine when a guy offered it at $150. I bit at that price. I always figured it would be cheaper to build one with an old axle than to pay what the mfgs want for them. They are quite proud of them it seems. Now that I have it, I use it to haul bales to the house occasionally. I have also used it to haul a feed bin from one pasture to another etc.

Edit: you can always have the seller load the round bale in the back of a pick-up. Just haul it to the pasture and remove the tailgate if it is a newer truck. Tie a chain around the bale and tie it to a tree and drive out from under it.
 
I used a bale buggy this winter. Make sure it has a good winch. A small one will wear you out. A good one is pretty easy to operate. The bales are heavy and they will tear up a small winch.

They also make bale forks that will attach to a ball in the bed of your pick up. You can get some of those with electric winches.

Also you could get a hydraulic bale bed for far less than a tractor but quite a bit more than the first two options. But you can unroll the bales instead of just transporting them.

I hope you have a 3/4 ton or 1 ton pick up. Round bales are pretty heavy for 1/2 tons even with a bale buggy.
 
We have a 3/4 ton p/u. I hope I can find one up here in NIdaho-you guys from Texas have a few more options than me!
 
Around here they mount the hay spear on the hitch with a hinge and attach a cable from a winch mounted in the bed of the truck to the top of the spear. Back up to the roll lift the roll and take it where you want it. You should be able to flip you hay ring over the bale if it's not too heavy.
 
I fed all winter with a bale buggy and a 1/2 ton Z71. Hardly know the bale is back there.
If it's built right it wont put any weight on your truck at all.

Cal
 

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