Game changer
- Thread starter skyhightree1
- Start date
I always liked those things because of how nice and fast they could stack on a trailer. It was hard to find people who could stack good and they would get all pissy if you said any thing.
SBMF 2015
Well-known member
I’ve always taken pride in my ability to stack a rack.
I worked for a neighbor in high school. He drove the baler and I stacked. One time my stack fell going down a hill. Don just stopped the tractor at the bottom, shut it off and watched me restack it. I can’t remember having a stack fall again after that.
OP
OP
skyhightree1
Well-known member
Agree and there's not many who will help you these days no matter what you pay
Amen!
wbvs58
Well-known member
Do you have an accumulator to tow behind the baler to leave them in the nice square ready to pick up Skye?
Ken
OP
OP
skyhightree1
Well-known member
Thanks I know the feeling.. I hate square bales
RDFF
Well-known member
When I first started out here 25+ years ago, we were in the small square market... 30-40,000/year. Mostly delivered by us on a 30' gooseneck, and packed away into customer's barns. I had built a "clamp" on the tractor loader that squeezed them into a tight 36 bale pack... could put them in my barn with it, and recover that stack and load the trailer with it, but I had to stack them into that clamp out of the thrower bale racks by hand. We had 15 of the 9x18' thrower racks, and two NH 575 balers.
Looked into that grab system, but never went there. Also looked hard at the "BaleBandit" and "BaleBaron"... too much money, but nice concept.
Glad we "retired" from the small squares (we were ALWAYS re-tired when doing those), into rounds and my own beef cattle! My "clamp" was "modified" and now chooses to identify itself as my "round bale unroller", works fantastic, been unrolling 500-1000 bales/year with it for the last 5 years, would never do another small square again.
Growing up, we would challenge each other to see who could put the most bales on a 7x14 flat bed wagon. Those loads would typically be 13-15 high... and we were on hilly ground (those big tall loads though HAD to be built on the flats on the top of the hill... and the icing on the cake was that the load didn't count unless it made the trip all the way home and up to the elevator to unload! You got really good at making a good tight load. I think the high count was something like 175 bales.
When we were making the throw rack loads, we would challenge each other too... you had to get really good at getting them to land and then flip over right in front of that back rack without flipping over it on the ground. We didn't add any backstops on the top of the back rack either, cause our shed wasn't tall enough to allow for it... the rack itself could hit rafters out by the edge, and the door height wasn't as tall as the center of the rafter bottoms. When you did it right, you could easily get them "stacked" about 3 layers above the rack. The "big loads" always had to be "taken down" to fit into that one shed... the "big shed" though has 16' clearance, so you could roll right in with them there. I could get up to 240 bales on those, with just the thrower and nobody "restacking" to pack more on. My son ran one of the balers... and he wasn't being too careful about chucking a bunch of them over and on the ground... When he started out on it, I would go around and help him pick them up... Finally I told him that we each had to pick up any bales by ourselves that we threw over the rack. Didn't take him very long to get pretty good at landing them in there right without losing 'em.
Looked into that grab system, but never went there. Also looked hard at the "BaleBandit" and "BaleBaron"... too much money, but nice concept.
Glad we "retired" from the small squares (we were ALWAYS re-tired when doing those), into rounds and my own beef cattle! My "clamp" was "modified" and now chooses to identify itself as my "round bale unroller", works fantastic, been unrolling 500-1000 bales/year with it for the last 5 years, would never do another small square again.
Growing up, we would challenge each other to see who could put the most bales on a 7x14 flat bed wagon. Those loads would typically be 13-15 high... and we were on hilly ground (those big tall loads though HAD to be built on the flats on the top of the hill... and the icing on the cake was that the load didn't count unless it made the trip all the way home and up to the elevator to unload! You got really good at making a good tight load. I think the high count was something like 175 bales.
When we were making the throw rack loads, we would challenge each other too... you had to get really good at getting them to land and then flip over right in front of that back rack without flipping over it on the ground. We didn't add any backstops on the top of the back rack either, cause our shed wasn't tall enough to allow for it... the rack itself could hit rafters out by the edge, and the door height wasn't as tall as the center of the rafter bottoms. When you did it right, you could easily get them "stacked" about 3 layers above the rack. The "big loads" always had to be "taken down" to fit into that one shed... the "big shed" though has 16' clearance, so you could roll right in with them there. I could get up to 240 bales on those, with just the thrower and nobody "restacking" to pack more on. My son ran one of the balers... and he wasn't being too careful about chucking a bunch of them over and on the ground... When he started out on it, I would go around and help him pick them up... Finally I told him that we each had to pick up any bales by ourselves that we threw over the rack. Didn't take him very long to get pretty good at landing them in there right without losing 'em.
Last edited:
chevytaHOE5674
Well-known member
My small square baler is tucked in a building at my in-laws. I've kept it around because I like having some squares on hand in case I have a sick animal in the barn or something. But found a neighbor will deliver 70-100 bales on a trailer for a very reasonable price and even helps stack them.
RDFF
Well-known member
I sell all of my hay as beef now! Keeps the fertility on the farm!
fnfarms1
Well-known member
Hauled a lot of those small squares growing up. You can usually find the guys that handle a lot of bales vs ones that don’t. Find who uses hooks, they’re the ones handling a lot of bales.LOL. Go haul 1000sq of straw 7am- noon. Come back closer to home for another 1500-2000 sq of hay from 1- whenever it’s done. We had trucks/goosenecks with pop up loaders or 2ton flatbed trucks with pop up loaders. Accumulators were bought once we went to college.
I bought one year beforelast from Richie Brothers, they are a real game changer and a saver of time. One of those on a skidsteer can doo the work of a lot of men in a day, and they're cheap, I think I gave $700 for ours
1982vett
Well-known member
Last square bale for me was 2007. I had the bolts back out of the gear box with about 4 acres to go for the year. Stripped a few gears. Got some parts from a "cadaver" to put it back together. Unrolled a roll of hay to test it. Worked perfect. I've pulled it out of the shed twice. Both times to put new tires on. Noticed the other day my haybine need a new tire also. It hasn't been used in 3 years.
RDFF
Well-known member
My wife won't let me sell the one remaining NH575... "You might want some smalls to feed a calf or something".... It's been parked in the shed for at least 15 years... I don't think I'm gonna use it! Great baler though. Still have 4 of the racks left too... I gotta start moving some of this stuff!
crossbreed
Well-known member
Bought a hay monster in the mid 70’s. I drove all the time and set bales on the chain to unload. With 2 guys stacking we could average about 1000 bales a day without long haul and we never stacked over 5 high. That’s where you wear out your helpers going higher. Never worried about stacks falling either
Dave
Well-known member
I sold my small bale baler in 1998. I did 10,000 bales by myself that summer. I decided that this was insane. Now it is big squares. So much easier and faster. Both the picking up the hay and feeding it.
RDFF
Well-known member
When we were doing the small squares "big time", I usually shot for around 3000 bales per go (15 kicker racks at 200+ per rack), and usually, we would have "back to back" hits at it... maybe try to leave like 3 days working time between goes, to haul out what we'd made to customers, then do it all over again. Most difficult part was trying to work around the rains here in SE MN. Crazy stressful, when that was you're whole paycheck... I often would cut in the rain (discbine), to gain a day on the drying time, and then fluff the next day or maybe twice with the tedders. Weatherman always gave you a 4 day window, and then you'd usually lose one or two on the far end... so I wanted it down as soon as the sun was shining. Rain didn't hurt it if it was "just cut", and you could fluff it once the ground started drying out. Lots of times would be pushing water ahead of the front tires while cutting!
Now I make top quality hay even when the sun ISN'T shining by letting the girls go to work for me! They seem to look forward to the work, regardless of the weather!
Now I make top quality hay even when the sun ISN'T shining by letting the girls go to work for me! They seem to look forward to the work, regardless of the weather!
Last edited:
fnfarms1
Well-known member
Guy my dad baled haywith had a hay monster. Built off and old school bus frame/running gear. Had the snout with chain that ran the length of the machine. Did make life easier when it ran, tended to have overheating issues a lot.
RDFF
Well-known member
Get yourself a bale thrower on the baler and some racks... or better yet, just go to large squares... they flake too...
