Loading Hay in Field w/ Spike or Arm Bed

[cfpinz]

Monkey and a football is how most everything I get into ends up at one point or another!

Was it really difficult to get them off the trailer that way?

No, but it roughed them up pretty good. I was hauling them to a group of cows 20 miles or so from home that I had used up all of the stored hay at that area. 5x4 rolls, 4 on the truck (2 flat and 2 in the arms), and 5 or 6 on the low deck trailer. Only did it a handful of times and fed the hay as soon as it came off trailer, wouldn't want to store hay after it had been handled in that manner. Didn't have a tractor at the unload location and didn't want to fool with taking one up there for some reason or another. Worked in a pinch, but can't say I'd do it on purpose again.

You can get pretty much anything to work with enough time and patience, but I'm usually short on both.

 

[cfpinz]

I started with one to. Still keep them scattered around winter pastures where I have hay stored. Just in case I need it.thanfully I rarely need one.. I don't think Ive ever paid over 400 for one. Oh I just got me a new rig. It's a inline I know but she unloads in hurry and no straps.
View attachment 16795

Nice trailer, 32'?

Could a smaller stature person unload it? Looking for ways to make the wife more productive........

 

[callmefence]

Nice trailer, 32'?

Could a smaller stature person unload it? Looking for ways to make the wife more productive........

Yes no effort to dump. You can do it with one hand while eating a pork chop. With a little planning, uniform bales and flat ground you can row them up pretty neat to.

 

[Lucky]

Nice trailer, 32'?

Could a smaller stature person unload it? Looking for ways to make the wife more productive........

My neighbor is 75 and has a bad shoulder. A few years ago he went to Kansas and came back with an inline hay trailer that has a hydraulic self dump. I think maybe it's called the Hay Express. Looks just like Fences but has a little hydraulic unit instead of the long pipe to unload. Like allot of people he only has one big loader tractor. Before this he moved bales 2 at a time or used 2 Hay Van 5 bale single dumps hooked together. He had a hay van loader on a little Massey to load the trailers with. The thing look like a 3 pt hay unroller but lifted the bales high enough to load on the hay van cradle. Only one I've ever seen.

 

[ValleyView]

No, but it roughed them up pretty good. I was hauling them to a group of cows 20 miles or so from home that I had used up all of the stored hay at that area. 5x4 rolls, 4 on the truck (2 flat and 2 in the arms), and 5 or 6 on the low deck trailer. Only did it a handful of times and fed the hay as soon as it came off trailer, wouldn't want to store hay after it had been handled in that manner. Didn't have a tractor at the unload location and didn't want to fool with taking one up there for some reason or another. Worked in a pinch, but can't say I'd do it on purpose again.

You can get pretty much anything to work with enough time and patience, but I'm usually short on both.

Good to know. Thank you for your input!

 

[ValleyView]

I'm in a similar situation. I have a Massey 245 at home, and a Kubota 8540 with a loader out at our bigger place (about 30 miles away). I have a 26 ft equipment trailer, but if I load the trailer with hay on one place, and haul it to the other, I have no way to haul the bigger loader tractor to get the hay off the trailer. I've used the smaller tractor to pull it off with a tow strap, I've even backed up on a slope and slammed on the brakes to roll a few bales off, then use the smaller tractor with the 3 point spear to move them around. You gotta do what you gotta do... Normally I try to buy my hay from someone close to each place and work out cheap delivery with them. But this year, with costs being what they are, I worked out a deal with a neighbor to go halves on inputs and split his hay. That means hauling 150-200 bales 30 miles over to the other place. Way more than I want to try to roll off a trailer. Another tractor isn't in the cards right now... I'm keeping a close eye on the auction sites for a self unloader.

This is my predicament as well. I can work out the loading situation on my new not so close lease and the arm bed can help with me being able to take 2 bales at a time when I have time and not be solely dependent on someone else to be there and load me out. Added benefit being the extra uses of the bed around the place lifting objects, rolling out hay etc.

 

[Rafter S]

Am I the only one that moves and loads hay rolls with pallet forks on my FEL? It takes a little finesse to pick them up from the side, especially when they're first rolled, but that's the only way I've ever done it.

One advantage is that I can use the pallet forks for moving lumber, brush, etc. With a hay fork all you can do with it is move hay.

 

[callmefence]

Am I the only one that moves and loads hay rolls with pallet forks on my FEL? It takes a little finesse to pick them up from the side, especially when they're first rolled, but that's the only way I've ever done it.

One advantage is that I can use the pallet forks for moving lumber, brush, etc. With a hay fork all you can do with it is move hay.

I can use a crescent wrench for a hammer but I try to have the right tool.lol

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

I do use pallet forks to move bales when I need to move one or two and I'm too lazy to switch to bale spears or grapple bucket. Would never use them to move any quantity of bales as its super slow and tedious.

All my bale spears are doubles so I can use them as pallet forks if needed as long as whatever I'm picking up is at least 5.5' wide.

 

[Rafter S]

I do use pallet forks to move bales when I need to move one or two and I'm too lazy to switch to bale spears or grapple bucket. Would never use them to move any quantity of bales as its super slow and tedious.

All my bale spears are doubles so I can use them as pallet forks if needed as long as whatever I'm picking up is at least 5.5' wide.

I haven't found that to be the case.

 

[Dave]

Am I the only one that moves and loads hay rolls with pallet forks on my FEL? It takes a little finesse to pick them up from the side, especially when they're first rolled, but that's the only way I've ever done it.

One advantage is that I can use the pallet forks for moving lumber, brush, etc. With a hay fork all you can do with it is move hay.

My bale fork on the little tractor is a double spear about 3 feet wide. It probably gets used more to move things other than hay but works fine for hay.

 

[Atimm693]

I haven't found that to be the case.

Guess you are the only one. I've done it a few times but a spear works way better with far less chance of damaging the bales and turf.

One thing forks are way better for is stacking bales on end.

We also have a double spear that will lift pallets, logs, whatever you want.

 

[Silver]

View attachment 16805
This is the one I was talking about operating. The one I used would haul 10 bales at a time. They make them that will haul 14 bales. Self loads and unloads. But you need a tractor with some iron and three remotes.

Mine hauls 14 5x6 bales and I think I'd give up ranching rather than be without it.

 

[uplandnut]

Would a wagon like this work to load with a spear? Definitely wouldn't get the second level, but 8 bales at once.

 

[fnfarms1]

What will trailer be hooked to? If you plan to pull trailer to field and unhook to load, you won't be able to shove bales on. You will just push trailer and bend the jack.
Moving hay off field is main reason for a haybed in my deal. Got several small 5-10acres fields that are baled. It's not worth my time moving tractors, trucks/trailers for 5-15 bales in each field. Figure hay bed I can make trips 2x at a time easier and don't need help moving equipment

 

[ClinchValley86]

@ValleyView

We used a 3 pt scissor lift behind a long 460 for a very long time on this farm before the Kubota with a loader. Papaw had a bunch of weights on the front. I've recently used one on a Long 445 and moved some heavy 5 footers. Worked fine, had to reverse up hills. For the cost, it works very well.

No more than one costs, I'd give it a try. Can be had for a couple Benjamin Franklin's. Do you have any weights on the front of your 240?

4x6's run 1200 pounds give or take?

 

[DLD]

I have loaded trailers with a spike on the back of a truck. It's doable with the right setup, but far from ideal. I had a '91 F350 4x4 that sat pretty high, and not a spike bed, but a flat bed with a J&I spike sitting on top of it - so the spikes sat pretty high. We had a flatbed trailer , 20' car hauler type (no side rails). If you hit the bales with your spikes as low as they'd go, and just go in far enough to pick them up, they would pick up high enough to set on the trailer. Front two from the side, back two from the rear (use the second one to push the front one up. It does require another pickup cause the trailer has to be hooked to something). I have also loaded a 16' utility trailer with a small tractor with just a 3 point spike. Pushed on from the rear, when I unloaded I backed the trailer into a low spot and backed the tractor onto the trailer.
Not saying I want to go back to those deals, but I moved a years worth of hay with each of those ways. Where there's a will there's a way…