New one...

Yeah, My first impulse was to write 45, but remembering how they stack I don't believe we ever went more than four complete layers with four bales across the top. We never had anything back in those days that would take much more of a load. I think the last truck I stacked with small bales was a '67/8 half ton Dodge with a slant six. After that I built a trailer...
with the tailgate open I think I got about 12 on a layer, went 5 layers and a half layer on top.
I have a 20 ft car hauler now, 100 bales is pretty comfortable.. Our bales are usually 80lbs or so.. with the trailer that's 10k lbs behind you which is max before you need to start jumping through hoops with insurance and licenses.
 
with the tailgate open I think I got about 12 on a layer, went 5 layers and a half layer on top.
I have a 20 ft car hauler now, 100 bales is pretty comfortable.. Our bales are usually 80lbs or so.. with the trailer that's 10k lbs behind you which is max before you need to start jumping through hoops with insurance and licenses.
I had a Bro-in-law that would toss bales for extra cash, and one day he called me up to see if I could bring the trailer I built because his truck had broke down. A guy had hired him to bring his hay in. When I got there we found out the guy didn't know hay had to be dry, and he'd baled it wet. I don't know what the bales weighed, but they were all I could do to load them. We were young and stupid and loaded that trailer five high, delivered it to the guy, and told him what he'd done and that he'd need to bust the bales and scatter the grass so it would dry... or it would mold. He paid us for the load we brought to him and asked us to take the load back and drop the wet bales off in the field. I don't think he ever busted the bales to be raked and rebaled. We never heard from him again.
 
I had a Bro-in-law that would toss bales for extra cash, and one day he called me up to see if I could bring the trailer I built because his truck had broke down. A guy had hired him to bring his hay in. When I got there we found out the guy didn't know hay had to be dry, and he'd baled it wet. I don't know what the bales weighed, but they were all I could do to load them. We were young and stupid and loaded that trailer five high, delivered it to the guy, and told him what he'd done and that he'd need to bust the bales and scatter the grass so it would dry... or it would mold. He paid us for the load we brought to him and asked us to take the load back and drop the wet bales off in the field. I don't think he ever busted the bales to be raked and rebaled. We never heard from him again.
We use to plant jiggs. They purposely cut the bales green and would even wet them down until it got planted. A cutter ran in front and the Sq baler right behind it. If I remember right a bale was around #80.
 
Back in the 50's when I was a teenager, my grandfather would haul cattle for the local sale barn. Not many of the locals had an`y kind of vehicle to transport cattle in those days , but they all had a loading ramp built onto their corral. He had a 1-1/2 ton `Dodge truck ( I think) with a high bed and cattle panels built on it. i remember it had a crank right in the middle top of the dashthat cranked the windshield up for air conditioning. It was just the r`ight height to back up to the ramps. He told stories of rounding up some pretty wild stock with others and they had a portable `ramp they could haul on those jobs. I recall one day when they had to use a horse and rope to pull a huge Brahman bull up into the truck when he didn't want to go. Most of the ranchers had no way to transport their cattle, and I really believe the haulers were the real cowboys of the day.
 
Back in the 50's when I was a teenager, my grandfather would haul cattle for the local sale barn. Not many of the locals had an`y kind of vehicle to transport cattle in those days , but they all had a loading ramp built onto their corral. He had a 1-1/2 ton `Dodge truck ( I think) with a high bed and cattle panels built on it. i remember it had a crank right in the middle top of the dashthat cranked the windshield up for air conditioning. It was just the r`ight height to back up to the ramps. He told stories of rounding up some pretty wild stock with others and they had a portable `ramp they could haul on those jobs. I recall one day when they had to use a horse and rope to pull a huge Brahman bull up into the truck when he didn't want to go. Most of the ranchers had no way to transport their cattle, and I really believe the haulers were the real cowboys of the day.
That's a great mental image. Old Dodge truck with the windshield hinged at the top and open, and trying get an ornery Brahman bull loaded.
 
I had a Bro-in-law that would toss bales for extra cash, and one day he called me up to see if I could bring the trailer I built because his truck had broke down. A guy had hired him to bring his hay in. When I got there we found out the guy didn't know hay had to be dry, and he'd baled it wet. I don't know what the bales weighed, but they were all I could do to load them. We were young and stupid and loaded that trailer five high, delivered it to the guy, and told him what he'd done and that he'd need to bust the bales and scatter the grass so it would dry... or it would mold. He paid us for the load we brought to him and asked us to take the load back and drop the wet bales off in the field. I don't think he ever busted the bales to be raked and rebaled. We never heard from him again.
I had some bales that were mostly red clover, baled at night to have a little moisture in them and so the leaves didn't crumble.. Stacked them with the stacker wagon.. then in the winter I went to get those bales.. HOLY SMOKES they were heavy, between 100 and 110lbs, they were like bricks, never got hot, but they were not much fun to load onto the truck!
Definitely not hay you want to sell by the bale
 
That's a great mental image. Old Dodge truck with the windshield hinged at the top and open, and trying get an ornery Brahman bull loaded.
And one I'll never forget! That old dodge had the cattle panels hang out past the cab so that a vehicle in back of you could not see your hand signals for turning. I remember him ordering a turn signal indicator that mounted on the cab and when you pulled a lever inside it went from hanging down to straight out for left turn and straight up for right turn. I believe halfway down was for slow down. Some of the ornery cattle down her spent the winter in the marsh or swamp fending for themselves with the snakes and alligators. They would get brought in once a year, worked and the calves sold, then put on grass pastures to fatten up before being returned in the late fall. They were not the most docile animals to handle. A cowboys most prized possession was his horse and a bullwhip.
 
This livestock rack was on our property when we bought it. These semi tires were all raised beds from the previous property owner. Cost me 7$ each to dispose of them. The rack came in handy for this project. It's 10 ft long and covers the whole tailgate. Moved hogs in it before I bought a livestock trailer.
View attachment 54316
nice cattle racks, I never had any metal ones, even my factory ones from Omaha Standard were wood although for wood they were pretty fancy, when they were new they had been red and each plank was pinstriped, by the time I got them most of the paint and pinstripes were a memory
 
And one I'll never forget! That old dodge had the cattle panels hang out past the cab so that a vehicle in back of you could not see your hand signals for turning. I remember him ordering a turn signal indicator that mounted on the cab and when you pulled a lever inside it went from hanging down to straight out for left turn and straight up for right turn. I believe halfway down was for slow down. Some of the ornery cattle down her spent the winter in the marsh or swamp fending for themselves with the snakes and alligators. They would get brought in once a year, worked and the calves sold, then put on grass pastures to fatten up before being returned in the late fall. They were not the most docile animals to handle. A cowboys most prized possession was his horse and a bullwhip.
Dad rode with a cowboy who had a 20 foot blacksnake. I guess he was pretty good with it, he put it right anywhere he wanted. Dad asked to try it, and he darn near took off his ear; dad handed it right back.
 
I worked and lived on a Farm/Ranch right out of HS for about 3 years. His main income sources were custom silage chopping and alfalfa hay. The alfalfa was baled in small squares and sold mainly to dairies. We always baled at night to keep the leaves on. The bales weighed around 100 pounds. I hated hauling that hay. We did have several old pop up loaders but pulled them with a 1969 F 350. Not much of a break on your turn to drive in the hot truck. Between hauling hay and packing silage I think I drove 100,000 miles going nowhere.

We also ran about 100 mother cows and planted around 500 acres of corn for silage and wheat for winter grazing. Long hot or cold days in old equipment but easier times back then.
 
One of the guys I knew from rodeos had a 1 1/2 or 2 ton truck. Him and 2 other guys picked up and stacked those 100 lb alfalfa bales. They charged the farmers $0.10 a bale and guaranteed them 1,000 bales a day. Split it 4 ways 25% for each man and for the truck. The guy I knew was in real good shape. I imagine the other 2 were as well.
 
They charged the farmers $0.10 a bale

We got 10 cents a bale plus our hourly wage. Think we were making $6 an hour back then. Saw lots of hay haulers throw in the towel on those bales. I can't remember how many we hauled but I'd guess 1,500 -2,000 a week. That was on top of cutting, baling, raking, and normal ranch stuff. I hated getting the call that someone needed 60 - 100 bales. I was the only one that lived at the ranch full time.
 
The clutch is out right now but I love this truck. It's a'97 F350 with a 5 speed manual the year I turned 16. I square baled a lot of hay for the original owner when I was a teenager. He passed away almost 3 years ago. His son and grandson didn't want the truck so I bought it. The stock rack had never been up!3AF7F5B1-5EEF-4B2A-AB81-96EEF2DCCCF2.jpeg44B823E6-F4E9-4B75-8F10-98B2CFBB85DE.jpeg
 
$0.05 -$0.07 per bale. mid 1960s. load in the field, ride the truck to 'where ever', unload & stack in 'whatever' the customer had. Did not charge extra for dead skunks, rattlesnakes or deer fawns hanging out of the bales.
The thorns in prairie hay were free.
The girl driving the baler was cute, the one driving the truck more so. They kept us boys in line.......
 
Looks like a great beginning of a hog trap to me.
I had no idea what it was but thought maybe some type of creep feeder for calves. Posted it little over a year ago and yup, it's a livestock hauler. Guess I should have asked the neighbors first.

That said, there have only been a few sightings of feral hogs around here, but I suspect it's only a matter of time before they infiltrate. And could be a handy use of the relic. Good idea, I'll keep it in mind!

 

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