tow behind bale unroller

[Dean the hobby farmer]

Did anyone ever make homemade bale unroller that can be towed with truck.atv .etc.if so maybe you can post some pictures.Thanks Dean

 

[Subsoil]

This isn't homemade, but it might give you some ideas.

http://www.geocities.com/quik_roll/QuikRollHomepage.html

 

[SF]

Did anyone ever make homemade bale unroller that can be towed with truck.atv .etc.if so maybe you can post some pictures.Thanks Dean

Forgive my ignorance. The point of unrolling a bale is???? Why unroll it. Cows will eat it in the roll and there is less waste, especially if it rains. Just wondering.

 

[frenchie]

Did anyone ever make homemade bale unroller that can be towed with truck.atv .etc.if so maybe you can post some pictures.Thanks Dean

Forgive my ignorance. The point of unrolling a bale is???? Why unroll it. Cows will eat it in the roll and there is less waste, especially if it rains. Just wondering.

It gives every cow a fair chance to eat.I unroll a bale in the winter to 40-50 cows at a crack. Usually almost all cleaned up in 5-6 hrs.

 

[milesvb]

We've got one similar to the one in the picture that was bought many years ago. We no longer unroll bales but still use it for our smaller herd. I just put the third winch (hand crank) on it. One problem is that you can't stack the bales end to end and still use the buggy.

 

[MrBilly]

I first bought a "cheap" round bale unroller to see if I really like it. I bought it from the Perry Co.
http://www.perry-co.com/hayroll2.htm and I see they now want $200 for it. I believe I paid more?

Any way, one has to get the bale to the field some how. We used the front loader - I suppose one could drag it if the bale was tight, then you have to get off the Tractor and hook this gizmo to the hitch, pull out the arms to each side of the bale(best done with two people) and impale the bale with two spikes that fit into the arms, then get back on the tractor after cutting the strings or net and drag the thing. It does work, but it is labor intensive, and if you don't get the correct rolling direction the first time, it takes forever to get it unrolled, it is best to repeat all this and reverse the direction of the roll, if you really want it all out.

I gave up on the thing and bought a Worksaver unroller for the three point hitch...Once the bale is on the ground separate from other bales, you back up to it and open the arms hydraulically, grab the bale and lift it up and off you go. Cut the strings and set it down and unroll http://www.worksaver.com/product/bale-3pt.html

This is much more convenient, but it costs around $700. I know of people who made one similar to this by using junk metal and far less cost.

Billy

 

[Dean the hobby farmer]

Thanks again for the great replies the only reason why I would like to have one is like someone said would give all the cows chance to get some hay to eat.Some cows can be bullies around a round bale feeder Thanks again Dean

 

[flaboy]

Thanks again for the great replies the only reason why I would like to have one is like someone said would give all the cows chance to get some hay to eat.Some cows can be bullies around a round bale feeder Thanks again Dean

Just cut the strings and roll it out with a tractor. Once it gets down so far you can roll it by hand. I have had to unroll quite a few bales because something happened to the baler and I had to dump it with no string. I just roll it out and rebale it.

 

[MrBilly]

I essentially quit unrolling except on one farm. The reason, it seems, is that I never got it right as to how much to unroll at a time. Even when I thought it was skimpy, they left a bunch around as waste. There are ways to put electric wire over the unrolled hay to keep them from stamping on it and well passing their stuff on it - hey, I have enought to do without that extra work. The waste is high with unrolling I am sure, and the waste stays there and slows spring greenup where the waste sits. I went to cone feeders, that was the topic of another post here. Cone feeders seem, by research, to have the least hay waste, which to me means less wasted dollars.

Billy

 

[Clark]

Would the Worksaver 3pt unroller possibly work to bed a loafing shed?

 

[ERNIBIGB]

I read somewhere about a guy that mounted a bale spear on the side of his front end loader. I've been meaning to try this on some low quality hay rolled out on some low quality ground where anything not eaten would just add to the ground. Just stab bale from the side and use the loader to adjust the height.Could even skip an area then start unrolling again. I think the spike would need to be at a slight forward angle to work.

 

[csutton]

I remember when I was little my dad would unroll hay with the hay truck. Took the hay spear that was mounted in the truck, dropped the bale, backed up to the side of bale, stabbed a solid rod bar through the center of bale, hooked chains to each end of bar and to the frame of hay spear on truck, start to unroll, bale would hit anthill, turn sideways knock the chain off the bar, Dad would get out cussin, reposition bale hook chain back to rod, start again and then the bale would turn again. If it was me, I would just put a bale in a hay ring.



csutton

 

[OklaBrangusBreeder]

About unrolling a round bale....

You know, I just do it with the front tire of my tractor.

Cut the wrapping, set the bale down, drive into it with the front tire. The bale unwraps quite easily (assuming you are driving at in from the "right" direction).

The "right" direction kinda harkens back to the "should the toilet paper come over the top or roll from the bottom" issue. In the case of a round bale, it should for SURE roll from the bottom.