Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales

   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #1  

ddivinia

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
3,204
Location
Red Oak, Texas
Tractor
JD 5525 and 5093e Kubota SVL75
I am doing round bales for now, but I plan on adding some square bale capacity when I get my pastures clean enough that the horse people will pay $$$ for my hay.

I don't want to have to rely on a bunch of additional labor. So, I am looking at accumulator and grapple solutions.

Does anybody have any experience or recommendations for me?

Thanks,
D.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #2  
Man, there are so many of them out there everytime I think I have seen all of them another one pops up. The cheaper ones (relatively speaking of course) are the ones that drag the bales across the ground until they are "packaged". The better ones, at least in my opinion are the ones that use some type of trailer to "carry" the bales until it is time for them to be dropped. I just can't see dragging bales across the field as a good thing.

At any rate here are the ones I know about:

Steffens is carried by my local NH dealer as is one Hoelscher.

Hands Free Haying | Steffen Systems

Hoelscher Hay Systems

Hay Tech

Kuhns Mfg. Hay Accumulators

Out-Front Hay Accumulator

I things like I like about each and things I don't like about each. I haven't made up my mind which one I'd like to eventually go with but I WOULD like eventually go that route if we get into haying.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #3  
have you seen these E-Z Trail Farm Wagons - Arthur, IL
my neighbors have a couple and they seem to work well they just fill them and then have someone at the barn moving and stacking the bales while they bale. they also fill them and then just empty in the field for the few people they have who buy off the field. theres another bran i think stolzfer (sp) they make an accumulator that tows behind the baler or tractor after baling and w/ a seperate grapple picks up the bales from the accumulator allowing you to then stack them on a flatbed truck or trailer.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #5  
farmerjim said:
here's the other one i was thinking of Hoelscher Bale Accumulator

Just an fyi, I believe this is the older version of the Hoelscher (the red one). The link I posted in the prior thread which shows the black version is their newer version if I'm not mistaken.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales
  • Thread Starter
#6  
mark.r said:
Man, there are so many of them out there everytime I think I have seen all of them another one pops up. The cheaper ones (relatively speaking of course) are the ones that drag the bales across the ground until they are "packaged". The better ones, at least in my opinion are the ones that use some type of trailer to "carry" the bales until it is time for them to be dropped. I just can't see dragging bales across the field as a good thing.

At any rate here are the ones I know about:

Steffens is carried by my local NH dealer as is one Hoelscher.

Hands Free Haying | Steffen Systems

Hoelscher Hay Systems

Hay Tech

Kuhns Mfg. Hay Accumulators

Out-Front Hay Accumulator

I things like I like about each and things I don't like about each. I haven't made up my mind which one I'd like to eventually go with but I WOULD like eventually go that route if we get into haying.


There are a lot of options and the prices seem to vary wildly.

Ever seen any used?

How about this hay basket idea:

E-Z Trail Farm Wagons - Arthur, IL

Atleast it gets the bales out of the field.

D.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #7  
ddivinia said:
I am doing round bales for now, but I plan on adding some square bale capacity when I get my pastures clean enough that the horse people will pay $$$ for my hay.

I don't want to have to rely on a bunch of additional labor. So, I am looking at accumulator and grapple solutions.

Does anybody have any experience or recommendations for me?

Thanks,
D.

I like the Out Front bale accumulator/grapple design, but I only have about 7 acres for hay. Your operation is much larger, so one of those more expensive units that attached to the rear of your square baler probably makes more sense for your use. A Steffen Systems 850 is a nice size for your operation but the price ($15-20K new) may be a no-go.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales #8  
My issue with the Out Front accumulator is that you are dragging your bales across the ground until you get a full bundle. Now I have not spoken to any owner/operators but how good can that be for your hay? I hear people talk about buying certain brands of rakes/tedders because the keep the dirt to hay ratio down so why would I want to drag my bales all around my field collecting dirt and foreign material. Cost effective but not the best option for horse quality hay.

The basket version is nice and as Darin said at least you are getting your bales out of the field. That said, if I am going to front the money I am going with unit that use a grabber. Keep in mind the grabber can be used to get the bales out of the field, move bales around your storage facility, and load customers. Remember you are trying to do away with as much labor as possible. I priced a Steffens system about 3 months ago and the accumulator was about 11k and the grabber was around 3k if I remember correctly.

I have been strangely drawn to the Hoelscher System and have heard good things about it. Same goes for the Kuhn. My issue with Kuhn is the size, more so the height. Keep in mind I have to pull this thing on public roads behind my baler to get from field to field. My NH dealer says they sell more of the Steffens units. As for the grabbers the Steffens grabber has caught my eye specifically because of the right angle they've put in the frame. With the height of my loader and the grabber I can set bales in my second level loft right off the truck.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales
  • Thread Starter
#9  
flusher said:
I like the Out Front bale accumulator/grapple design, but I only have about 7 acres for hay. Your operation is much larger, so one of those more expensive units that attached to the rear of your square baler probably makes more sense for your use. A Steffen Systems 850 is a nice size for your operation but the price ($15-20K new) may be a no-go.

I am looking at both systems.

I am not sure how many acres I will do of squares anyway. I might do them on a request or trial basis initially to see if I have enough interest. I might have a buddy of mine come bale part of my front pasture in squares and we see how it goes before I sink too much cash into it.

D.
 
   / Bay Accumulators and Grapples for small hay bales
  • Thread Starter
#10  
mark.r said:
My issue with the Out Front accumulator is that you are dragging your bales across the ground until you get a full bundle. Now I have not spoken to any owner/operators but how good can that be for your hay? I hear people talk about buying certain brands of rakes/tedders because the keep the dirt to hay ratio down so why would I want to drag my bales all around my field collecting dirt and foreign material. Cost effective but not the best option for horse quality hay.

The basket version is nice and as Darin said at least you are getting your bales out of the field. That said, if I am going to front the money I am going with unit that use a grabber. Keep in mind the grabber can be used to get the bales out of the field, move bales around your storage facility, and load customers. Remember you are trying to do away with as much labor as possible. I priced a Steffens system about 3 months ago and the accumulator was about 11k and the grabber was around 3k if I remember correctly.

I have been strangely drawn to the Hoelscher System and have heard good things about it. Same goes for the Kuhn. My issue with Kuhn is the size, more so the height. Keep in mind I have to pull this thing on public roads behind my baler to get from field to field. My NH dealer says they sell more of the Steffens units. As for the grabbers the Steffens grabber has caught my eye specifically because of the right angle they've put in the frame. With the height of my loader and the grabber I can set bales in my second level loft right off the truck.

Does the Kuhn fold down for road use? If it doesn't, it should.

So many options. I like the thought of it come out of the baler and into a nice stack as I go along. Dragging bales along the ground does not seem optimum, but I guess it might not be that bad.

There are a number of ways these things work. Some need hydraulics, some have electric, and some are purely ground driven. Ground driven seems like a good deal to me. After buying a manure spreader, I am pretty impressed.

D>
 
 
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