Hay elevator size

[RobA]

I want to buy a skeleton elevator to lift small bales to the 2nd floor of my barn. The height is about 10-1/2 feet. What size elevator would you recommend? Is 16' long enough? That would make the elevator's slope at about 40 degrees.

 

[EverythingAttachments]

Most people go with the 16' for that height and you should be fine at the 40 degree slope. If you get one and decide you want it longer, you can easily add a 4' extension to make the slope less steep. We have some really nice elevators and extensions on our site here. Those ship free within 1,000 miles of Newton, NC to a commercial business or supporting freight terminal.

 

[QRTRHRS]

To bad you are not closer to me. I would sell you my like new 16' Hayrite with a 3/4 hp Leeson motor for about a grand. Works great but not for my barn. I have a 12 foot center aisle with lofts on both sides. The motor makes the unit to heavy for me to move. About the only thing I can do is stand it up along side the aisle but then it is in my way for other activities. 16 foot sounds about right though.

 

[zzvyb6]

The longer it is, the less motor power you will need. I have a 16' grain elevator going up that height and dumping into a horizontal mow elevator with 6 dump stations. With all paddles engaged and 5 bales on the lower deal, I need a 1 hp motor to run them up at a good speed.

The grain elevator requires you to put the bales on edge, but that's not an issue. The mow elevator runs both ways. That makes unloading really easy.

 

[Lloyd_E]

Ours is 20' and we lift 10.5' to the hay loft from outside. We usually set the elevator on the ground, get the first load of square bales and return, and then place the elevator on two bales of hay to reduce the angle. When we built the barn I routed a 4"x4"x 12' beam(it is only out 3' and counter levered in the barn 9') out through the gable end just under the peak. I keep a block and tackle connected to it with rope in place. When we need to lower the elevator I hook another end of the rope with a block/hook onto the end of the elevator. One person pushes the elevator out the door while the other releases the rope to lower. The mechanical advantage is tuned that I can even do it by myself.

Hope this helps.

Lloyd

 

[RobA]

Thanks for the info. I've been looking around for a used elevator but there aren't any to be found locally.

Lloyd - I like the way you rigged up the beam/pulley. I may look into doing that. Any pictures?

 

[Lloyd_E]

It's pretty basic...

Look at the photo - up under the roof peak / eve. There is a block attached to the beam. Another is inside with a block and hook. I believe for every turn around a block you gain 25% advantage or so...
We used scissor rafters for the barn and I just ran the 4"x4" out under the cross bracing in the rafters with a little more cross pieces to hold in place. We paid a little more than I see them on the used market for now but regardless it has paid for itself in the saved grunt work over the last 5+ years. It was one of those purchases that the wife couldn't understand until we used it!

Block and tackle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia // ""The mechanical advantage of a tackle dictates how much easier it is to haul or lift the load. A tackle with a mechanical advantage of 4 (a double tackle) will be able to lift 100 kg with only 25 kg of tension on the hauling part of the line.""

It literally takes about 2-3 minutes to raise or lower the elevator. I was told(by wife) to wait this haying session(blown L5 disc) by the time she returned to the barn from the house it was done - and not painful!!!! Until she saw it down!!! When we wired the barn we had an outlet installed with a switch so we could shut it off up top or below(on motor) in case of an emergency or if you needed to slow the bale handling a bit.

Hope this helps. I can take more detailed photos if need be.

 

[RobA]

Thanks for the picture. Adding that to the project list.

 

[JacksonWillis]

I utilize a full lift for my feed, and I keep it in a similar spot ten-month round. It's constantly set to utilize, going up through an entryway in my feed cut. I simply keep a basin over the engine.

 

[eddie48]

I have the same height to raise my hay into the barn loft. I used a 16 ft elevator for a while and found that, when I was working alone, I could only put a couple (4 or 5) bales up before I had to climb into the loft to remove them from the end of the elevator and stack them up. I added 4 ft to the elevator and, now, can run 10 or 12 bales before I have to climb. At my age (almost 70) less climbing is good.