Pallet forks vs round bales

[patrickg]

Just how dumb is it to handle round bales with pallet forks? I was stacking round bales two high (maybe too high, as well) and ended up nearly having a bale come over the back of the pallet fork back up/barier/thingy. It bent the barrier thing back at a 45 degree angle. Is it inherently dangerous? I was thinking of repairing, strengthening, and extending the backstop to prevent a repeat episode, or worse yet, having a 1000 lb bale fall on the front of the tractor or even worse on the cab with me in it.

Patrick

 

[Bird]

Patrick, it's been quite some time ago, but I once saw a story on TV about a doctor who also had a farm and he had a bale roll back onto himself (no cab on the tractor), pinned him to the seat and broke his back so he's now a paraplegic. I'd certainly rather use a hay spear, but like a lot of the things we do, you can use the pallet forks if you're aware of all the possiblities and are super careful.

 

[Egon]

Patrick:
Would it be possible to chain the bale in place till it's found its final resting place? May be a pain but wouldn't take that long.
If the pallet forks are movable like they are on most forklifts can the forks be brought closer together so you can lift the bale the way you would use a spear?
Egon