I need to automate my bale handling, too

[RickB]

The wagon gears are EZ Trail with Kuhns bodies. I ordered the 8 ton gear with the 9x20 bodies and the stepped upright. If I can stack 4 high I should be able to get 180 on a load and probably 120 on my current 8x16 wagons with a little modification. I'll nedd to bring them to 9' wide and get rid of the angle brace that supports the upright. I'll have to stabilise it another way.
Greg

If I were to get into the business of making small squares, I would look hard at an accumulator system first. As for the bracing on your wagon upright, you can still use a diagonal, just move it below the stringers.

 

[gf5205]

Which of your tractors will pull the baler and accumulator?

That 15-bale accumulator lays bales down in a 5 long by 3 wide pattern and the accumulator picks it up in the 5x3 arrangement. So, assuming 50 lb bales, that's 750 lb of hay and the weight of the grabber, say 500 lb. The center of gravity is about 45" +22.5"=67.5" (5ft -7.5in)from the lifting pins on your FEL, assuming 45" bale length. The ML250 FEL on my 2008 Mahindra 5525 (54 hp engine, 45 hp pto) can lift 2980 lb at the bucket pins. Your FEL probably has similar specs, so I don't think you have a lifting problem. Just carry enough ballast on the 3pt to balance the tractor.

My winter project is to build a hay squeeze/accumulator to handle eight 14"x18"x45" bales (about 50 lb each). I plan to stack two bales high (16 total bales) and lift this 800 lb load of hay with the squeeze to at least 6-ft height (the loader can reach about 10 ft high). I carry a heavy double bottom plow on the 3pt for ballast. I have a few more weeks of work and then I'll post photos.

We use the JD5203 to bale with because it has better gearing. The loader on the 5205 has a full height rating of 2100 lbs. at the pins The grabber weighs 750 lbs. and we average 40-45 pound bales. I expect to be able to stack 4 high, but time will tell.
Greg

 

[slowzuki]

That sounds like a great setup! I just recently moved to pulling the wagon right behind the baler and that was a nice leap. Can't afford the accumulator for a while yet.

 

[gf5205]

That sounds like a great setup! I just recently moved to pulling the wagon right behind the baler and that was a nice leap. Can't afford the accumulator for a while yet.

We put the hay on the ground and picked it up with pickups the first year (1975). A wagon that would pull behind the baler was a very high priority for the next year!

 

[nvlong4n1]

How did it go installing your valve kit? We just got into the square bale hay accumulating and handling business. Ours does drag the hay on the ground. Last week I was using our new grapalators and it was a fairly rough field some dirt showing, however the bales were not picking up any dirt that I could see. I see you did not want the drag on the ground type accumulators. Were you trying to avoid picking up dirt? What type of hay are you bailing?

Thanks,

Nelson @ W. R. Long Inc.
W.R.Long the 4N1 Bucket People

 

[gf5205]

How did it go installing your valve kit? We just got into the square bale hay accumulating and handling business. Ours does drag the hay on the ground. Last week I was using our new grapalators and it was a fairly rough field some dirt showing, however the bales were not picking up any dirt that I could see. I see you did not want the drag on the ground type accumulators. Were you trying to avoid picking up dirt? What type of hay are you bailing?

Thanks,

Nelson @ W. R. Long Inc.
W.R.Long the 4N1 Bucket People

Hi Nelson,
The dealer, Hammond Tractor in Auburn Me, hasn't called to say the kit is in. I saw the grapalators on your website and they looked interesting, certainly an improvement on the accumulators that you gather the hay with after it hits the ground, because it's already in the grapple. We are baling mixed grass hay with Timothy the predominant grass. Some of our fields have wet areas that we bale on, but I wouldn't want to drag the bales over. I also wonder if it takes much more time to gather each bale with the grapalator than to drive to each 15 bale grab dropped by the Kuhns accumulator. I may be looking for help once I get the kit.
Thanks,
Greg

 

[gf5205]

The WR Long kit came in on Friday and I installed it on Saturday. I thought the installation went well, never having tackled tractor plumbing before. The instructions were clear and all of the parts fit as advertized. The issues I had were that the hoses coming from the loader joystick slightly interfered with the WR Long valve placement so I had to adjust the fitting that holds them to the loader; I had to find a place to attach the wire supplying power to the switch and the bracket that holds the QA fittings on the front of the loader is weld on for my loader and I don't weld so I drilled it screwed it on.

I also picked up the JD loader to skidsteer QA adapter at the same time. So now I'm waiting for the Accumulator and grabber. I was worried about this install because I hadn't done any plumbing or wiring on the tractor before, but it seems to have gone well.
Greg

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

What is the lead time on ordering a new Kuhn's Accumilator?

 

[gf5205]

What is the lead time on ordering a new Kuhn's Accumilator?

I guess I'm about to find out. I ordered in mid April and asked for delivery in mid May. I hope to hear from them soon.
Greg

 

[zzvyb6]

OK, so now you have bales on a few wagons headed to the barn full of hay. Lets say you have 120 - 150 on a wagon. Now what? Seems to me you now need to unload these wagons before heading back out to the field, eh? More wagons, drive wagons into barn and tilt-to-dump?

Not sure why your baler is giving you inconsistent bale size and weight, but these factors are easy to adjust and involve the raking process, too.

There's a NH1034 stacke for sale on Craigslist around here for $5600. My 1012 takes 64 back to the barn and leaves a pile there while I head back out to get the rest of a 200 bale evening.

Just curious, because the baler/bale size issue will follow you to the accumulators too, I would imagine.

BTW: I use to tow a 4 place snowmobile trailer behind my baler. It easily handled 250 bales with a person helping out. The problem still was that the traler is full and must be unloaded before heading back out in the field.