Moving small bales - bad back

[thekkfan]

We move 4 bales a day from three different barn locations during the season with atv or riding mower and either utility cart (2x2) or the spreader (again 2x2) hooked behind.

100' downhill or uphill? Downhill can be pulled by hand. This is the cart we have with dual use handle .......... Gorilla Carts 1 cu. ft. Heavy-Duty Poly Dump Cart at Tractor Supply Co.

 

[Maxify55]

It's for this very reason that we went to round bales 10 years ago.
I also have far more back fusions than I'd care to relate but suffice it to say that a 5-6 ft round bale
strategically placed in each paddock has relieved me of haying duties for days on end.
Small square bales are far too time consuming.
Even if I could tote them around but there was a time years ago.....

Can I get a witness? :laughing:

 

[Turbys_1700]

So to answer a few of the questions in this thread....

The tractor is listed in my profile.... NH Boomer 24. The bucket is NOT quick detach.

Stall barn is like 100 ft from the hay storage barn.

Currently the hay guy brings his skid steer to stack. He uses the kuhns 10 bale graple. String side is down. I am not sure my tractor could lift 10 bales and the grapple even if it were a quick detach bucket.

I need to move about 21 bales a week give or take in the winter. Less in the seasons when the paddocks are green with forage.

I am not dead set against manually moving them. The problem is right now I cannot do so due to my back. Going to see the dr today for further answers. I am sure a bunch of physical therapy is in my future. So it may be several months before I am able to do it.

So ultimately this is one more thing SWMBO has to take on and I am trying to minimize that for her.

Frankly if I could only move one small bale at a time with a spear I would make the 21 trips between the two barns and git er done. It is not that far so as to make that an annoyance. If I had the capacity to use the same grapple as my hay supplier I would look long long long and hard at doing that. However it seems cost prohibitive at this point.

One easy thought I started in another thread was just to get a carry all for the 3 point hitch. Build a platform for it. Then SWMBO can more easily stack hay on that for transport. While it does not cut down on the manual labor part of things it at least makes part of the job easier. Plus the carry all is under $200 so if it is not useful I don't feel like I have wasted a bunch of money.

The square bale spear is an interesting idea. While the one two bit linked to would likely not work there are bucket mounted versions. Seems like that would at least let me grab two bales at a time. Maybe 3 if I was hitting the short side. Could probably even grab them such that you were taking two layers and thus have 4 or 6 bales at a time.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Getting older is no fun!

Titan has a nice clamp on spear that has 2 smaller stabilizer spears. I can't link the darn thing. They are $260. Looks like another option.

 

[plowhog]

I don't know if you wife is experienced around tractors or equipment. Just a reminder to discuss safety aspects of tractor operation and put them in practice. If she is not as familiar with equipment as you are, you may know of certain risks or safety hazards that she does not.

 

[jaxs]

I like the idea of a grapple if you can find one that work's without breaking the bales. Maybe have a hydraulic operated claw adapted to the fel bucket. Can you offer lunch once a week to an able bodied individual in exchange for them stacking 21 bales on as many pallets as required? You could then use bucket forks or 3 point forks to move pallets as needed.That is better than a carry-all since swmbo would only need to handle bales once as she feed's them.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

In my experience, the best way to move square bales without mangling them is to lift by the strings. This hay grapple has hooks to grab the bales:


You can read about it here: Hay Grapple | Parrish Agriturf | Farm Equipment

I haven't ever used it, I just saw their ad.

Now the poor man's version is you get off and hook the strings yourself. For one or two bales at a time, just attach a couple snaplinks to your bucket somehow and clip them onto the strings. For bigger loads, I think what I would do is put a pointy end on a bunch of rods, and run the rods through several bales and under the string. Then figure out a way to join the rods together and lift the whole load. I think maybe a 2x4 with holes drilled in it for the rods to go into at each end of the load would do it. I suspect that manually hooking the bales wouldn't take that much longer than having a grapple, it can be frustrating precisely locating an implement that's way out in front of your tractor, especially if you're working in close quarters.

The reason I'm thinking low-tech is that once you use up the 1200 bales you have in stock, you really should look at round bales or large squares. Pound for pound they're much easier to handle with equipment.

 

[powerscol]

Specialty Grabbers | Kuhns Mfg LLC | North Bloomfield, OH
I have the small 205 model that your tractor can handle. This will make your work a breeze, It does not matter what the string orientation is. Also you never want to lift by the strings as that leads to busted bales. You will need to get a quick attach plate fitted to you tractor. The initial cost will pay fro itself as there is a world of attachments you can get later. Also give Kuhn a call as they can custom fit these - great customer service

 

[Stancoll]

I'm not to keen on what to do with the spearer or otherwise but you mention trouble with your back. Something you may need to consider is a suspension seat for the tractor in lieu of your present seat. From the pix I've seen of your tractor on line its basically the same as mine. It has two heavy duty springs under it for suspenion which you know the tractor has no suspension so you get all the bump amd bounce up through you back. I'm changing mine soon. In addition to my tractor I have a 52 inch zero turn bobcat lawnmower. It too had the spring suspension, it was killing me. I had neck surgery about 5 or 6 years ago and fused my c3 and c4. Worked good, but the mower reminded me i need to protect the work done. I wound up buying a suspension seat from bobcat, it's been my salvation. You adjust the seat to your weight and it works great for a heavy set like me or when my grandson runs the ower he dials it down accordingly.

 

[TheMan419]

I'm not to keen on what to do with the spearer or otherwise but you mention trouble with your back. Something you may need to consider is a suspension seat for the tractor in lieu of your present seat. From the pix I've seen of your tractor on line its basically the same as mine. It has two heavy duty springs under it for suspenion which you know the tractor has no suspension so you get all the bump amd bounce up through you back. I'm changing mine soon. In addition to my tractor I have a 52 inch zero turn bobcat lawnmower. It too had the spring suspension, it was killing me. I had neck surgery about 5 or 6 years ago and fused my c3 and c4. Worked good, but the mower reminded me i need to protect the work done. I wound up buying a suspension seat from bobcat, it's been my salvation. You adjust the seat to your weight and it works great for a heavy set like me or when my grandson runs the ower he dials it down accordingly.

Any chance you have a link to this? Yeah there is zero suspension. I think the two little springs under the seat have an inch of travel if that much......

 

[TheMan419]

I don't know if you wife is experienced around tractors or equipment. Just a reminder to discuss safety aspects of tractor operation and put them in practice. If she is not as familiar with equipment as you are, you may know of certain risks or safety hazards that she does not.

She is not, but she is very very careful when the tractor is running. Overly so in my mind, but I won't tell her that because that is a heck of a lot better than the other option.....