Moving small bales - bad back

[tcreeley]

This looks good - Hoelscher Model 5 Hay Fork

 

[jaxs]

We do have help and likely the real long term answer is getting swmbo comfortable operating tractor. The help she has is during the week when I am at my day job. So I would not be around to operate the tractor.

She can operate tractor I think she is just more scared of it than anything.

The use of pallets is a great suggestion. I store my hay on pallets (free at most wheelhouses, etc) You could have him stack on pallets and figure out how much you can lift with some bolt on pallet forks. You would insert pallets as needed so you could take a block out at a time. Just thinking here.

Why can't the help do this and you could use bucket forks to move pallets after work and/or weekends?

 

[bruceha2000]

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 suspension which you know the tractor has no suspension so you get all the bump and bounce up through you back. I'm changing mine soon.

Does the 1526 have the same rotating seat for using the backhoe as the 1533? I've no idea if the seat can be easily swapped out for a suspension seat or if a different seat would inhibit the rotation.

I looked at getting the same grapple he has. Since no detachable bucket no dice. Also the weight issue would have been marginal at best. Getting the same grapple was my first thought.

We do have help and likely the real long term answer is getting swmbo comfortable operating tractor. The help she has is during the week when I am at my day job. So I would not be around to operate the tractor.

She can operate tractor I think she is just more scared of it than anything.

Most likely she would get comfortable pretty quickly if she had some supervised practice The only "tractor" I'd ever driven before getting a real tractor this summer was my 24 HP Craftsman garden tractor (tractor in name only!) and while there was a learning curve, I've managed. I'm not scared of it but I'm cautious.

 

[TheMan419]

Why can't the help do this and you could use bucket forks to move pallets after work and/or weekends?

That is also a good work around.

He has a Kuhn痴 10 bale. It is 2 across the top long ways. Then two rows of 4 across going 90 degrees from the two long ways. He stacks them so the 2 across change where they are north, south, east, west so each layer of the stack is different.

So one layer looks like


!! !!
!! !!

They are in stacks 7 high because of how tall/short the barn is.

But yes easy solution is the young strong teen age help pulls them off the stack and puts them on pallets. I can then use forks or carry all to move pallets after work.

 

[sd455dan]

That is also a good work around.

He has a Kuhnç—´ 10 bale. It is 2 across the top long ways. Then two rows of 4 across going 90 degrees from the two long ways. He stacks them so the 2 across change where they are north, south, east, west so each layer of the stack is different.

So one layer looks like


!! !!
!! !!

They are in stacks 7 high because of how tall/short the barn is.

But yes easy solution is the young strong teen age help pulls them off the stack and puts them on pallets. I can then use forks or carry all to move pallets after work.

If the helpers are there at least a couple times a week pre-staging a couple pallets and some chain on or clamp on pallet forks to the tractor should be workable and not break the bank.

My back isn't what it used to be either and we switched to large squares because of this for our families horses.
Save money on the hay purchase and also barn space to.

 

[Handloader109]

Geez, you have pallet forks. You have young teen help once a week.
Have the kid Stack 9 on std pallet 3x3. (Maybe more, Its been a while since I worked with square bales). Start with 4 or 5 pallets worth. Or two weeks supply. 45 bales, what? Maybe an hour if he is lazy..... then every week stack either 2 or 3 pallets to replenish. Again, maybe 30 min tops per week. You can pay him 3 to 10 years for what the implement costs you..... move at your convenience to horses.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Geez, you have pallet forks. You have young teen help once a week.
Have the kid Stack 9 on std pallet 3x3. (Maybe more, Its been a while since I worked with square bales). Start with 4 or 5 pallets worth. Or two weeks supply. 45 bales, what? Maybe an hour if he is lazy..... then every week stack either 2 or 3 pallets to replenish. Again, maybe 30 min tops per week. You can pay him 3 to 10 years for what the implement costs you..... move at your convenience to horses.

I think you're on the right track. Most pallets aren't quite the right size for bales, what I would consider is a wooden rack sized to bales that sits on top of a pallet.

The other consideration is what to do with the bales at the other end. Ideally you'd want something where you can get them into the feeder without ever lifting them. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. OP said 21 bales a week, that's 3 a day, or one and a half at each feeding. It might be easiest just to cut the string and carry as many flakes as you can to the feeder.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I try to offload as much of the horse chores onto my wife as I can get away with. They are her horses, and I figure she might decide to downsize the herd if the work gets to be too much. Having said that, I see to end up with the heavy lifting. I move round bales with a bale fork a couple of times per week and load about 33 small square bales into the truck bed from the barn loft once per week. We have 8 horses in two different locations, and the at-home horses get the round bales. If I throw out my back (as happens a couple time per year), loading/moving bales becomes somebody else's problem!