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I ended up buying a Pierce. Looks heavy duty. All the points that looked weak from the pictures are actually multiple layers of 1/4" plate. There is a gusset under the cat 1 pin, so a quick hitch will not work. I ended up grinding the bracket off, because I need to use my quick hitch. It...

Sorry, I thought you had watched the video. My tractor, my process and video of the sled damage are included in that. Where the fertilizer truck drove, the plants were dead. You could see the tire tracks for two cuttings (I can feel the tread lugs when driving my tractor over those tracks)...

1. If I could afford hay equipment, I'd have a tractor large enough to handle these bales. 2. It turns out that the sleds are doing less damage to the alfalfa than the empty hay wagon, the tractor or fertilizer truck. The sleds generate 2.4 psi.

Video summary of the project. Hay Sled Summary

After using it for a year, I find that it does less damage than the fertilizer truck does. The ground pressure is very low for a sled.

The last thread on bale unrollers is from 2008. Anyone have recent experience that could recommend one, or features to look for? Peirce looks like the cheapest and also looks like the arms may break off. I was unrolling by pushing the bales with the FEL, but rolled over a lamb this spring. I...

We used honey locust for firewood when I was a kid. It burn really hot and doesn't rot sitting in the wood pile. Of course, now I have a geothermal well.

That looks a lot nicer than my barrel for not that much more money. Sure, the barrel is $10, but the nozzle, filter, pump, pallet, DIY headache, add up.

Just a sheet metal screw into the thicker plastic at the bottom.

My problem is normally a loose or dirty ground to the battery (because most things work, but cranking doesn't). It's hard to believe the first 20-30 times, but it's the first thing I check now.

Mine has a something of a fifth wheel that dump mechanism rides on. I watch that to see which way the wagon is going to break. Everything else is too loose and wobbly to watch. If it's going the wrong way, I stop and try again. Backing into the barn takes about 6 attempts. Backing up to the burn...

My MF1250 often will not start when I'm under the sheet metal, because of a bad ground that loosens up over time and must get knocked loose when I take the side panels off. It can be very confusing to have wo problems. I had a leak when the engine warmed up. I thought it was a leak in the...

It looks like 5 PSI is a good goal for ground pressure. So, very roughly 4,000 lbs / 5PSI = is 800 square inches. So a minimum of a 67" track 6" wide on each side.. though I'd want the skids in the corners, so 4 36" skids each 6" wide (or shorter and wider). Is that what you are imagining?

Assuming the bale didn't slide off of the sled first and that the sled will not slide sideways, wouldn't 6' wide track allow you to pull 1G in the turn before rolling over? My tractor doesn't go that fast. Why is a sled with a 4' track that puts the CG at 3' less stable than a hay wagon with...

This is one of my concerns. I'll report back with pictures after my next few uses. The first time I used it, it was less destructive than the tractor tires. It pushed the plants down, but did not tear them up and they stood up quicker where only the sled was than where the tractor tires were...

Yah. As Junior year engineering students, they should be able to address these sorts of static and dynamic design issues. My tv tower based sled did not fail when only supported at the ends, but I didn't bounce it through a gully. I have a couple of ideas of things for them to consider: Who...

I use the 3 point to move heavy bales at home. I can't load a trailer with the 3 point. The sled is much less expensive than a wagon, is easier to load, does less damage to the field, is safer (I had assumed, since it can't roll away on it's own and the bales are closer to the ground, but...

I'm confused how a sled (skids laying on the ground) is less stable than a wagon. That wagon in your picture is huge. Around here we mostly use smaller wooden bed wagons for squares and 5th wheel trailers for rounds. I'm using rounds, but not taking them on the road (just moving them across...

But my tractor can not lift the bales and I can't roll bales onto that wagon.

I built a prototype hay sled to move round bales that are too heavy for my MF1250. I'm having a 3rd year engineering class engineer something that should hold up much better. There is a local student run high school fabrication business that I plan on talking to about listing them as a...

Thanks for the pictures. It helps those of us who need to do this sort of thing for the first time.

I've posted before. I really like my 50 gallon drum with a air pressure pump. I have replaced the cheap filter with a goldenrod clear filter, so I can see the water when it collects. I also have a drain screw near the bottom of the barrel to drain condensation. I used this pump 7 GPM...

I have a Massey Ferguson 1250 (1600 hours with a Woods 1012 FEL. I use it to move round bales, clean out the sheep barn, and light excavation with the FEL and box loader in fence rows and ditches. The pins behind the bucket are getting sloppy. I thought I was greasing it enough, but maybe not...

..Where do I get that? ... I just googled and found them. It's just a piece of plastic that enforces the breaker is off or on. I've only heard of transfer switches and was told that it would be a minimum of a couple $1,000 for the wiring. In the past 20 years, no one has mentioned to me how...

I'll check again next time I get the chance. There was a single gasket on the WIX filter when I took it off. I wonder if the surface had some dirt on it. It's an awkward position and the tractor stunk of animal crap, so I didn't hang around to analyze the situation.

Wow. I don't know. The WIX 551360 leaked, like it wasn't on tight, but I couldn't tighten it anymore. I replaced the ph4967 that had been on there is it is working fine. Both are standard threads, not metric, so I'm still questioning your choice. https://www.fram.com/oil-filter-ph4967 Joe

Hah! But it's leaking. I'll report back when I confirm that you are right.

WIX 51356 is metric threads. I think you want WIX 51360 (it's what I just installed) and the WIX page lists Agco and MF applications. https://www.wixfilters.com/Lookup/PartDetails.aspx?Part=36104 https://www.wixfilters.com/Lookup/PartDetails.aspx?Part=36921

It depends on where you are. I towed an old gravity wagon 40 miles at 15 mph with my Subaru and saw about 4 other motorists. No concerns. When I haul my race car from Indiana to Birmingham AL, I use a 1-ton van and a real trailer with real tie downs and secure it for roll over. If your 25...

But it can be mowed a lot less. I mow my pastures 3 times a year and I do that with a high ground speed, mostly taking out thistles.

I live between corn and bean fields; I understand that grain farms need more energy than we can pack into batteries. Most tractors aren't used in grain farming. Mahindra is the largest tractor manufacturer in the world and they max out at 125 hp.

1/3 of tractors sold are less than 40 hp: Agricultural Tractors Market Analysis, Size, Share | Industry Growth (2022 - 27) (I paste the wrong URL before) I would guess that most of these smaller tractors are run for only a coupe hours at a time and not at WOT. I know I may have days where I...

I tried a diy redneck boom mower on the FEL for around my pond, but I kept killing the mower. I experimented with ways of adjusting the angle of attack by securing the mower deck to beam in a much more sturdy configuration. I think I'll cross the securing chains, so that adjusting the angle of...

I had a JD 425 all wheel steer. I hated that thing. Way too many moving parts (and each too expensive) for mowing grass and the all wheel steer dug ruts in around my trees. The deck was too shallow to cut nicely. It bogged down terribly in tall grass. I switched to Country Clipper air...

Are radiator caps standard sizes? If it looks right and is 15 psi, is it close enough or is there some other attribute that I need to pay attention to?

I completely agree. I wish there was a reasonable way to convert brush piles to electricy. I spend a lot of time and energy burning brush, staring at the waste of energy and thinking about how to capture that energy. The only reasonable wood fired electricity generators I've seen are city...

Grain farmers need lots of energy. I don't. I use about 50 gallons of diesel/year. Thats 7,333 megajoules, or 2,037kilowatt hours... or assuming a 60 kWh battery, 34 charges. That's definitely doable for me. Some things would not be feasible. The most fuel I've used in a day is 6 gallons...

I had two do that to me. The next week I tried again, by closing up the barn the night before. I backed up the trailer, opened the trailer gate, they climbed right in and closed the trailer gate. I didn't even have to get in the pen. I've learned to work with them; use their curiousity and...

I see the conversation is shifting I keep most of my property "mowed" with Katahdin and only use the country clipper ztr up around the house and the side ditches. The country clipper requires annual blade and oil changes. The Katahdin only need shelter from cold winds and a constant supply of...

A local dealer is the best. We have country clipper dealerships around here. It's seems to be reasonably priced reasonable quality. Expect to replace it in 5 years, probably because you want bigger or smaller or a different color. I'm on my 3rd in 20 years. The 4 wheel steer John Deere was to...

When the repairs pile up too deep, I sell the equipment, but I always tell the buyer what's needed. I guess it's because I'm from a small town. I expect to see the buyer again in the future, possibly as a return customer.

I fill this barrel a couple of times a year. I has a air driven "pump" (it just pressurizes the barrel). 12 GPM Air Operated Barrel Pump

We buy 12 chicks about every 3 years. First year we keep them in. About halfway through the second year I get fed up buying chicken food and run out of friends to unload eggs on, so we let the hens free range. Then we start loosing about 1 hen/month to coyotes.

To spread after I clean out the sheep barn wih the bucket and a dump wagon, I run the bush hog over it. It doesn't work great, but better than nothing.

Yes. I started putting my drawbar pin in upside down to protect the lynch pin.

Why can't the manufacturers adjust? The auto industry did.

I gave up with 2 cycles. Even the local small engine and mower shop quit selling 2 cycles. Too unreliable. I was spending about 1/3 of my time fighting with the saw. I use a palletized contractor generator and Oregon plug in electric saw. Dragging the cord would be a PITA if I was making...

I'm clearing 25 years of growth with a generator/electric chainsaw (because 2 cycle engines hate me), a couple log chains, a 60" bushhog, bucket forks on the front end loader and a 33 hp Massey Fergison. It is slow, but that's working for me. I haven't hurt myself yet. Yesterday I got the saw...

My 36" forks are too short for about 1/25 jobs around my hobby farm (moving junk or big hay bales). That said, I have driven them through the barn wall, so shorter would have been better in that one instance.

I got a great deal on overstock forks from netforks and made these that I can attach to the 3 point or the bucket. This lets me lift heavy things with the 3 point and stack small hay bales with the bucket. This works for me now, but "next time" I'm getting a tractor with a quick change bucket...

I completely agree. The electric->hydraulic pressure step needs to be more efficient. I just googled "solid state hydraulic pump" and saw this Solid-State Pumps - Kinetic Ceramics I thikn something like that will be required to make the step from diesel to EV utility tractors.

I used a 60" rotary mower for ballast when moving round bales with the FEL on my Massey Ferguson 1250 for 15 years. My source for bales changed and they are now heavier causing lifting them into the loft to become scary. I loaded up the tires with rimguard. Huge difference. Much, much better...

If you haven't asked the owner, then you don't know.

After 15 years of using my tractor, I filled my tires with beat juice. If you plan on bucket forks, I highly recommend that. I have some homemade forks that pin on the bucket. I found them scary to use until I filled the tires. I can pin my forks on the bucket or on the 3 point. For moving...

Yes. I'm considering mowing with my single spindle bushhog/brushhog/rotary mower. It sounds like I will end up leaving 20% or so on the ground. Anything else I need to know about mowing with a bushhog?

I posted before about a rough rocky field. Looks like picking up rocks will become the nightly walk for a while. I'll try to get the field rolled, if I can find anyone, but I've not heard of anyone with a roller. My hay guy complained that the rocks damaged his mower and the rough field was...

A little more context. I'm paying him by the acre to make the round bales and leave them in the field. We get about 6 ton/acre/year here (3 cuttings). Sounds like guys and here charge about $25/acre to mow, condition and round bale. So I agree, that I'm not paying for him to break equipment...

I just took a spin around the field. I think the rocks that he's complaining about have surfaced since we collected rocks. They are in what was the roughest area. I suspect they were under some dirt and the rains washed them off. I probably should have search for rocks a couple weeks after...

I recently bought 20 acres with the plan of making hay now and transitioning to pasture as my flock of sheep grows. First thing I did was look for help. The seed guy suggested tilling it up, because the field had been plowed about 5 years ago and was very, very rough (like too rough to using a...

I-69 Trailer Center is a retail shop fur Sure-Trac trailers. They'll custom make a trailer for you from the factory. I have a stock 5'x10' with high sides (it wouldn't dump like you need), that I've used about once a week for 7 years with no trouble. I have a cage that I use on the trailer to...

After buying a "compressed air pump" from Northern Tool and having made one on my own for a 30 gallon gas caddy, you definitely need a real fuel nozzle and hose, but they are inexpensive. I would also recommend a clear filter (goldenrod?) and a drain. In my barrel, I just drilled a 1/8" hole...

I use a 55 gallon drum on a custom pallet. I load and unload on the trailer with the front end loader to fill it at the gas station. I use this pump: 12 GPM Air Operated Barrel Pump ($70) I just pop it on the air compressor and it works. I really didn't want another electric motor. I did...

I wouldn't do that. You want the input and the outputs of the shaft to be parallel, otherwise there will be "accelerations" between the input and output. Think of this: As you pass through a u-joint with an angle in it, the output will not be spinning at an even speed. It will constantly be...

I fill a 55 gallon drum twice a year. It has a pump, filter, and standard nozzle. Cost me about $150 to assemble. I used a air powered pump like this, so I didn't have another motor that would fail. 12 GPM Air Operated Barrel Pump I don't think that is DOT legal, but it works for me.

I use an air operated barrel pump on a 55 gallon barrel (it just used your air compressor to pressurize the barrel to 3-5 psi). It works great for me. 12 GPM Air Operated Barrel Pump

Excellent! Thanks. Didn't require the slide hammer at all. The bearing towards the front of the tractor wasn't even pressed in tight. This is a heck of a lot easier to work on than the junk cars I normally work on, but the parts cost 5-20X as much as 20 year old Accord parts (24 hours of...

My PTO shaft wobbles just a bit. Dad didn't completely disconnect the rotary mower and ended up backing over half the PTO shaft last summer. I think the PTO output is bent on the tractor, so I'm trying to remove it. It looks like it's held in with a snap ring and a pressed in bearing. Should...