990 owners and round bales

[Dutch445]

Are there any of you 990 owners out there that can help
me size a tractor. My customer has a 790, and knows he
can't lift the round bales he gets in winter for his horses.
He is thinking of buying a 990 with the 300CX loader, and
a bale spear to unload the truck and move bales around his
property, then drop them into the feeder which is 5-6' high.

is anybody using their 990 with a FEL bale spear and moving bales?
how big a bale can you use? He's looking to move 900 lb bales,
but they are a little heavier in winter when they take on a little
water.

thanks in advance.
Dutch

 

[BloomingtonMike]

Keep the rear ballast weights on and get a substantial enough amount and fill the tires. Tell him to go slow. That or sell him a 4320 and 400X.

 

[Dutch445]

thanks Mike,


Anybody else with an opinion or experience?

 

[therebarely]

Unbelievable timing, because I just moved 3 bales yesterday. Bales were between 4 and 5 feet, and did it with no problem. I had the brush cutter on the back when I did it. They were pretty dry bales though. Hope this helps.

 

[Dutch445]

thanks for that post,,
when you say the bales were between 4-5 feet,
is that the diameter? and , how wide are these bales?
this guy gets 5'wide bales,, and they are about 4'
across in diameter,,, and weigh 900,,, we feel
we are close to the limits here with the amount of
weight that size bale puts in front of the loader...

 

[AKfish]

I might be a little off in my weight estimates --- but isn't the lift capacity of the 300CX just shy of 1,500lbs? The measurement point at the bale spear might lower the useful capacity a few hundred pounds --- however, I'd still like to think you'd have a good working margin over the 900lb bale weight. Concern would be correct/adequate ballast and sensible use of the loader when carrying a bale; i.e; low to the ground and slow until dropping the bale into the feeder.
AKfish

 

[jdbower]

I might be a little off in my weight estimates --- but isn't the lift capacity of the 300CX just shy of 1,500lbs?

I'd be careful, if the weight from a spear is much further forward than a bucket (and I assume it is) you get a lot of extra torque to lift the rear wheels off the ground.

 

[browns40]

Hi Dutch,

Can't give you any help on the round bales... I have carried some loads though...

The 300CX (with 72" HD bucket, repl cutting edge, chain hooks) can routinely pick a heaping full bucket of clay up over 9 feet; a stacked bucket piled full of ash (wood) "built out" two feet from the bucket edge...

Most pertinent: it can load an MX-5 cutter chained inside the bucket (rear wheel straight out) onto the back of a truck no problem (except dented wheel wells!). It didn't sit well--needless to say unloading went even smoother.

With the gearbox & tail wheel I'd say the center of gravity on that load had to be at least 36 inches out from the cutting edge; ~730 # cutter, ~200# bucket, ~20# 3/8 chain.

I had ~775 pounds of box blade/weights on the back of a 3320 and no fill in the tires for all the above... and bouncing for everything.

If you have an MX-6 on your lot, that would be a real good "real world" test for the 990/300CX combination I would think.

I'm guessing 900#'s low & slow to drop-off with rear ballast wouldn't make that loader flinch a bit... maybe the operator

 

[therebarely]

The bales were 4 to 5 ft. in diameter, and about 4 ft. wide. As a side note, tried to lift 72 sheets of 1/2 in. OSB 2 days ago, but couldn't find any strapping to hold. The bales were no problem though. Didn't even grunt much. I am having alot of creep down in the loader hydraulics though. Wish Yanmar made the loader too.

 

[Dutch445]

We put the tractor together and I grabbed some wheel weights to
see how well the tractor would handle the bales. The pictures show
2 450# weights and 1 165# weights, which equal 1230#.
When I fist slid the big weights on, they didn't go much past
the bottom spike and were about 10" out in front of the frame,
As I lifted the load up high, and let the load curl back a bit,
the weights pushed a bit further back toward the frame, so now
the weight was closer to the pivot point on the loader.

With the load at about 66" of clearance, the tractor would still
lift higher, but I could feel the rear getting a little light. The tires
are not loaded yet, but would be if the customer buys the rig.

here are a couple pics of the load

 

[rockyridgefarm]

great post Dutch!

your test is pretty good. But one caution. Will he always be working on a nice level paved parking lot? There is huge difference between dry level ground and real life feeding. You only feed at 2 AM, with gale force winds in pouring rain. OK, maybe it only seems that way. (And I know your rain is white...) But in these slightly less than optimal conditions, it is a pretty scary ride, even with the bales just on the 3 point.

No matter what, having a 3 point bale spear is great. Having one bale n the rear sure makes the front go better.

It should work, and the seat is already yellow if it gets real hairy...

 

[Dutch445]

that's why we are going to load the tires for sure,,
i think with only 900 lbs, and tires loaded, it's going
to be ok. the customer is quite level where he is,,
and if we need more box weight, there is always an
extension that can be added.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

Yeah, I figure you'd got it covered. You never know who will read these posts and not consider all factors...

Good looking machine!

 

[SteelDust]

I'm considering a 990 with 300CX over the 2520 with 200CX as it may be able to handle the large bales, in my case it would probably be large squares. I would be moving them off a trailer, over a flat surface, and stacking 3 high (hopefully). I'm not going to be moving them long distances or over rought terrain. I don't have to put up large amounts as the farmer I buy hay from is less than 5 miles away and won't sell it out from under me. Also, the bales are a bit less than what were lifted in the pics. Plus, I'd of course have tires filled and use enough ballast.

Thanks for the pictures, that may seal my decision to go with the 990 over the 2520 for $1500 more. Even if it doesn't work out for moving the large bales I still think it's a lot more tractor for the money, as I'm not at all opposed to shifting.

 

[Dutch445]

Saturday we are going to get a real test with the bales,,,
If I can , I'll try to get some pics and see how it goes.
Our objective with the bales will be to get them up and
over a 5' fence, we don't think moving them around low
will be a problem.

 

[SteelDust]

Saturday we are going to get a real test with the bales,,,
If I can , I'll try to get some pics and see how it goes.
Our objective with the bales will be to get them up and
over a 5' fence, we don't think moving them around low
will be a problem.

I look forward to seeing how it goes.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

And do the same with a 3000TWENTY sometime!

For Science - TBN - and Dutch's paycheck!

 

[slowzuki]

As a note, the tipping point if she will tip stationary is when the bucket is level with the upper loader boom pins. Higher than that it gets less tippy when parked.

Moving is a whole other story, sudden stops of bumps or acceleration will send the tractor tumbling. That is one thing you notice right away on compacts is the short wheelbase for sharp steering makes a poorer loader base when working up high.

 

[ducati996]

I'm considering a 990 with 300CX over the 2520 with 200CX as it may be able to handle the large bales, in my case it would probably be large squares. I would be moving them off a trailer, over a flat surface, and stacking 3 high (hopefully). I'm not going to be moving them long distances or over rought terrain. I don't have to put up large amounts as the farmer I buy hay from is less than 5 miles away and won't sell it out from under me. Also, the bales are a bit less than what were lifted in the pics. Plus, I'd of course have tires filled and use enough ballast.

Thanks for the pictures, that may seal my decision to go with the 990 over the 2520 for $1500 more. Even if it doesn't work out for moving the large bales I still think it's a lot more tractor for the money, as I'm not at all opposed to shifting.

As much as I think highly of my 2520 series- handling bales is not going to happen with a 2520....

You might want to look at the 3120 or higher....3120 is close in price to the 2520

 

[N80]

I would also recommend rear ballast in addition to loaded tires. I have a comparable Kubota and even with a bucket load of dirt, a box blade (etc) on the rear makes a big difference even though my tires are loaded too.