Anyone load large hay bales with a skid seer?

[Rustyiron]

I certainly wouldn't drag one to the field just to load. We'll unload (and wrap) silage bales back at the farm also. Medium sized wheeled machine does fine as long as you have some "machine smarts".

 

[Farmer495]

Better with tracks on bumpy fields. I wonder if tracked skiddy more stable with big bales?

Only ran wheeled, would think a tracked machine would better on wet ground. Either machine might tear up the grass if turned aggressive.

Another thing is I'd be hesitant to lift very high if land not perfectly level, I've carried very wet silage bales with the rear wheels hardly touching. Once I went down in a dip and the bale slid off the spear (limited tip back) and had a "kid on teeter totter all the way in the air and other kid jumps off" experience.

 

[LHF2019]

Tracks are the way to go. Amish use them when I did custom silage bales. They will not tear up the field. I use wheel one around farm. Much much faster loading customers than tractor and no clutch wear. Reach is the issue. Placing the 2nd layer bale centered is sometimes a 2 step process.

 

[4570Man]

Only ran wheeled, would think a tracked machine would better on wet ground. Either machine might tear up the grass if turned aggressive.

Another thing is I'd be hesitant to lift very high if land not perfectly level, I've carried very wet silage bales with the rear wheels hardly touching. Once I went down in a dip and the bale slid off the spear (limited tip back) and had a "kid on teeter totter all the way in the air and other kid jumps off" experience.

Not traveling with the load raised is common sense but the fixed frame skid loader is inherently a lot more stable than a pivot axel tractor.

 

[Farmer495]

Not traveling with the load raised is common sense but the fixed frame skid loader is inherently a lot more stable than a pivot axel tractor.

Depends on the size of tractor. Guarantee I felt way safer handling a 4x5 silage bale on the 75 PTO HP fwa loader tractor than the 5000lb skid steer I was running. Tractor way longer wheel base, heavier and wider. Compare same skid steer to a compact tractor handling same bale...skid steer wins.

 

[4570Man]

Depends on the size of tractor. Guarantee I felt way safer handling a 4x5 silage bale on the 75 PTO HP fwa loader tractor than the 5000lb skid steer I was running. Tractor way longer wheel base, heavier and wider. Compare same skid steer to a compact tractor handling same bale...skid steer wins.

5,000 pounds is a tiny skid loader. A 10,000 pound skid steer or even bigger will beat the farm tractor especially running without ballast which most farmers tend to do.

 

[Farmer495]

5,000 pounds is a tiny skid loader. A 10,000 pound skid steer or even bigger will beat the farm tractor especially running without ballast which most farmers tend to do.

No ballast thing must be regional. FWA loader utility tractor here typically has fluid or/cast here. 10,000 is on the light side for loader tractors used on most the farms covering any amount of land.

Most farm skid steers around here are just for farmyard work on concrete or pavement, cleaning barns etc. They don't usually make sense in the field because they have to be hauled any distance and they can't tow what they loaded home. Not road legal here anyways. Yes you could load the trailer you hauled the skid steer on, but you'd have have something else to unload it on the other end and then come back for it. Wouldn't call that a win for the skid steer.

 

[4570Man]

No ballast thing must be regional. FWA loader utility tractor here typically has fluid or/cast here. 10,000 is on the light side for loader tractors used on most the farms covering any amount of land.

Most farm skid steers around here are just for farmyard work on concrete or pavement, cleaning barns etc. They don't usually make sense in the field because they have to be hauled any distance and they can't tow what they loaded home. Not road legal here anyways. Yes you could load the trailer you hauled the skid steer on, but you'd have have something else to unload it on the other end and then come back for it. Wouldn't call that a win for the skid steer.

Loading the trailer in the field with the tractor and then unloading it in the barn with the skid steer would be a more appropriate use.

 

[Halftrack]

I assist the cousins with their haying operation. 3x3x7 dry hay which I load in the field with a tlb and a triple tine bale fork. Bales average 900 to 950 and handle 2 at a time, loading 16 to each flat bed wagon. At the barn they are unloaded 2 at a time with a medium sized NH wheeled skid steer and a double tine fork. At the bank barn, wagons unloaded at the bottom of the bank and stacked 4 high (eve height) without issue. In the conventional pole ban with 18' eves, bales are stacked 5 high on top of pallets on a dirt floor which is the maximum reach for the skid steer. Of course, bales are kept at minimum height until directly in front of stack and sitting level. Cousin (the welder in the family) fabricated a set of forks with the tines mounted not at the bottom of the bucket but about 10" above the bottom to give an additional 6" of lifting height. Works well.