Changed my whole operation

   / Changed my whole operation #1  

sea2summit

Super Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2012
Messages
6,518
Location
Left coast of, GA
Tractor
Kubota 1860->25D, MX5800, M4D
I don’t know why I had such low expectations for a small square grapple. Maybe I watched too many videos of them on skid steers and didn’t think it would be that easy on a tractor.

Wow.

Maxilator Acumagrapple is game changer! Gone are the days of all six of us chasing down a trailer though a field then being smoked when we made it to the barn to stack it. It also stacks it much better on the truck and trailer and a slight nudge with the grapple and they are tight on there, not to mention you can easily stack another level or two compared to stacking by hand because it gets risky having someone up there in a rough field.

Yes, I’m in love.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #2  
As a former field hand bale chaser, that is one invention that is without doubt, a game changer!
 
   / Changed my whole operation #3  
Great way to prolong your life in baling.
I’d do a Bale Baron if I ever go back.
But I doubt I will.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #4  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #5  
Your muscles and bones will thank you in years to come.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #6  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
On trail ride campouts we used the loader to put small square bales in the covered hay rack on top:
P2020010r.JPG


Went up the ladder to throw a bale down when needed:
P6230095cr.jpg


Can not do that with large square bales. (n)
 
   / Changed my whole operation
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Great way to prolong your life in baling.
I’d do a Bale Baron if I ever go back.
But I doubt I will.
I’d love a baron or a band-it but I’m about six tractor sizes too small for the flow they require.
 
   / Changed my whole operation
  • Thread Starter
#8  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
That’s what all the hay makers around me say. But the customer has a voice, and I’ve got a nice little customer base of folks that can’t find the small squares they want.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #9  
I don’t know why I had such low expectations for a small square grapple. Maybe I watched too many videos of them on skid steers and didn’t think it would be that easy on a tractor.

Wow.

Maxilator Acumagrapple is game changer! Gone are the days of all six of us chasing down a trailer though a field then being smoked when we made it to the barn to stack it. It also stacks it much better on the truck and trailer and a slight nudge with the grapple and they are tight on there, not to mention you can easily stack another level or two compared to stacking by hand because it gets risky having someone up there in a rough field.

Yes, I’m in love.
Do you have any pictures ?
 
   / Changed my whole operation #10  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
3x3’s are really getting popular. Not terribly heavy and the flakes pull off easily. Small squares still the favorite though. Easy to transport & handle. I have an excellent market for big square bales, but its different everywhere you go
 
   / Changed my whole operation #11  
4570man, lifestyle people and the horse set like conventional bales as they are man/woman portable and stack easily. Also the money was spent buying the property.
Large squares require expensive machinery to handle them, and often for only a few bales.

My boss sell to this demographic and they often don't have more space than 5-8 bales anyway.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #12  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
We only have 2 horses now. We stack small squares in an empty stall so they are out of the weather and easy to get to for feeding. We cannot do that with large squares or round bales.
 
   / Changed my whole operation #13  
We are down to 3 horses Now. Still Never going back to small bales.
I Like the Large squares.
Our hay supplier was really busy this year (on track for about 5000 bales) He loaded us at the field last year, but this year asked if we could load and haul our own from the field. He said we would get a discount if we could so that is what we did.
Took about 5 hours total (including barn stacking) But that included hauling my tractor to the field and on the last load having the wife drive the truck and trailer back while i road-ed the tractor home.
The only hard part was tying a strap around 5 bales and driving the trailer out from under the first 2 loads.

The nice part is two not so young people can do the whole job and Just use the tractor to stack. We were blessed with nice warm weather and no rain so No wet bales to worry about.

The Maxilator does look like a real good solution to reduce bale handling. Anything to save on the physical labor sounds like a good idea. Congrats on the new work saver.
 
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   / Changed my whole operation #14  
I don’t know why more people don’t use the big squares. Small square bales should be obsolete.
The price of the big square baler is a factor as well... not everyone as 100k for a baler
 
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   / Changed my whole operation
  • Thread Starter
#17  
The price of the big square baler is a factor as well... not everyone as 100k for a baler
Where are you seeing a big square baler for 100K? Most folks would take two at that price:ROFLMAO:

There's also the cost of the tractor large enough to pull one and the fuel usage. You really need to be pumping out huge quantities of hay to justify it, us little 100-200 acre guys probably aren't close unless it was alfalfa or other high value hay.
 
   / Changed my whole operation
  • Thread Starter
#18  
This is what we use here.
I'd love to move up to that but I don't think it will work on our fields, especially with my tractor. I would love to find one I could demo though to see.

The acumagrapple bunches them in to blocks of 10 bales so all the khun would do is reduce a little bit of the driving time in the pick-up tractor..
 
   / Changed my whole operation
  • Thread Starter
#19  
4570man, lifestyle people and the horse set like conventional bales as they are man/woman portable and stack easily. Also the money was spent buying the property.
Large squares require expensive machinery to handle them, and often for only a few bales.

My boss sell to this demographic and they often don't have more space than 5-8 bales anyway.
I've been a little shocked at how often some customers come for 3-5 small squares because that's all they can store, they'd probably save money building a small shed and saving the gas money!
 
   / Changed my whole operation #20  
Where are you seeing a big square baler for 100K? Most folks would take two at that price:ROFLMAO:

There's also the cost of the tractor large enough to pull one and the fuel usage. You really need to be pumping out huge quantities of hay to justify it, us little 100-200 acre guys probably aren't close unless it was alfalfa or other high value hay.
lol well I didn't want to exaggerate I know they are expensive tho... yes that too for sure.
 

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