Grapples showed up Friday.

   / Grapples showed up Friday. #1  

WM75Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2011
Messages
2,489
Location
East Texas
Tractor
NH Workmaster 75, NH TC40DA
Ordered a WR Long OBG1 72" Open Bottom Grapple and a HG-10 Hay Grapple with the new NH Workmaster 75 tractor. There was a delay on shipping from WR Long but they came in last Thursday. Tractor was delivered 2 weeks ago, while checking it we found a small hydraulic leak that we couldn't fix on delivery. Dealer picked the tractor up on Thursday to fix the leak, it was due to an overtightened o-ring, and make sure everything matched up and worked. When I came home Friday everything was sitting here, just waiting to go to work. Excellent dealer support from Bryan at Four Brothers in Terrell.

Weather last week was cold and raining. Today is better so I am going to get out and pick up some brush. Monday or Tuesday I plan on picking up 100 square bales for the horses. Will be nice to not have to unload hay by hand any more. My back will appreciate it.
 

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   / Grapples showed up Friday. #2  
I've seen those hay bale grapples on skid steers and was impressed at how easy they made it. Why don't you use round bales?
 
   / Grapples showed up Friday.
  • Thread Starter
#3  
I've seen those hay bale grapples on skid steers and was impressed at how easy they made it. Why don't you use round bales?

My hay guy in Chandler loads the trailer with a skid steer and grapple, takes no time at all. We tried round bales. Each of the 3 horses are in individual 1 acre paddocks. They don't eat them fast enough so they get moldy. Had 2 cases of colic so no more round bales. Also no leftover mess in the paddocks to have to clean up.

I was storing squares in the stables, in the feed stall and an empty stall, so I had to unload and stack by hand. Being in a confined space contributed to my mouse population. Now the hay goes into the shop building with 10 at a time in the stables. The hay stored in the shop is in the middle, open on all sides. Easier to notice critters plus I can bait without worrying about something getting into it.

In bad weather they stay up in the stalls so we had to have square bales anyway to feed. It is also easier to adjust how much they get to maintain their weight. The new 8 y/o gelding isn't so much an issue but the 23 y/o and 24 y/o mares are starting to be more work to keep their weight up.

Dollar wise there wasn't a lot of difference but using round and square bales was more expensive. A round bale is $70 and the square bales are $7.50 from my supplier. I get 300 squares a year. That is the price of 32 round bales. When we used round bales I would use 1 round per month per horse to try and avoid mold, plus the squares for rainy days.

Tell Karen hello for me and congrats on progress towards her PhD. Also nice fish she caught in the other thread.
 
 
 
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