Hay Bale Bundle

[Xfaxman]

Well we (she) decided the two bundles were taking up too much floor space. So I said I could stack #1 on top of #2.

Rolled #2 out to show where #1 was:

Brought the shop crane to the barn on the tilt trailer, put a ratchet strap around the bundle with a chain over the top through the crane hook, picked the bundle up from the plastic pallets and put it down on the piece of flake board seen on the shop crane frame here:

Rolled it out to the aisle, stuck the forks in that opening from the other side, then removed the shop crane.

Raised it up, rolled bundle #2 under it, let #1 down, backed the V417 up, got out to take a picture and #1 fell off the back and landed on it's side partly on the tilt trailer. Used the ratchet strap and the V417 to get it mostly vertical. The bales are not packed very tight, so the bundle is not square now.

Got a come along and drug it onto the trailer:

Slid it up farther and got the trailer latched:

Parked it in the cow barn:

Rolled #2 to the side of the storage area:

 

[Hay Dude]

Hay Hut round bale feeder advertisement on CL kind of sums it up.
I was asked to become a dealer, but I think I had to buy 15-20k in inventory to become one.

 

[Xfaxman]

That is the reason we built this barn with an open end. The horses and round bale can be out of the weather:

 

[TheMan419]

There are so many options to put up small squares wo manually handling them. Accumulator/grapples, stack wagons, bale baron (and competitors) the small square is not going away. If it does it will be replaced by a 3x3 large square.

The round is simply a tough item for us horse folks to deal with.

 

[EddieWalker]

View attachment 663111

I've looked at these hay rings and wondered how well horses can get to the hay in the middle? Currently I'm using a hay cradle that keeps the bale off of the ground. It's expensive and supposedly galvanized, but it's fairly lightweight and I know it's days are numbered. Would you buy one of these plastic PVC type hay rings again?

 

[Xfaxman]

Smaller horses can't reach the middle when nearly empty. We lift the ring and roll it out of the way at that point.

We used to use the metal rings, but they always rusted through. Would definitely buy the poly horse ring again if needed. We have had that one in the picture above since June of 2011.

This is a poly bale ring for horses:

Don't use the cattle poly bale ring for horses, it is taller, they will stick their head under the top rail and it rubs some of their mane hairs out:

 

[EddieWalker]

I didnt.know there where different types. Thanks, I would have bought the wrong one.

 

[Hay Dude]

There are so many options to put up small squares wo manually handling them. Accumulator/grapples, stack wagons, bale baron (and competitors) the small square is not going away. If it does it will be replaced by a 3x3 large square.

The round is simply a tough item for us horse folks to deal with.

3x3’s died here about 5 years ago. They kind of came on the scene quickly and died off. I haven’t seen many 3x3’s lately.
All those accumulators and small bale handling pieces of equipment you mention are very expensive to own & repair. Ask me how I know....
I don’t think the small bale is going away, either, but 25 years ago it was 90% of the hay market. Now it might be 50% and it’s dropping more each year. Small squares are an effort to find in my area anymore.
People are buying round bales here in steadily increasing numbers because they’re cheaper by the ton and easy to roll or place in the many different round bale feeders with a little planning. They are not as sensitive to a few rain storms if they have to sit outside, where a square configuration bale is ruined.
I have 3 customers nearby who buy a round bale, one at a time, and I place the bale in the feeder for them. They love it. Drive my small truck or my tractor right to the feeder and bam, it’s in the feeder and done. I probably deliver 75-100 bales per year this way.

 

[Xfaxman]

Couldn't help but wonder what a bundle weighed, so I found out.

Bundle #1 is on the tilt trailer in the cow barn:

Took the crane scale and two chains down there with the V417. Weighed the chains:

Zeroed the scale:

Used the chains to lift the trailer and bundle:

Weighs 2,858 pounds:

Here is the empty trailer, found the pictures from 2017, 1,756 pounds:

So the bundle, tarp, ratchet strap and anything else on the trailer weigh 1,102 pounds.

That means the bales are only about 52 pounds each.

 

[Xfaxman]

View attachment 663040


Well we (she) decided the two bundles were taking up too much floor space. So I said I could stack #1 on top of #2.

Rolled #2 out to show where #1 was:

View attachment 663041


Brought the shop crane to the barn on the tilt trailer, put a ratchet strap around the bundle with a chain over the top through the crane hook, picked the bundle up from the plastic pallets and put it down on the piece of flake board seen on the shop crane frame here:

View attachment 663043


Rolled it out to the aisle, stuck the forks in that opening from the other side, then removed the shop crane.

Raised it up, rolled bundle #2 under it, let #1 down, backed the V417 up, got out to take a picture and #1 fell off the back and landed on it's side partly on the tilt trailer. Used the ratchet strap and the V417 to get it mostly vertical. The bales are not packed very tight, so the bundle is not square now.

Got a come along and drug it onto the trailer:

View attachment 663047


Slid it up farther and got the trailer latched:

View attachment 663049 View attachment 663048


Parked it in the cow barn:

View attachment 663051

Update on the crooked bale bundle.

Pulled the trailer out, removed the tarp and was able to straighten it in the trailer by pushing on the top of it with the V417.

Put a pallet against it and put the Monster Grapple over it:

Clamped down an lifted it:

Set it on plastic pallets in the cow barn:

Now I can use the tilt trailer if needed.