Hay ride prep

[Soundguy]

I've seen peopl euse the wagons when they have loose hay. Since i only have bales.. and flat trailers.. that's what i use. I'm pretty sure that 'hay rides' vary greatly depending on what equipment is available to the farmer... etc.

Take some pics. We've been doing it for 4 years now and it's great fun. The kids love it. We have horses and other farm animals.. so the kids always want to go see them too.

It took a bit to get this all setup.. but was worth it. i got off work 2.5 hours before the ride, and had a friend show up and load the hay and help string up the electrics. Afterwards a couple friends stayed to help unload the trailer and remove the electrics.. get the trailer stowed and tractor parked. ( I also managed to squeeze a few farm chores out of them too! )

Soundguy

Hey Soundguy,

Thanks for the pictures. You know what they say, a picture is worth a thousand words!!!

I had a mental image in my mind that a hay ride was always on a wagon, not a trailer. It just never occured to me that a trailer would do the job too. (I'm sharing my ignorance here!!)

I have a 16 foot trailer that I could easily pull behind my CUT. We're having a big Christmas Eve party hear and that would be perfect.

Thanks, I'm gonna do some looking around and check with Steph,
Eddie

 

[BB_TX]

Looks like a great time. That is the kind of thing the kids will be telling their kids and grandkids about how grandpa Chris (great grandpa Chris, uncle Chris, whatever Chris) used to take the family on hay rides.

 

[Iowachild]

Growing up in Iowa my church youth group did one every year at Halloween / Harvest time. Wagon full of hay bales pulled around back country roads by a tractor. Good time and great memories!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

our church had our pig roast / hay ride in october, always a lot of fun every year.
I just did a hay ride for some cub scouts, they loved it. Gave me an excuse to buy the jiffy hitch, or whatever it's called. I use 16' trailor, which has 2 ' sides, so no one falls off easily, they have to be pushed

 

[Duke4AZ]

On our last trip to KS to pick up Grandma I hooked up with my brother's wife's family who are in the cattle business. Both brothers have horse drawn teams and are staples in the annual light parade. These big draft horses are amazing and quite beautiful in a rather powerful way. Since neither horse came equipped with a generator, a car battery/inverter setup was used. It appeared to work pretty well. Sorry no pictures yet. However, got me thinking that I should do the same thing here at home to take the family and friends around to see all of the light displays. I am thinking though, I have a lot of lights I am going to run, probably too many for a battery and the small inverter I have, 200W, and I don't want to try to tap into the tractor power. I am thinking of using a small 2Kw generator mounted on a small wood pallet in the bucket of the tractor. The generator is pretty quiet and should not be any louder than the diesel driving the tractor. The initial plan was to have it up and running this weekend before one of our friends takes off for Mexico for the holidays. However, having some logistic issues that may delay it. Some times it is tough being a tractor owner in the city limits. You tend to not have all of the right stuff laying around to do the things you want to do and it is a hassle getting it organized. We will make it happen, however.

 

[Soundguy]

Good luck.

The genny running in the bucket will probably keep the noise away from the riders.

Soundguy

 

[EddieWalker]

Soundguy, you've inspired me to have a hay ride!!!

We are having a big Christmas Eve party and this is something I really want to do. When I told Steph about your post and showed her the pictures you posted, she told me that when she was a kid, they used to do the exact same thing every year!!!

Now I'm working on my trails to make one large loop around the place that is smooth and open enough to get my small tractor and trailer through. With the dozer down, it's allot of work, but also allot of fun!!!

As a total newbie to this, I'm unsure on how much hay to buy. My thinking is to get ten bales. Four on each side and two all pulled apart in the middle.

Thanks for the great idea!!

Eddie

 

[hunterridgefarm]

Soundguy, you've inspired me to have a hay ride!!!

We are having a big Christmas Eve party and this is something I really want to do. When I told Steph about your post and showed her the pictures you posted, she told me that when she was a kid, they used to do the exact same thing every year!!!

Now I'm working on my trails to make one large loop around the place that is smooth and open enough to get my small tractor and trailer through. With the dozer down, it's allot of work, but also allot of fun!!!

As a total newbie to this, I'm unsure on how much hay to buy. My thinking is to get ten bales. Four on each side and two all pulled apart in the middle.

Thanks for the great idea!!

Eddie

Eddie,

We do this all the time in the fall. Just be careful if you trailer does not have fenders. A couple of weeks ago during a parade a kid was riding on a trailer without fenders and his jacket somehow contacted the wheel and pulled him under the trailer. The trailer ran over his legs, nothing broken, but it could have been alot worse.

 

[tallyho8]

You can never be too careful.

Sad story

 

[GaryBDavis]

I've done hay rides for our church for the several years. Usually one at the Halloween Carnival and another one or two throughout the year for the youth. I always worry about someone getting hurt, but made it as safe as I could and did them anyway. Here are some of the things I did to keep it safe:

One adult rider in the trailer at all times. This person sits at the front of the trailer where they can see everyone. Their job is to keep the kids on the trailer from misbehaving and alert me if I need to stop, slow down, etc. This also allows me to focus on my driving. I always meet with the person a few minutes before we start to go over the rules: no sitting on the edges of the trailer, no dragging feet off the back and EVERYONE must be seated at all times. I make sure my helper knows to yell at me if I’m to hear them above the kids laughing and the tractor engine. If I’m loading and unloading in a crowded place, I usually set out some traffic cones and have two extra helpers form a line and keep everyone away while I pull up and take off.

BTW, the most likely injury you are to have is someone tripping when they get off the trailer, so have your helpers at the back of the trailer to give folks a hand as the get on and off.

I also give a very short speech before I take off. Something like “Everyone must stay seated during the ride. Please don’t sit on the railing and let’s have some fun!”

Also if you have very small children ridding, have their parents ride (for free if you are charging/fund raising) and hold the child in their lap.

Go slow on take off, don’t lurch if you need to change gears and watch the bumps.

One other word, if it is really dry, your back wheels will raise a lot of dust, so try not to do hay rides during really dry spells.