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.

 

[Soundguy]

yEP.. WE RAN A DOUBLE ROW OF HAY BALES DOWNT HE CENTER OF THE TRAILER.. WITH ANOTHER ROW, TURNED ON SIDE, ON TOP OF THET DOUBLE ROW.. THIS MADE (oops.. capslocks).. this made a nice row of seats, facing out, on each side. We also had a row of hay across the front, and one across the back for 'supervisors' to set on.

Some people like loose hay for rides.. that's fine too.

Take pics and post them. the kids in my familly all start bugging their parents the beginning of december to find out whent he hay ride is going to happen.

Also.. if you go out on the road.. run a wire from your tractor battery to the pole on the trailer wire plug that will light the trailer running lamps.. I did this as well as blinkers and smv sign.

A small inverter will run xmas lights if you want those as well.

Soundguy

soundguy

 

[Duke4AZ]

Well, the inaugural run of the Maricopa Christmas Light Hay Ride went off without too much of a hitch . . . once I finally got the drawbar made, the trailer located, a generator procured and a couple thousand lights checked out and installed, and oh, yeah, the straw bales obtained. A fun time was had by all and the local neighborhood is a more friendly place. You would think people had never seen a tractor pulling a wagon of hay all lit up like a Christmas tree, and I am sure 90% of them had not. We did get some interesting looks and a lot of thumbs-ups and waves.

The city publishes a map of all of the lights that people are proud of and we followed that around a couple of the larger developments. It took about an hour which I think was adequate for the first running.

Only thing I did not get finished was the blinkers on the trailer. But the tractor had blinkers visible from behind and headlights. Of course as you will see, there was no reason why anyone would have missed us. I have more lights on my trailer than I do on my house.

Expecting rain and wind tomorrow so we buttoned her up for the evening and going to call it a night. Have had a couple of requests for family rides later in the week from some of the people in the neighborhood. I am going to consider it. We will see. There were a couple of places where we had to travel done a major street for about 100 yards and that little Cub just don't get it up like that '72 RoadRunner that blew by us. May have to find a different route.

So, as promised, pics included.

Happy Holidays
Duke

 

[EddieWalker]

Duke,

You and Soundguy sure have me exited about having my first hay ride. Thanks for the great story and pics. I might just have to look into an inverter and some Christmas lights!!!

I've been cleaning up my roads to have a save and smooth trail to pull my trailer around my land. Gonna show the old folks the lake!!! hahahaha

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[Soundguy]

Very nice.

Soundguy

Well, the inaugural run of the Maricopa Christmas Light Hay Ride went off without too much of a hitch . . . once I finally got the drawbar made, the trailer located, a generator procured and a couple thousand lights checked out and installed, and oh, yeah, the straw bales obtained. A fun time was had by all and the local neighborhood is a more friendly place. You would think people had never seen a tractor pulling a wagon of hay all lit up like a Christmas tree, and I am sure 90% of them had not. We did get some interesting looks and a lot of thumbs-ups and waves.

The city publishes a map of all of the lights that people are proud of and we followed that around a couple of the larger developments. It took about an hour which I think was adequate for the first running.

Only thing I did not get finished was the blinkers on the trailer. But the tractor had blinkers visible from behind and headlights. Of course as you will see, there was no reason why anyone would have missed us. I have more lights on my trailer than I do on my house.

Expecting rain and wind tomorrow so we buttoned her up for the evening and going to call it a night. Have had a couple of requests for family rides later in the week from some of the people in the neighborhood. I am going to consider it. We will see. There were a couple of places where we had to travel done a major street for about 100 yards and that little Cub just don't get it up like that '72 RoadRunner that blew by us. May have to find a different route.

So, as promised, pics included.

Happy Holidays
Duke

 

[Jarrett]

...With the dozer down, it's allot of work, but also allot of fun!!!...

Eddie

What happened to the dozer? I haven't been around much lately so maybe I missed something.

 

[EddieWalker]

Dad put a stick throught the oil pan, so while that was off, I decided to rebuild the pivot pin on the blade. THe welder did a great job on the oil pan, but disapeared on the pivot pin. Hunting season and jobs out on oil rigs plus his refusal to return my phone calls created some problems. After six weeks, I was able to get it back from him and have it at another welder right now. Some jobs are bigger than my meager welding skills. This one is with inch and a half plate.

Sorry for the hijack,
Eddie