Robert_in_NY
Super Member
- Joined
- Aug 1, 2001
- Messages
- 8,552
- Location
- Silver Creek, NY
- Tractor
- Case-IH Farmall 45A, Kubota M8540 Narrow, New Holland TN 65, Bobcat 331, Ford 1920, 1952 John Deere M, Allis Chalmers B, Bombardier Traxter XT, Massey Harris 81RC and a John Deere 3300 combine, Cub Cadet GT1554
Well, if you lived closer we could almost go partners in one of those Krone big balers that make individual bales within the big bale but for the cost I doubt either of us can justify it. We can buy a lot of wagons and put up a huge building to store hay in for just the cost of that baler.
This is how I look at it. How much work can I physically do by myself anymore and how many people can I count on to be reliable. So far the only reliable workers I have are my father and one friend and both of them can only help when they are not working their own jobs.
I like the accumulator system because it is basically a simple system with very little to go wrong and if something did it should be an easy fix. But the down side is you have to have a lot of wagons or semi trailers handy and a loader tractor free to load the bales on the wagon. The bright side is if you only have help in the afternoon they can show up and start loading wagons while you finish baling. Then one can run wagons to the barn while the other finishes loading them. The downside is you can't unload the wagons unless you have a second loader tractor or hand labor so you are limited by wagons as to how much you can bale.
I really like the NH self propelled wagon because you can haul 160 bales at a time and unload them all at once. Then with the grabs on the loader you can stack the hay in pole barns that are not tall enough for the stack wagon to unload in. This way it is all machine work unless the stack tips over. I think cost wise both systems are a wash for a good used NH stack wagon vs any accumulator system.
What I would love to see is an accumulator with an accumulator so when you get a full stack in the main accumulator it will dump on the second rack and you can carry it to the end of the field to keep all the hay in one or two locations making pickup a lot faster and easier. Occasionally it will work out where you will need to drop in the middle of the field but the less trips thru the field the better.
I am thinking if you had a spare flatbed trailer where you can stack 600 bales you could almost get by laying pallets on top of the hay on the trailer then tarp the entire load with a good tarp. The pallets will allow air flow (I am not sure if it would be enough but is an idea) so the hay should be ok and if you have to deliver it it is already loaded. Depending on how much hay you put up each year you can get by with a few trailers. I usually put all my hay in customers barns so 3 trailers would be great as it would allow me to load up to 1800 bales out of the field and deliver to my customers. I would also have a few flat racks for customers who can't accept a tractor trailer and give me more room to load out hay from the field (up to 2400 bales). Park them back to back and you can tarp them like any tractor trailer.
Then one decent sized barn with doors on both ends and you can pull each trailer in side by side and park them under cover eliminating the need to tarp or the need to unload. Now I am thinking about going the accumulator route
This is how I look at it. How much work can I physically do by myself anymore and how many people can I count on to be reliable. So far the only reliable workers I have are my father and one friend and both of them can only help when they are not working their own jobs.
I like the accumulator system because it is basically a simple system with very little to go wrong and if something did it should be an easy fix. But the down side is you have to have a lot of wagons or semi trailers handy and a loader tractor free to load the bales on the wagon. The bright side is if you only have help in the afternoon they can show up and start loading wagons while you finish baling. Then one can run wagons to the barn while the other finishes loading them. The downside is you can't unload the wagons unless you have a second loader tractor or hand labor so you are limited by wagons as to how much you can bale.
I really like the NH self propelled wagon because you can haul 160 bales at a time and unload them all at once. Then with the grabs on the loader you can stack the hay in pole barns that are not tall enough for the stack wagon to unload in. This way it is all machine work unless the stack tips over. I think cost wise both systems are a wash for a good used NH stack wagon vs any accumulator system.
What I would love to see is an accumulator with an accumulator so when you get a full stack in the main accumulator it will dump on the second rack and you can carry it to the end of the field to keep all the hay in one or two locations making pickup a lot faster and easier. Occasionally it will work out where you will need to drop in the middle of the field but the less trips thru the field the better.
I am thinking if you had a spare flatbed trailer where you can stack 600 bales you could almost get by laying pallets on top of the hay on the trailer then tarp the entire load with a good tarp. The pallets will allow air flow (I am not sure if it would be enough but is an idea) so the hay should be ok and if you have to deliver it it is already loaded. Depending on how much hay you put up each year you can get by with a few trailers. I usually put all my hay in customers barns so 3 trailers would be great as it would allow me to load up to 1800 bales out of the field and deliver to my customers. I would also have a few flat racks for customers who can't accept a tractor trailer and give me more room to load out hay from the field (up to 2400 bales). Park them back to back and you can tarp them like any tractor trailer.
Then one decent sized barn with doors on both ends and you can pull each trailer in side by side and park them under cover eliminating the need to tarp or the need to unload. Now I am thinking about going the accumulator route