Putting Away Hay

MikePA · Jun 27, 2002

Last evening about 6:30 our neighbor's wife (the same one who planted our pasture and the one we buy hay from) called us. Being the only one home, I answered the phone /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif. She wanted to know if we needed any hay. I repleied we had plans to come to their place this Saturday to get some. Well, it seems their baler had broken twice today, they are behind schedule and could I come get some right away? It was in the 90s, both temperature and humidity for a few days around here. Cooler temps were forecast for Saturday, so that was the day we were going to get hay from them. I paused just a bit before answering her, in which time she added, "We can bring a hay wagon to your place. We'll unhook it and leave it since we need the tractor. We'll bring the wagon with fewer bales in it so there will be less for you to unload." They were obviously in a bind, so I agreed.

Well, about 20 minutes later their high school aged helper appears, driving their JD 4040 (?) hauling a hay wagon (Peoria?) filled to the top with hay bales. I thought to myself, I'd hate to see the 'full' wagon they didn't bring. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif The bottom of our hay loft door is about the same height as the top of the hay wagon, so I climb up to the top of the wagon and start tossing bales into the loft. Did I mention that he couldn't get the wagon all that close to the loft door, about 7 feet away? Toss 10 - 12 bales into the loft. Get down from the wagon. Go into the loft to stack the bales. Return to wagon and repeat process. The more bales you toss, the lower you get and the farther you have to tossthe bales. Eventually, I started putting bales into our stock trailer, which still had the winter plexilglass windows in it. It's not weather proof, but it'll keep the rain off the bales. There must have been 175 bales in the wagon. I got the pile whittled down to about 25-30 before the stock trailer was full, my clothes were soaked and I was no longer able to toss bales up and over the side of the hay wagon. So I could get the fence closed I had to use my TC25D to move the hay wagon. It moved it OK, but I'm not sure I'd want to move the wagon too far with my tractor, e.g., take it on a public road. The hay wagon probably outweighs my tractor!

I put a blue tarp over the remaining bales in the wagon and, if I am lucky, it wont rain today and I will be able to unload the hay wagon into my pickup truck bed, get it real close to the hay loft door and put them away. Putting away hay is a task I like having done /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif, but don't ask me how I like it while I am doing it.

RobS · Jun 27, 2002

Hey, thanks for the stroll down memory lane Mike. Your story takes me back to my days a the "high school aged helper". Always a miserable job, especially with hay fever and poor anti-histamines back then.

Hope the weather holds out for you and your neighbor /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

cowboydoc · Jun 27, 2002

Mike,
Go spend a few hundred dollars and buy yourself a hay elevator!!

Anonymous Poster · Jun 27, 2002

mike thats why they call it work it will free up your sat so you
can do some fun stuff- post hole dig-
pa

MikePA · Jun 27, 2002

Go spend a few hundred dollars and buy yourself a hay elevator!! 

I looked into those a long while ago and they needed more room than I had. Perhaps I was looking at the wrong gear. I have about 15-20 feet from the side of my barn where the hay loft is to a fence. I wasn't sure that was enough room to maneuver the elevator. However, I may be able to remove some of the fence.

Are most hay elevators electric? Can they run off of the PTO of a tractor?

A hay elevator might be an alternative to what my wife wants to do...contract with someone to deliver and stack our hay! Perhaps it's hereditary, but I just can't see doubling our cost per bale to have someone else deliver and stack our hay.

MikePA · Jun 27, 2002

Always a miserable job, especially with hay fever and poor anti-histamines back then.

I can sympathize! While I don't have allergies, my wife does, so getting hay is not one of her favorite tasks (see my other post for her proposed solution to this problem) and sometimes I get to do it all by myself. She takes an allergy pill the morning we get hay, wears a long sleeve shirt, and washes up thoroughly afterwards.

EdKing · Jun 27, 2002

Are most hay elevators electric? Can they run off of the PTO of a tractor? 

I have seen them with both gas and electric motors. I imagine you could rig one up to work off of the PTO, as they are usually a belt drive. You could attach a PTO shaft to the pully, and adjust your speed by the speed of the PTO. I'm not sure I'd want to be working throwing hay on the elevator unless you shielded the PTO shaft pretty well though, after a hundred or so bales you can get tired and posibly slip/stumble into the shaft.

RichZ · Jun 27, 2002

I've got a hay elevator, and it's electric. It works well. You can find them used pretty cheap. I don't know what they cost new, but I think they're pretty reasonable.

Just make sure those bales are dry when you put them in your loft. Hay fires start pretty easily when hay starts to decompose.

MikePA · Jun 27, 2002

Thanks, Rich. I found a good site, <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.loyal-roth.com/Bale_Handling1.html>Loyal - Roth</A> that lists all the info I'll need to determine how long an elevator I need. Prices for a complete 16' elevator (the smallest one) is $590 for everything but the motor. The motor adds another $110. This does not include a transport. If you don't have a transport, how else would you move the elevator or get the one end up to the hay loft?

gerard · Jun 27, 2002

I can sympathize with you MikePA. Picked up 144 bales last off the field in 90 deg weather. Then had to stack them on my trailer (18 in the pickup, rest on the trailer). Truck them 80 miles and unload them in the barn/arena. Went 8 high so had to put 7 in the bucket at a time, lift bucket, climb, ladder, unload, repeat. AND I DON'T EVEN RIDE!!! Don't put up enough to justify an elevator and I DO need the exercise but it DOES make me appreciate my day job!!!!!/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif