What implements for hay are you guys using for higher volume?

[jesseholmz]

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

 

[Jim.ME]

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

How many bales per year? How many bales to you plan to put down each mowing?

Where are the bales going? Your barn? If your barn, how are they stored in the barn? Loading your trailers or wagons and delivering to customers? Customers picking up in the field, etc.?

 

[flying belgian]

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

Couple more wagons and high school kids.

 

[Aaron SEIA]

An accumulator on the baler and a grapple on a skidloader. Or like flying belgian said, more wagons and help.
AaronSEIA

 

[Fritz Maurer]

Couple more wagons and high school kids.

Assuming you can get them to put their phones down.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I've looked at an accumulator and grapple. I thought it was to much money for the quantity I do . It would make it a one man band for hay ,till It comes to mowing it away. There is no replacement for labor in idiot cubes. Can't handle them well without labor to put it in a barn unless you can drive in and mow it with a grapple . Letting it fall off from an elevator to the mow floor will break to many bales so they will not sell well. IF you have livestock to feed the loose hay to so it would not matter then maybe. This is one of the reasons most have gone to round bales working with limited labor. Sure it doesn't pay as well but it doesn't take the labor and stored inside will be just as good as the idiot cubes.

 

[Mike(NEOhio)]

Too many variables. Everyone's situation is unique.

 

[jwal10]

A push accumulator on the front of a loader to do it all. Accumulate, stack, load, stack in barn and reload....James

 

[MJMJ]

The options are nearly endless. Just saying "higher volume" doesn't mean anything. Higher than what? Do you want to do 200 per day or 20,000 per day? How much are you planning to spend?

 

[jesseholmz]

We're not going to do a lot, maybe 2000-5000 per year. Stored in barns/stalls in a barn. Also in a hay loft using a conveyor.

Main issue is getting out of the field quickly and out of the rain with limited help.

A better way to put it, we're looking to just speed things up.

Budget is gonna be around 5000-10,000 investment

Thanks for the replies

 

[MJMJ]

An accumulator and grapple would be the way to go, but might go over budget depending on brand. I know there’s an “accumagrapple” which does both, and the ones I’ve seen were in budget, but I can’t say how well it works.

 

[DeltaRed]

We use the NewHolland bale wagons.You make nice stacks without touching a bale. With capacities from 56 to 170 bales,pull type or self propelled. There is a size for everyone. I have a 1032(70 bale pull type)) On a good day I can stack over 1000 bales a day.

 

[gf in S.IL]

I used a New Holland bale wagon too. (104 bales per load) I only did about 5K bales per year and finding any kind of help was nearly impossible. One consideration with a bale wagon if unloading a stack inside a barn is the height clearance needed.

 

[paul]

I went to a bale basket, those triangle shaped 3 wheel rigs the bales get pushed up a track and tumble into the basket. Really no moving parts, so easier to maintain than a bale thrower. The basket you struggle to make shorter turns; the bale thrower you struggle to miss a few bales now and then.

With a basket or a thrower you still have to handle the bales once unloading them.

The NH bale picker upper wagons were the thing for a few years, but in my area they have died out long ago. They do take some maintenance, they need a big shed, tall, to unload into. Most are getting pretty old for the work they have done. The few I’ve been around the owners had issues keeping them working and issues with enough hydraulics to make them work on an older tractor. But when it works and if you have a tall big shed, it’s a really cool deal.

The new way most are going to are the gravity accumulators and bale grapples, 4 or 8 bales. Can load, pack in the shed, and reload for a sale without ever touching a bale. Well, you know, always going to be a couple that cause a fuss….. but it seems to be the least work, and least mechanical issues, most reliable setup going these days. Long term those that went to it seem real happy compared to the other methods.

Just opinions and observations, there are dozens of different situations where something different is a better deal for an individual.

Paul

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

We're not going to do a lot, maybe 2000-5000 per year. Stored in barns/stalls in a barn. Also in a hay loft using a conveyor.

Main issue is getting out of the field quickly and out of the rain with limited help.

A better way to put it, we're looking to just speed things up.

Budget is gonna be around 5000-10,000 investment

Thanks for the replies

Assuming you have a front end loader on a tractor, or a skid steer available I would consider a Rocky Mountain

We're not going to do a lot, maybe 2000-5000 per year. Stored in barns/stalls in a barn. Also in a hay loft using a conveyor.

Main issue is getting out of the field quickly and out of the rain with limited help.

A better way to put it, we're looking to just speed things up.

Budget is gonna be around 5000-10,000 investment

Thanks for the replies

Rocky Mountain Bale Sweep | Home

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

Assuming you have a front end loader available or skid steer I would look into a Rocky mountain bale sweep. With the sweep only you would get out of the field faster but need wagons and cover for them if no labor for handling. If you get the grapple it may be advantageous, but one piece of equipment can't be in two places at one time. May need two loaders for full mechanization. If your in an arid area of the country with financial challenges, or just being smart in wanting the operation to pay it's way....cut what will fill available trailers and stack and use tarps with the stacks built to shed off water. I haven't hayed in years now, but that was basically my model as I did it all myself...did not have a Rocky mnt bale sweep though. I used a pallet on pallet forks to gather by hand and lift up to trailer. Generally a 100 bales was a good day. Best of luck

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

The other thing about hiring labor, insurance if somebody gets injured you need insurance, even if they are family. Mechanization will help prevent that wealth transfer from your operation to an insurance companies bottom line. The more laborers the more risk

 

[Jim.ME]

We're not going to do a lot, maybe 2000-5000 per year. Stored in barns/stalls in a barn. Also in a hay loft using a conveyor.

Main issue is getting out of the field quickly and out of the rain with limited help.

A better way to put it, we're looking to just speed things up.

Budget is gonna be around 5000-10,000 investment

Thanks for the replies

When you say you are stacking it now, does that mean you have someone riding a wagon behind the baler and stacking bales as they come up the chute to the wagon? Or are they being picked up off the ground, where the baler dropped them, and stacked on a wagon?

WE = how many people?

How many bales on an average day?

Do you have wagons enough to hold all you bale in a day or do you have to unload wagons to get it all picked up. Do you have space to put all the wagons under cover?

It doesn't sound like a grapple will help on the unloading and storage end of the operation, based on storage areas you posted.

With a bale basket you can dump a pile right beside a wagon or trailer which eliminates chasing all over the field to pick them up. one person can load the wagon from the pile, two is quicker. That's how we do small squares, and sell some right from the pile in the field. Much better not walking miles to pick them up. If you are close to the barn, you can run a full basket back to the barn and dump it at the conveyor.

A kicker can work if you have wagons enough to handle a day's baling.

It looks like your bottleneck is unloading. Not much will take the place of labor if the hay is going to the mow or into stalls in the barn. So accumulator, grapple, bale basket or kicker you need wagons or trailers enough to make mechanizing the field end be much of a gain.

 

[Loosehandle]

Looking to scale up on hay a bit. Are you guys using those wagons that pick the bales up, or one of those front end buckets? or a kick baler?

Right now I just use a standard small square baler, stack it all by hand. Looking to try to speed it up so we can do more volume. We'd still be doing small squares.

Anything you guys recommend looking into?

I use a JD 336 with new knoters and a thrower, 7 wagons. Can get 6 inside .

 

[jesseholmz]

When you say you are stacking it now, does that mean you have someone riding a wagon behind the baler and stacking bales as they come up the chute to the wagon? Or are they being picked up off the ground, where the baler dropped them, and stacked on a wagon?

WE = how many people?

How many bales on an average day?

Do you have wagons enough to hold all you bale in a day or do you have to unload wagons to get it all picked up. Do you have space to put all the wagons under cover?

It doesn't sound like a grapple will help on the unloading and storage end of the operation, based on storage areas you posted.

With a bale basket you can dump a pile right beside a wagon or trailer which eliminates chasing all over the field to pick them up. one person can load the wagon from the pile, two is quicker. That's how we do small squares, and sell some right from the pile in the field. Much better not walking miles to pick them up. If you are close to the barn, you can run a full basket back to the barn and dump it at the conveyor.

A kicker can work if you have wagons enough to handle a day's baling.

It looks like your bottleneck is unloading. Not much will take the place of labor if the hay is going to the mow or into stalls in the barn. So accumulator, grapple, bale basket or kicker you need wagons or trailers enough to make mechanizing the field end be much of a gain.

I can't tell you how many bales per day on average, I usually cut based on how the weather is. Based on last year, the forecast was never accurate and I had fields rained on more than once, the quality really suffered. With that said, the struggle is usually beating the weather. So sometimes I won't cut too much if it looks iffy, sometimes i'll cut the whole field.

Amount of people varies, if it's a weekend it would only be me. I'd be dropping them and then coming back and picking them up by hand. Max amount is usually 3 people total.