Accumulator Question

[kyhayman]

I've noticed that the Farmhand accumulators seem to sell at a steep discount to other brands. While I realize that they are quite a bit older than Hoelschers and others but the discount strikes me as more so. Does anyone have experience with both of them, or with the Farmhand units? Any commentary would be appreciated.

 

[Anonymous-0]

In my experiance, if you own a Farmhand anything, you should own a welder.

 

[Flurette Farm]

hayman, I've owned and used a Farmhand 8 bale accumulator for years and wouldn't be without it. Contrary to what tony says I've never had to make a weld on it or the forks. They are simple and easy to work on. I usually put up 5-6 thousand bales a year and pull it behind a NH 315. I do it all myself (70 years young) with 2 sets of forks. One set remains at the barn for off loading and stacking in the barn.
The secret to any accumulator is a good bale. If you miss a lot of ties it will drive you up a wall. If you get good bales it will be your best friend. I have many times baled all day long and never missed a tie or a dump. It does take a bit of a learning curve but, most things do.
In this area (central missouri) you can usually pick up a good one for 2-3 thousand.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Blue guy]

I"ve seen the hoelscher"s. How do the farmhand"s work?

 

[Flurette Farm]

Farmhands are driven by hydraulic motors that are driven by a pump mounted between the tractor and the baler. The accumulator is attached at 2 points to the baler and works as one solid trailing unit. Point one is the wagon hitch and point two is at the outside pickup wheel. These can flex up & down only.
After 2 bales a shoved onto the (table) bed from the baler they are pushed out of the way (across the table) by a spring loaded return ram and wait for the next 2. When the final 2(bales 7 & 8) come onto the table the push off chain is activated by a trip mechanisum and the accumulator unloads. It has one draw back. Dumping in a tight turn may cause problems. Experence will overcome this problem.

 

[Blue guy]

Kyhayman, I know you are not a big fan of re-baling but, have you seen this new stationary feeder? I don't know the cost but it looks like it could work decent in rolled grass hay to squares. What is your thoughts?
Feeder

 

[randallin Mo]

I "had" a Farmhand accumulator. It worked fine as long as all the bales were uniform in length. I traded it for a Netherex all manual accumulator. The Farmhand was "over-engineered" in my opinion. 'Just way too many moving parts. The all manual unit just made sense to me. I've had it for 5-6 years now. I think the reason the Farmhand units are cheaper is due to all the moving parts issue.

 

[smallbaleboy]

farm hands are just simply older units and do bales flat ways. basically same theory as the newer hoelscher units but just does it flat and with chain to move off table versus table dumping on the hoelscher. Been running hoelsher for several years now and still using it along with a 15 bale kuhn unit. Farmhands parts are basically non existent,grapples are basically same as hoelschers other than has 4 less grapple teeth on unit,if you add those on and slide them over youcan make a 10 bale grapple out of it that would be twin to a hoelsher grapple unit.