John Deere 33 Hay Elevator Questions

[Bill VA]

Picked up a 24 ft (what appears to be 3 - 8ft sections) John Deere 33 hay elevator.

Whats the good, bad and ugly of these things?

Needs some work, probably a new electric motor and a belt.

Any thoughts/advice on this elevator is much appreciated.

Thanks!
Bill

 

[old]

I don't know the brand of the 2 I have but I have used them both to put hay in mu hay loft. Both needed a lot of TLC to make work again like freeing up the chains etc.

 

[flying belgian]

Boy I don't know what I can tell you. One brand is the same as the next. I don't even know what kind mine are. Put the bales on the end with the motor and it carries it to the other end. The only bad I can see with yours is its painted JD green. Mine sets by my red and white barn all summer so I painted mine white with red wheels. Oh now I'm starting to think of more bad and ugly things about yours. It has no wheels. That makes it very hard to move to the other barn. Also yours has no hopper for unloading the wagons into. You will have to set bottom end on a barrel and tie it to barn so it don't slide off. Yours has no winch for height adjustment. How you going to raise it up to barn door? Now that I think about it I would not own a JD #33 hay elevator.

 

[centash]

Those are meant to be used more as a conveyor than elevator. It will lift bales on a not too steep slope but the fingers or hooks grabbing the bales have little purchase. Otherwise, not much to say, but they will save one man in a haymow....

Ben

 

[SHALER]

Boy that thing looks out of place surrounded be all that expensive haying equipment. I will somewhat echo Ben's and Flying's comments. These skeleton elevators are all 99% the same except for the paint color. I have a Snowco elevator that is the same thing mostly. I got kinda lucky and did not have to pay alot for it and it has paid for itself many times over. I have no trouble getting bales up an approximately 45 degree incline with those cleats. You can get various accessories and parts from Snowco or its successor company , forgot the name, in Wisconsin. I bought a hanger for mine. It will hang the non-motor end from a barn rafter so you can get elevation. Better start soaking that driveshaft and seeing if Tractor Supply carries that size of pulley....

 

[showcrop]

That is a rebadged Snowco. I had one for a few years that I didn't own. It had been abused and needed a lot of work. It went back so I bought a new one. The great thing about them is their light weight. I could get it into the back of my truck easily to go deliver a load or two of hay. We had a rope permanently attached to the top end so that it could be pulled into the mow door, then drop the front gate of the wagon and tie one of the side rails to the wagon corner and we were in business in about six minutes. One possible weakness is the motor mount. If a bale came tumbling down and landed on the motor it could loosen the belt tension. IIRC there was a set screw deal that needed help to keep the tension on.

 

[Northvale PA]

I have 2 skeleton elevators. They save a lot of work. We set one on an incline up into the barn and the other on steel sawhorses to reach back into the barn. Stacking small squares is a pain so the trick is to save every amount of work possible x thousands of course.

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 12:55:54 05/08/21) I don't know the brand of the 2 I have but I have used them both to put hay in mu hay loft. Both needed a lot of TLC to make work again like freeing up the chains etc.

Thanks - this one isnt in terrible shape. Frame is bent in one section, but looks like I can fix that. I am hoping the motor is good, it is a continuous duty motor and looks like a good one at that.

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 13:46:32 05/08/21) Boy I don't know what I can tell you. One brand is the same as the next. I don't even know what kind mine are. Put the bales on the end with the motor and it carries it to the other end. The only bad I can see with yours is its painted JD green. Mine sets by my red and white barn all summer so I painted mine white with red wheels. Oh now I'm starting to think of more bad and ugly things about yours. It has no wheels. That makes it very hard to move to the other barn. Also yours has no hopper for unloading the wagons into. You will have to set bottom end on a barrel and tie it to barn so it don't slide off. Yours has no winch for height adjustment. How you going to raise it up to barn door? Now that I think about it I would not own a JD #33 hay elevator.

Nothing wrong with JD green - LOL!

We are not putting hay in a loft, we will unload from the wagon right on top of a stack of hay - both hay wagon and elevator in the barn. We will also use it to load trucks of outgoing hay.

Thanks!

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 14:00:29 05/08/21) Those are meant to be used more as a conveyor than elevator. It will lift bales on a not too steep slope but the fingers or hooks grabbing the bales have little purchase. Otherwise, not much to say, but they will save one man in a haymow....

Ben

Yes - this elevator should help reduce carrying or throwing hay up on a stack.

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 15:59:56 05/08/21)
That is a rebadged Snowco. I had one for a few years that I didn't own. It had been abused and needed a lot of work. It went back so I bought a new one. The great thing about them is their light weight. I could get it into the back of my truck easily to go deliver a load or two of hay. We had a rope permanently attached to the top end so that it could be pulled into the mow door, then drop the front gate of the wagon and tie one of the side rails to the wagon corner and we were in business in about six minutes. One possible weakness is the motor mount. If a bale came tumbling down and landed on the motor it could loosen the belt tension. IIRC there was a set screw deal that needed help to keep the tension on.

Thanks for the ID, Ill keep an eye out on the motor mount arrangement.

 

[Bill VA]

(quoted from post at 16:49:26 05/08/21) I have 2 skeleton elevators. They save a lot of work. We set one on an incline up into the barn and the other on steel sawhorses to reach back into the barn. Stacking small squares is a pain so the trick is to save every amount of work possible x thousands of course.

I agree 100 percent - everything we can do to reduce handling a bale of hay x thousands is most beneficial. Thanks!

 

[MoMike]

Like others have said, they're pretty much all the same. Watch the angle if you're using it as a elevator, too much and bales that don't lay flat can roll back. I have a 16' in my pole barn we use to mow away. I hung the top end off a hanger that runs in barn door track to move it back and forth down the barn.

 

[Loosehandle]

Have a sq tube one, works good. Set bottom end on something to gain hight. Make motor removable so it's easier to handle. On looser bales put them on the same way as came out of baler.

 

[SVcummins]

Unless your a weakling you can handle those little elevators pretty easy . We had a yellow one whe we hang stacked to convey the bales up to the top Of the stack without crawling up and down the stack