Loading loose hay

[Muir hill 101]

 

[caterpillar guy]

I can remember doing that as a kid,a little kid. Grandpa had a trailer that would hold 3 sling loads of hay each trailer load. Dad would go up in the mow to tirp the car so the slings would fall then drag the slings out. Was a time consuming job with all the rope and pulling the sling up then pulling it sideways to the mow and all.

 

[rrlund]

They sure make it look all picturesque and bucolic don't they? I think I'll sit in the air conditioned cab and run the round baler. Kids grow up and leave and old Dad can't be out there in the heat doing things like that all alone.

 

[fastfarmall]

I can too, like Cat guy says, but my dad just used two slings per trailer,My dads was a Minneaplois -Moline hay loader, it worked good!

 

[J.Wondergem]

For my brother and I , it was easier to do loose hay than the bales. We got to drive the tractor with the loose hay. in the field one drove the tractor other was at the front of the wagon placing the hay while Dad took the hay from the loader. At the barn one drove the tractor, the other placed the harpoon forks and Dad controlled the hay car.
Baling hay was wire tie bales that were heavy. Dad drove the tractor, we stacked the hay on the wagon. At the barn we unloaded the hay from the wagon and Dad was in the mow stacking hay. We had a wide oak board that we had to side the hay on to the mow and it was hard to slide them up that board with the mow got higher.

 

[Muir hill 101]

Watching some videos of them actually using a hay loader its not as picturesque as this would make one think even with a slow walking team .

 

[Muir hill 101]

Ive wondered that but sure would slower it looks
like unless you had several wagons and a big crew

 

[Muir hill 101]

Little bales sure look more efficient to me

 

[rustyplow]

I had this one for around 20 years. Always wanted to try it out but never did.

 

[Muir hill 101]

Id like to get my hands on one

 

[Muir hill 101]

Its neat to me how the things worked certainly better than using a pitchfork to load

 

[Sam Vastano]

The Amish near me still use these!

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Dad used to tell about how he was put in the cab of the stake body truck as a kid to drive while my grandfather would spread the hay out in the truck as the loader brought it up. He was too short to see over the hood and reach the pedals at the same time. Plus the truck had no brakes.

So the truck would fill up and my grandfather would whale on the roof of the truck cab with the pitchfork to get Dad to stop. Of course by that point the truck was so full that another spear of hay would break the loader or push grampa off the truck so when he started banging on the roof that meant stop NOW. Neat trick when you can't reach the pedals and don't have any brakes.