Can you haul round rolls in a horse trailer?

[4horses]

Does anyone haul round rolls in their horse trailer? Do you have any issues getting the round rolls out of the trailer? If I use my trailer, I can get 2 rolls in the trailer and 1 in the truck and get hay every 3 weeks rather than once a week.

I’m thinking the mats might need to be removed from the trailer? I’m wondering if the mats will slide or fold up when the roll is pushed in?

I have a bumper pull. If I raise the jack on the front will it make it easier to unload?

Anything else I should know?

[OnAMission]

We’ve done it a lot! Yes, remove the mats. We were usually able to get tight bales moving by enlisting the kids or a torque bar but these days if we didn’t have a tractor to pull we would anchor off to something, we have some deep railroad tie posts that we can anchor to at the BASE or a truck, etc. and pull the trailer away. Physics apply but it’s not too bad especially if they are a tight bale. We used to keep them in the trailer until we were ready to feed them out but of course that keeps the trailer “busy”. We’ve hauled a horse to the vet with a round bale still in the front of the trailer though, in a pinch. Just make sure your loader is ok with setting them up and pushing them in the trailer, we never had a problem but it takes a little extra and good to check that out if you haven’t yet.

[beowulf]

I’ve done it many times and kept the mats.

The main thing to remember is either strap them down or put a mounting block or something else to keep them rolling. If you brake hard, they can be heavy/impactful enough to pop the doors off or break windows.

[Bluey]

Every time we hauled horses where they had good round grass hay bales we came back with as many as we could get stuffed in our stock trailer.
We parked the trailer a bit downhill and pushed the bales rolling out of the trailer easily.
Then we moved them around with the tractor.

[LCDR]

I am confused picturing this. Are you all loading the round bales crosswise and rolling them in and out? Or are you sliding them in and out lengthwise?

[tabula_rashah]

I’d say yes if you either leave them on their sides so you can roll them out or have a tractor. I would not suggest leaving your mats in, sitting them on their cut end and trying to unload by yourself without a tractor. You will fail miserably at it in that case and have to call your husband who says I told you so.

[4horses]

I don’t have a tractor so I’d be using a hill to unload. Hence my concern about being able to push them out. Round rolls do roll, so I’d have to be able to squeeze past the first roll, push it out, then go for the 2nd… I’m going to go measure the truck bed width vs the trailer to see how much room I will have to work with in the trailer.

[tabula_rashah]

I just climb over it and then put my butt on the farther back bale and use my legs to push start the other one rolling (this is probably like a million OSHA safety violations lol)

[candyappy]

@LCDR

I am confused picturing this. Are you all loading the round bales crosswise and rolling them in and out? Or are you sliding them in and out lengthwise?

Me too. The loader must spear them on the flat end to load them , so how do you get them turned around ( so they can roll) once they are in the trailer???

Must be lightweight bales because we can’t move ours around by hand?

[tabula_rashah]

Where I buy them either loads them with a forks or a big grabby thing not a spear so you can load them any direction. They weight 800-1000 lbs. It isn’t easy but I can move them by myself by hand, it takes ingenuity, a lot of muscle and a big help with gravity lol. Usually I have them on my flatbed truck and then drive in the field (which is all a hill), park sideways across the hill and shove them off inch by inch. (I only use the trailer if it’s pouring out). Wherever they land, I drag the hay hut to them and flip the hut over them

[candyappy]

@tabula_rashah

Where I buy them either loads them with a forks or a big grabby thing not a spear so you can load them any direction. They weight 800-1000 lbs. It isn’t easy but I can move them by myself by hand, it takes ingenuity, a lot of muscle and a big help with gravity lol.

You have more muscle than I do!

[Bluey]

If you load them on their sides and park to unload on a slight slope, they will readily roll out on their own with a little push, just stay out of the way or you will end up squashed.