Handling big bales

[atr]

I’ve been offered a quantity of 1350lb bales of very nice alfalfa for a screaming bargain. It’s last years hay but has been barn-kept and is very nice.

But, I am only set up to deal with 100lb bales… You can back a flat bed up to my hay shed to unload, but I’m not sure how you’d get the darned things off and stacked.

I have a tractor, but I’m not sure it’s up to the task even with bale spikes on to deal with things that heavy.

I can’t leave it outside. We have a herd of marauding elk who will rip a tarp off in about 5 nanoseconds.

My thrifty self is dying here. I’m paying stupid amounts of money for hay and this would be a regular source of quality, reasonable priced hay even without the bargain pricing.

Any suggestions, please?

[clanter]

rent a bigger tractor or pay some one to move the hay to your shed ??

We used these 1000# to 1400# bales during the last drought, we could have one bale put in the bed of long bed F350 to haul it home then we backed it over two end-to-end 48 inch pallets… tied a rope around the bale then pulled out dropping the bale onto the pallets

[roseymare]

If you are going to have to purchase a new tractor and bale fork I would core sample to make sure it really is a bargain.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

What tractor do you have?

[Simkie]

The guy who brings the big bales for us brings the skid steer to unload and put them where they’ve got to go. Can you find that sort of hay guy?

Or, can you rent a skid steer or find a friend with one?

When it’s time to feed, I open the bales where they are and load up my hay cart. We do have a tractor that can handle our bales (but can’t unload the trailer), but it’s been easier to leave them where they are.

[Mallard]

Yes… Can you get them delivered to outside your loft/storage barn?
Then break them open and put them into your loft in smaller pieces?

[Simkie]

It would suck to have to open the bales just to get them into the barn to store. If it’s not possible to get a skid steer into the hay barn, big bales sound like more hassle than they’re worth! If the cost difference is that significant, it would likely be worthwhile to put up a new shed.

[hosspuller]

[QUOTE=DHCarrotfeeder;8663327]
What tractor do you have?[/QUOTE]

This … ^^^ Before any useful suggestions …

[Boo]

How many are you planning on taking at a time?? And how do you want to feed it out??

I used to buy 6ft rounds as my hay source at my previous boarding barn. We would get 3-4 delivered at a time. We always made sure 2-3 of us were there. Farmer/driver would back the truck up to the breeze way and 2 or 3 of us would usually roll each off the truck. We’d then roll them to the end and tip them on their flat side. We would fill chaff bags off the hay roll and feed out 2 a day to each horse. So each round lasted each horse about 2months.

Yes they were heavy but if the surface is fairly flat easy enough to get momentum on. Itherwise again if your ok with bot stackng your tractor could probably roll them for you?

[JannieC]

I buy big squares that weigh about 900 lbs. My hay guy stores them for me and i pick up 3 at a time with my flatbed trailer. I back up to my hayshed and take off the hay, flake by flake. I break flakes into two pieces and take them off that way so that they are about 10-20 pounds a piece. Reasons why this works for me: much cheaper than small squares; much easier to unload than small squares because I can easily carry them myself and don’t have to pay for help; don’t have to stack–just toss into shed; I can easily pitchfork the stored hay into my haynets or into a large wheelbarrow to dump in paddocks. If you don’t have to take them all at one time, this might work for you. Otherwise, I would use a skidsteer–my hay guy will do this if I pay extra.

[atr]

Sorry, out playing…

Tractor is a 35hp Cub Cadet. FEL rated for 1100lb.

Bales are 4 x 4 x 8 rectangles. not round bales, so no rolling.

Hay shed has a step-up into it, which is actually quite handy when unloading small bales, but precludes getting a skid steer in.

Sigh. I don’t think this is going to work. 'twas a nice idea…

[DHCarrotfeeder]

1100 lb is more than most square bales weigh. But you’re going to need a half-ton of weight on the rear to keep the rear wheels down. Plus 1100lb is probably the weight rating on the face of the loader arms. Check the rating at 18" out to get a better idea of what size bale it can lift.

[Burbank]

we would get the 3x3x6 bales , just one at a time, back up to the shed, cut open the bale and stack the flakes, were able to get great hay for the best price in our area, but having only 2 horses, and only one of them eating hay it worked well

[hosspuller]

Cut the bales in half. Then you’ll have 4x4x4. Retie the bales with several wraps of twine. If you need to compress the bales to tie, use two 27 foot cargo straps with ratchet binders. Then use your tractor to handle the bales.

[DHCarrotfeeder]

[QUOTE=Burbank;8664674]
we would get the 3x3x6 bales , just one at a time, back up to the shed, cut open the bale and stack the flakes, were able to get great hay for the best price in our area, but having only 2 horses, and only one of them eating hay it worked well[/QUOTE]

I tried a large rectangular bale last year. I cut the strings to get to the flakes, as I’d seen other do. The bale just about unraveled completely - there were no “flakes”. Worse yet, the horses didn’t eat it. I might try again this year - depending on my mood.

I know this happens with small bales too but the mess was not remotely comparable.

David

[FLeventer]

It depends if the bale actually flakes out. I get the 1000# pasture blocks in the winter and throw them in the bed of the truck. I keep one side on the ball hitch for my GN. Put a jack under it and roll it onto the pallet. By roll I mean get it to the edge of the truck and it tumbles down on the ground and three people try to get it on the pallet. Its not exactly a fun method.

Ive never tried to break them apart into smaller chunks to move but with the straps it seems like a good option. Some blocks Ive used shatter easily though and it would seem easy to get them back together. Those were the non flaking types that were a total pain in the butt.

[Heinz_57]

Rent a husband? We get 1200lb rectangular bales, one at a time (lasts one horse on pasture about 2 months) and Mr. Heinz unloads by hand. The trouble would be if you are buying a quantity and need to stack more than just a single row. Alfalfa tends to flake better than grass varieties in large bales, in my experience.

[NancyM]

When I bought 1300 lb large squares, I put three on the back of my one ton flatdeck truck. Then parked the truck sideways across the hay shed. Then pushed them off the side, together, with a 35 hp Kubota tractor with a bucket. The tractor was able to push them off adequately. Can you push them off sideways into what you use as a hay shed? The step up floor would not be an issue if you could get right up beside it with the a flatdeck truck or trailer. With the three bales on lengthwise down the truck deck, you only need to push on the one lower one on the far side. The furthest one falls first, the top one lands on top of it, and usually falls off it, but it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t. To get the third one off (my tractor did not have enough reach to push the third one from the far side of the truck) I used some short lengths of 2 X 4s between the edge of the bucket and the bale, which worked well to push the last one off the truck deck.

[Mosey_2003]

When you say there’s a step-up to your shed, is it level with the flatbed? If so, you could pull right up next to it and winch them in if you have something to anchor to in the back.

Or, pop the strings and take it in by hand and treat it like a hay mow. Depends on how good of a deal it is as to whether you’re willing to work that hard.

[mjs8]

We had a set up at our old farm similar to yours. There was no way we could use a tractor to off-load the large square bales into the barn, but the price of the bales was soooo inexpensive that we couldn’t pass it up. I would pick up one bale at a time from the supplier and once home, cut the twine and with one other person, would essentially empty two or three flakes at a time and lay flat on a pallet, then stack the flakes on top of one another as we off-loaded. It worked great! And we were saving something like 65% every month by going with the large bales!