I’m trying to acquire some round bales but I only have access to an 8x5 utility trailer. Am I right in thinking I can only haul 1 at a time? Im trying to get 4 bales. Can they be placed flat sides together? My trucks bed is only a 5’7” so I don’t know if it’s big enough to do one in there and one in the trailer?
Be sure that you know the weight and diameter of the round bales that you are getting. There are very BIG differences in weight and diameter. A “small” round bale is grass hay and weighs 750# and is about 4.5 ft across. A “big” round bale is alfalfa/alfalfa mix and weighs 2000# and is 5 ft across.
Know what your truck and utility trailer are rated for before you pick up.
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How big is the round bale you are buying? Small rounds are about 600+ pounds. We get two in the box of a full sized pick up truck (3/4 ton truck). Two people can push them off, onto a pallet on the ground, or where ever they need to go that is possible. The bales can be pushed over and rolled by hand (usually takes two humans to do it easily), if the ground is dry and firm enough.
But round bales can come in much larger sizes too, double the size of ours. They will require fairly large tractors to do much with them, and they may be more difficult to handle.
I would guess that you might get two of our bales in that trailer, and one in the truck box. But if they are bigger bales, that plan may change.
These are 4x5 bales of grass hay. I’m guessing in the 800-1000 pound range.
This is what they looked like last time I got them but from a different source, same size: (500 pound donkey for scale)
They delivered them but I’ve had no luck recently with having hay delivered.
I think you can get one in the bed and one in the trailer.
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I agree with one in the bed and one in the trailer. I can get two in my regular box truck, but the second bale is hanging over onto a box extender. I’m ok driving 10 or 15km with that, but I wouldn’t want to drive much further like that. For the trailer, it depends on the weight capacity as two might fit with hang over.
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That’s a relief, they might put up with me if I only have to make 2 trips. It’s only 25 minutes away on country roads so I won’t be going fast. I think I’m more worried about wasting someone’s time and showing up unprepared than anything 
I’m going to go for it. I’ve been searching YouTube and it seems there are some people with similar bed sizes to mine with similar bales. Crossing my fingers I won’t have to buy tractor supply hay this winter.
My truck is 8’ and I can put 2 large rounds, in the 800-1000lb range depending on how tightly packed they are. I can’t quite close the tailgate, so I strap them in, but the rear bale isn’t really ON the tailgate. The first one is put on from the side, flat sides against the sides of the truck, so it can be rolled off. The 2nd one is put on from the rear, flat side out, and has to be pushed off but is also the only way 2 will fit on.
2 smaller 500lb-ish bales would fit easily
Your bigger issue will probably be the weight of the bales
Maybe where you are? Alfalfa isn’t grown where I am, so it’s all grass, and small rounds are 500lb-ish (roughly 4x4) and large ones are 800-1000lb roughly 4x5)
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When picking up hay, I have seen some of the most terrifying methods of roundbale transport— stacking 4 in the bed of a pickup, stacking them on the roof of the cab of the truck, etc.
So I think provided these aren’t atypically large bales, you’ll be fine with one in the bed and one on the trailer.
I can do 2 in the 8’ bed of my truck.
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Agreed - we had grass rounds that were at or over the 1500lb mark last year that were maybe 5x5? Same size as the grass bales we have now that are much closer to the 1000lb range.
Success! After two trips I now have 4 rounds bales. I have ordered a hay net that will get here on Friday because they wasted about half a bale last time. Now that I know a bale can fit in the bed of my truck that’s going to be the easiest thing ever, I don’t even need to grab the trailer.
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I used to put 2 smalls in my 6 3/4, front one on the rolly side, back one on the flat side, although same as you with the largest, the tail gate stayed down.
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For the record, the heaviest bales I’ve ever had were actually straight grass at 2000 each. I don’t know how that guy managed it, but we weighed both in and out at the scales.
Normally my alfalfa bales run 1500-1700, but they baled small this year 
at right around 1000.
It’s wild the variation in weight…
The more loosely packed the bale, the sooner it’s going to reach the physical size limit without reaching the weight limit of that bailer. But also, earlier cuttings may weigh more due to higher moisture content, and waiting longer to bail will also reduce moisture further.
Yeah it’s frustrating, especially since most farmers don’t seem to want, or have the ability to sell by the ton, especially horse-specific hay farmers.
I always assume my “1000lb” rounds are more like 800, and use that calculation to determine my needs.
I think Tamara from Tennessee was the only person I bought hay from that sold by the ton. I always thought that was the fairest way to buy hay. Except when you get heavy bales that have a really high moisture level and that usually leads to moldy hay.
Ah I live in cattle country. Everything is sold by the ton, even most small bales. It’s just aggravating how many trips it’s taking to get all my hay hauled, the storage space, and how often I have to put hay in this year. I’m continually baffled when I get home from work and find that a paddock needs hay when I had thought they had a few days left.
The regional differences are always interesting. People often ask what hay prices are like in the western plains. I tell them the per ton cost and I get blank stares. So I do a quick conversion to what the cost is of a small square for them.
Yes I do a conversion for a 50 pound or 40 pound bale when I look at cost per ton or figuring out what 3x3x8’s cost.
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well since there is no roof rack to put that bale on I guess ramming it in is the only way remaining
