How do I get this ding dang hay off the trailer and into the barn

[SusanO]

Let’s think outside the box. I have two 3x3x8 bales and 2 3x4x8 bales of hay sitting on my flat bed trailer. The trailer is parked under the barn and all would be fine if the hay situation in the Southeast wasn’t so crappy this year. So I need to get it into the barn so I can take the trailer and buy another load to get me to summer. If I wait until I have used it up - there won’t be any available.

I have a Mahindra E22 with a FEL but I don’t think it will pick up a whole bale. I haven’t tried yet. Is there a way to half these bales so I can pick them up with the tractor? Anybody got any other ideas??? No neighbors with a larger tractor with a loader / or would fit in the barn to maneuver these bales inside.

I could cut strings and peel them off flake by flake :mad::mad::mad:…

[seabreeze]

I’ve seen a farmer that sells those bales halve them for customers. He’d cut the twine all at the same point on the top, in the middle. Then he’d insert the bale spear in the middle of the bale and push one half of the bale to the side, to separate it from the other half, about 8”-1’. Finally he’d reach down and pull up two alternating strings and tie the one half of the bale together and then reach down and grab the other two alternating strings and tie the other half of the bale together.

Maybe you could get creative with maneuvering the corner of your FEL to similarly separate the bales into two halves?

[SuzieQNutter]

Back into the shed. Secure a rope around the hay that won’t pull the shed down. Drive off.

[Simkie]

A quick Google says that loader can do 545#s, so you probably do not want to try that, at least not with whole bales. Split them in half and use a bale fork to move, or tie off and pull the trailer out from under them.

If you split in half, ratchet straps are REALLY handy to secure the bale parts–far more effective than trying to retie the hay string.

[carman_liz]

@SusanO

Let’s think outside the box. I have two 3x3x8 bales and 2 3x4x8 bales of hay sitting on my flat bed trailer. The trailer is parked under the barn and all would be fine if the hay situation in the Southeast wasn’t so crappy this year. So I need to get it into the barn so I can take the trailer and buy another load to get me to summer. If I wait until I have used it up - there won’t be any available.

I have a Mahindra E22 with a FEL but I don’t think it will pick up a whole bale. I haven’t tried yet. Is there a way to half these bales so I can pick them up with the tractor? Anybody got any other ideas??? No neighbors with a larger tractor with a loader / or would fit in the barn to maneuver these bales inside.

I could cut strings and peel them off flake by flake :mad::mad::mad:…

Use a tarp on the ground and flip them over n over till you get them where they need to be? Like crossfit tire style!!! Or use the tarp to drag them? I know not the best idea but…?

[Bluey]

Dump them the closest to where you need them, then use your wimpy tractor to push them around and into place.
Even the smallest tractor or pickup will push those bales around ok for a little way, just maybe not so far they come apart.
If you had some long pipes, sliding the bale along those and into place would make it much easier to push there.

Go slow and best to have a second pair of eyes in case something comes undone or hung up or flat is not working.
Hard to tell when you are the one driving what is happening in front of you.

If you have something solid to tie to, like a barn column, you could use a hand winch, a come-along and straps to pull the bales into place:

100594355

May be able to pull it into place tipping it over and over and over.

[SusanO]

Seabreeze that sounds like what I need to do. And Simke great idea about ratchet straps. I have LOTS of them in all sizes and never thought about that.

As far as flipping them over - they weigh ( estimate) 700-1000 pounds. I am not that strong. Even in my younger years.

[Ghazzu]

I took a 700 lb square out of my pickup on Monday with a come-along hooked to a lally column.

[Bluey]

@SusanO

Seabreeze that sounds like what I need to do. And Simke great idea about ratchet straps. I have LOTS of them in all sizes and never thought about that.

As far as flipping them over - they weigh ( estimate) 700-1000 pounds. I am not that strong. Even in my younger years.

Your tractor may not lift one, but it could flip them over and over and into place?

[SusanO]

It is not just getting them out of the truck. I have to maneuver them over to the side of the barn where I store the hay. So they are not blocking the hallway where I keep the tractor and manure spreader. On top of a pallet or at least on top of plastic. It is too damp here to leave them sitting on the ground. I am going to try splitting them up as suggested.

Yes I know my tractor is wimpy. But it is paid for. Do I upgrade for two times a year I need to unload hay???

[Bluey]

@SusanO

It is not just getting them out of the truck. I have to maneuver them over to the side of the barn where I store the hay. So they are not blocking the hallway where I keep the tractor and manure spreader. On top of a pallet or at least on top of plastic. It is too damp here to leave them sitting on the ground. I am going to try splitting them up as suggested.

Yes I know my tractor is wimpy. But it is paid for. Do I upgrade for two times a year I need to unload hay???

Wimpy was not an insult, just a designation that it was not lifting that weight.
Tractors are rated to lift right behind the axle, by the three point hitch.
Once we move to a weight way in front, on pallet points or FEL, they won’t lift but little more than half that much, annoying no matter what size tractor, all that power and in front, a wimpy effort.

Our 85 hp tractor rated to lift 3000# will hardly lift half a concrete mix sack pallet.
We have to unload by hand half the sacks, 22 of them, onto a second pallet for it to handle those 1760# and it barely makes it.

I know someone that cuts those bales with a chain saw to feed from them? If you try, be careful and wear googles and a mask.
Wonder if that would work to start cutting into them?

[clanter]

buy another trailer which can be resold when empty

if there is not enough room to put this second trailer under cover then trap the load

[katyb]

We pulled one out of my horse trailer with one of those big yellow straps. We used the 3 pt bale spear to move it, but you could probably just push it. We then made a ramp of two boards, and slid the bale into my storage building. My tractor may be bigger - it’s a Bobcat 30hp.

[Simkie]

@SusanO we have a tractor that’s not THAT much bigger than yours (a JD 2320 if you want to compare specs) and moved the 3x3x7 bales with it with hay forks and a rear weight box. They were about 700#s and that was really the limit of the tractor.

But it is entirely reasonable I think to split yours in half, ratchet strap them, and move them with hay forks. And mucho easier than taking them flake by flake, what a PITA that would be.

We have cheap hay forks. Super useful, we’ve had no problems, this brand is fine for casual use.

https://www.palletforks.com/

Ours looks like this:

https://www.palletforks.com/tractors/john-deere-compatible-attachments/hay-spear-attachments/hay-spear-attachment-w-2-49-inch-spears-fits-john-deere-loaders/134111.html

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Or get a spear attachment for your bucket?

[Bluey]

If you have a front end loader and want to add pallet forks, here are some that just fit on the loader:

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/to…SABEgKGD_D_BwE

Those just screw down on the edge of the loader bucket.

Now, you have to be careful not to try to lift more than your tractor can handle.
Always keep your load as low as possible.

[Simkie]

I’d prefer this style to the pallet forks bluey shared:

https://www.palletforks.com/universal/hay-handling/hay-spear-attachments/39-inch-hay-bale-spear-universal-bucket-attachment-w-dual-prongs/135513.html?cgid=univeral-hay-spear-attachments&lang=default

It’s easier to get the slim pointy spears into hay than the larger, broader forks.

These do put your load further out in front of you than it would be with a dedicated hay fork attachment, so BE CAREFUL. :yes:

[HungarianHippo]

Picture how the ancient Egyptians moved huge blocks of stone by rolling it over logs. I frequently move really heavy stuff using this method, it really works.

Just lift one end of the bale enough to slide a 4ft length of 3" or 4" PVC under the bale (or whatever round stuff you have handy). Pull the bale forward over this ‘roller’. Before you reach the fulcrum (where the bale will tip forward, put another roller down and keep pulling bale forward onto it. Now it’s up on 2 rollers. Pull forward to add a 3rd roller in the same way. Now just keep rolling it forward, and each time it leaves one or the 3 rollers behind, go pick it up and put it in the front.

If you are trying this technique on very soft or bumpy ground, make the job easier by putting down two rails for your rollers to travel on, like a railroad. Can use lengths of 2x4s, jump rails, sections of pipe, or even just a plywood sheet.

[mmeqcenter]

I use my wimpy tractor with FEL to move round bales and instead of rolling them sometimes I flip them end over end. You should be able to do that. Push them off the trailer with your FEL and flip them over and over and over until you get them where you want them.

Or, someone else said, back your trailer up where you want them, tie a strap around them and the other end to a post that won’t pull the barn down, then drive off. This is how I unload 600lb pasture blocks (compressed hay blocks) in the pastures.

My brief search of your tractor showed possible loads of 600-900 lbs for the FEL depending on exactly what you have. This is, as is typical, the max load to lift the bucket to full height. So theoretically, you should be able to lift that amount or more if you keep the bucket just off the ground. Definitely weight the back end of your tractor first.

[eponacelt]

WE back our truck to the area where we want the bales. Then we use our 22hp Kubota to drag them off by putting a heavy duty ratchet tie down strap through all of the bale strings. Then drag. A little pushing from one side or the other by my husband while dragging manages to get them to the place we need them.

[jawa]

Are you storing the bales all on one level? Or are you going to have to stack them in order to store the quantity you need?

With a proper counter balance no the back ( grading box or bush hog ) you may be able to lift the bales enough to clear the trailer and SLOWLY drive them to their location as long as you don’t need to lift them more than 18" off the ground.

If you find that the bales are too large for your tractor to lift intact, then I would open the bale and lay 1/4-1/3 of the bale onto ratchet straps. You can then “retie” the bale and move it. The nice thing about these bales is that they are baled sooooo tightly that they tend to want to stay together even though the strings have been cut.

The first time I tested using these types of bales, I put a pallet in the back of my truck. I had the farmer load the bale onto the pallet. The bale overhung the pallet by a bit. I secured the bale to the bed of the truck and left the tailgate down. Once I was home, I put a wide wheel barrow at the end of the tail gate and cut the hay strings. I peeled flakes off until it was within the length the forks on the tractor to manage getting to the pallet. Once at that point, I retied the strings by making a loop at one end of the string and then making a loop at a point along the other string that I could double back to and use the 2 loops as a pulley system to tighten the bale to ensure it wouldn’t fall apart.

I am storing my years worth of XXL hay bales on pallets covered by tarps. I had originally built my barn thinking I would use small squares and store most of a years worth of hay in the loft. The cost difference ($600 worth of XXL squares or $1600 worth of small squares) was such that I didn’t feel that I could justify staying with small squares. If my horses have no grazing, they eat 1 to 1.5 flake(s) of an XXL bale a day.