Bale mover

[Rod]

The other (cold) day my tractor would not start. It’s the only way I have to move my round bales to my cattle and I had 40 hungry animals waiting. Got me to thinking about a round bale mover which I could power with my oxen. (I got the tractor running because the day warmed up, fortunately).

Anyway after searching the net for designs and ideas I came up with this one which I am going to try.
Since all my bales are nice and rounded out and covered with plastic wrap my design utilizes them for the wheel part. The rest is simple and very similar to a drag behind bale unroller. It’s planned as a frame yoke with drive in pins on the ends. In service it works like this. I take the frame and center the pin holes on the bale center, drive the pins in with a hammer and hook the pole attached to the bale yoke to my team and roll away. It will roll on the bale which will still have the cover on it. When I get to the feeding spot, pull the pins, remove the plastic wrap and drag the yoke back to the barn. A variation which I am thinking about is a pair of skids under the yoke which will help position it for the pinning of the bale and serve as a sled when returning with the yoke part.

Has anyone tried anything like this and if any suggestions before I start building it.

[Rod]

Thanks, that is something I can try before going to the trouble of making something.

[Howie]

I built the hay rack, Grabers built the bale mover, and the steers furnish the power. The group does great and there is very little waste. Hay or energy.

[Plowboy]

If the bales aren’t frozen down a stone boat works well. It doesn’t take much to tip a 500#bale onto a boat drag to destination and then tip off. My 84 yr old buddy brings them home from haying 3 at a time with a team of Haflingers this way. In the winter he used to skid them in the barn with his Haflinger stallion and a chain with a ring on one end. If you want low tech, low expense, a boat should work with oxen and in a pinch the chain method will work as long as you don’t have to drag them through mud.

[Up North Louie]

We built a kind of tumblebug that hooks to the 3-point and will even unroll them for you. No reason it couldn’t be pulled with a team. Would you like a couple pictures?

Don

[Rod]

I would like to see some pictures thanks.

[Up North Louie]

I’ll get a few in the next day or so. Pretty dark for that just now.

It’s pretty straightforward, though. 2″ square tube stock welded at right angles to form a squared-off “U” shape. Two legs with holes drilled through at the tips, and in the middle of the cross piece are little dog legs the width of a CAT 1 hitch and center to those a leg to accept the top link. The holes at the end of the legs accept pins that drive into the core of the bale. The hardest part is to “read” the bale to see which way it wants to unroll.

I could probably modify this one to hook to an evener in about 15 minutes. In fact, all I would need is a hole. I have a pole and eveners that detach from a hay wagon so you could even go down hill with it. I will give that a try 🙂

I’ve never pulled anything behind a yoked team, so I wouldn’t know what that would require.

d

[Up North Louie]

I figured I had better get these photos taken and up before the weather tanks on me later in the day.

That’s a standard 48 inch pallet. The spikes on the rear of the arms move in and out.

front

side

back

I’m wondering if I can’t just flip the thing over to hook to my evener and pole, using the bracket that accepts the top link. I’ll give it a try soon and let you know how it goes.

Don

[Neil Dimmock]

[Ronnie Tucker]

@Neil Dimmock 1872 wrote:

I would like to get more details and pictures about your bale mover. I am interested in building one.

-Ronnie Tucker
Paris, Tennessee

[Marchand]

@Ronnie Tucker 1903 wrote:

I would like to get more details and pictures about your bale mover. I am interested in building one.

-Ronnie Tucker
Paris, Tennessee

Naw…naw…Neil’s Kand-nian…some-body’ll??…just haveta’ pick it out of him…

[Neil Dimmock]

@Marchand 1904 wrote:

Naw…naw…Neil’s Kand-nian…some-body’ll??…just haveta’ pick it out of him…

This that Like an( Uhmareekan ) and the whole world knows what to do with a Kan!!:D

[Neil Dimmock]

Hi Ronnie I’ll try and post the plans as soon As I find them, this one I like because you can take it off wagon and put it on a sleigh
Neil

[Neil Dimmock]

Heres a few pics ,

[Ronnie Tucker]

will your bale mover carry one roll on the wagon and one on the arms it appears that it might do that also can you unroll the bales if you want to ronnie tucker tn

[Author]

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