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Smart People Needed: How do you move heavy hay?

15K views 101 replies 39 participants last post by  PaintHorseMares 
#1 ·
Hey all!
My friends and I are currently trying to decide how to transport heavy hay (700lb-1000lb bales) from my friend's house (the hay guys will drop it there) to my horse's pasture, two blocks away.
They could be round bales or square bales.
I can shove a tow rope on it and haul it with my truck, but I really don't want to haul a round bale down the street. I don't think I'd have much hay left after that trip, lol.
We do not have a tractor, and probably don't have a trailer either. :)
I was thinking about using my truck to haul it onto a big piece of plywood and somehow dragging the plywood down the road (like a sled...) but A) I don't know how I'd do that and B) I'm not sure plywood is strong enough for 700-1000lbs of hay.
Any ideas? Anyway to shove the thing in the bed of my truck? I have ramps...
 
#35 ·
Wanna play, too;-)

Dear OP, if you can't convince the driver to bring your hay down two blocks, not even with a few extra bucks, how about grabbing your friend and roll it. If the bales are nice and tight, they roll. And don't say they're too heavy. If I can roll a 500lbs bale bymyself, two men, adults, can certainly roll one of those.
With big squares, well, I guess it's either finding somebody with a loader in the neighborhood or taking it opened, flake by flake on the truck. Should be fairly "clean", since the biggens are baled very tight.
 
#36 ·
Alex: Yeah, you're right, 1000lbs of moving hay won't damage my bumper at all. I'm sure it will be even more fun when I go down the lovely hill at the end of the driveway.
As for getting a ticket, well, you apparently missed the part when I mentioned it's WAY out in the country. I have yet to see a cop and I've been going out there for a year. And I think the cop would actually offer to help.
 
#37 ·
Desert: I'm just a wee bit concerned about what would happen when I pushed it down the hill. I'm thinking it would take a lot of effort to stop that thing. :D Plus the road has all sorts of oil and stuff on it. But thank you. We can try it if all else fails, lol.
 
#39 ·
What about wrapping it in a tarp and rolling it. If there's something strong enough at the bottom of the hill to stop it that won't be damaged the hill could be to your advantage. Wrap it in the tarp and tie it, keep long strands of the tied rope to hold onto if you need to slow it down at any point. 2 people would probably be better and I don't think you could full stop it on a steep hill, but you could slow it - just wear gloves ;)
 
#40 · (Edited)
We're in a drought here....

I offered the hay guy some pretty green pieces of paper and he brought hay forks, attached them to my tractor, unloaded and stacked my hay for me.

Who knew....

Oh, and I don't know of ANY hay supplier that will deliver large bales of hay without bringing along machinery to move it unless you have the proper machinery at your place. They have to get them off the trailer somehow!
 
#41 ·
Go get a hot air balloon. Attach the bale to it and blast it full (if you don't have a burner, a dozen tanks of helium might suffice)Tie the bale to the balloon, tie the balloon to your truck bumper, Tow the balloon to wherever you want the hay. Shoot arrows into the balloon to deflate it so that the hay will drop on the spot you want it to land.


SIMPLE!!!
 
#43 ·
Alex: In all honesty, you aren't particularly helpful. Perhaps you should have considered all senarios? You knew I was taking it down the road. Most roads are higher in the middle and lower on the outsides. That alone could pose a problem.

Punks: Lol, I suppose I could always park my horse at the bottom of the hill. I'm sure she'd stop it. :D I'm a teeny bit concerned about tripping and then the bale rolls away and then I have to chase it down the road. :D
 
#44 ·
Delfina: Like it has been stated many times before, there is no tractor either on my property, or my friend's property. Yes, the trailer guy has a machine to move the bales. Or they just shove them off the end of the trailer. It's really very exciting to watch.
Personally, I prefer to do what I can do myself, rather than pay someone else to do it. I'm young. I really have no reason to be lazy or unimaginative.
 
#49 ·
Lazy!!??

Lets see.... I work a full time job, run our family farm (we currently raise cows, pigs, chickens, goats and turkeys), do all the feeding/cleaning for an 8 stall barn down the road, take care of my two kids and 2 days a week I also care for a 6mo old and a 2yr old. Hubby's a truck driver and home basically never.

Lazy? Try SMART. I can work ONE extra hour and cover the $20 I paid the hay guy. The sheer stupidity involved in trying to finagle giant hay bales around without the proper equipment would take multiple hours.
 
#52 ·
Lots of issues here. I'd be reluctant to tow it down the road, but that's your choice, you know the conditions best.

I'd try to set up the drop off area. Like if there is a hill of some sort (that you can park your car down from) or if you have some pallets you could build a platform in the easiest place for them to drop it off, and then roll them onto your truck. Then there is always the option to cut the ties and move it in sections, messy but may be your best bet, just make sure you have somewhere to store it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes?
 
#56 ·
Look, all rascalboy wants to know is how to move a round bale with only a truck. I've read the entire thread and he's said specifically that he wants help answering that question, rather than what the best solution to this issue would be. Give the kid enough rope and let him tie his own noose. Why not give him what he wants?

1) Roll the bale.
2) Drag it behind your truck
3) Roll the bales into your truck.

And whatever you do, videotape it. I'll be reward for all the people who sincerely tried to help. :D
 
#58 ·
Well OP... How good are you at reversing your truck? If you can roll that bale down the road (I like the idea of pushing a steel rod through it) then hook it up behind your truck(which is facing backwards ready to reverse down the hill) and slowly reverse your truck down the hill.. Hay bale will then not wreck your truck as it is gong down the hill first. Otherwise I'm at a loss, I use big rounds also.
 
#60 ·


That's how I moved round bales without a tractor.
This is a really old picture so the detail isn't there but note the runners on the stone boat. 4x4's that were cut up in the front just like a sleigh runner. On pavement or gravel the drag would stop the sled on any hill. I had a steep driveway too. We did strap the bales on because most of the pasture at this house was uphill. Property was such that I couldn't get a truck up back.

Now I have a guy who loads them onto my pickup. I can fit 2. Truck is loaded to the max and I wouldn't want to have to take evasive maneuvers with it. At this house I'm on river bottom land and could drive a tractor trailer in and turn it if I needed to.

Now I understand you don't have a spare Belgian hanging around but that rig would work just fine with a truck for 2 blocks.
 
#61 · (Edited)
Before I had a tractor I had to deal with some round and large square bales.
With the squares, I would cut the strings and move 2 large flakes at a time to the desired destination, stack flat like pancakes, go back for two more flakes... repeat.
You could stack 1/3 to 1/2-ish of the flakes in the back of a truck (tie down if needed) deliver to needed location, repeat.

As for rounds, I think some good ideas have been thrown out... if a hill is an issue (this thread is now 6 pages long, and I don't have enough coffee in the system to think through all the details) try pushing it by hand, but have a truck in front of it to slow the momentum while going downhill.
Get a buddy to creep at walkign speed while on the phone with you to coordinate. Or, have all the windows down and holler back and fourth.

If/when ya'll are on flat road (if said road/path is icky, go to the side of the road on the grass if possible) then switch. have truck behind bale to slowly bump it along while people on foot guide it and keep it going straight/in the desired direction.

I do have a tractor now, but sometimes I still have to push and roll the round bales that I get and sometimes quite a distance.
I'm an itty bitty girl with only a small itty bitty female family member to help and we are able to push and roll 800 to 1000 pound bales fairly well.

If I have said something you don't like or it shows me not having read the details, refer to above sentance about not having enough coffee yet today.... and criticise at your own risk.

ETA: see I can't even spell without coffee, let alone solve problems... LOL
 
#62 · (Edited)
Seven pages and no one has seen a 'bale buggy'?

We have one I bought at a farm auction for $100.00. They are small trailers that you hook up to any hitch on a pick-up or a car. They carry one round bale (won't handle big squares) and you can take it anywhere.

It has a little cable winch on the tongue. You let the back down, back it under the bale and winch it back up into this position and it will haul anywhere. Then you just let the winch down and drive off and leave it. We use ours when we have a leased pasture too far away to road the tractor. I takes a minute to hook it up and less to unhook it. One person can do it.

Here is one that I found on a Craig's List ad (if it will copy).

 
#71 ·
Seven pages and no one has seen a 'bale buggy'?

We have one I bought at a farm auction for $100.00. They are small trailers that you hook up to any hitch on a pick-up or a car. They carry one round bale (won't handle big squares) and you can take it anywhere.
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This is the way to go if you can find a used one (about $1000 new at TSC)
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#63 · (Edited by Moderator)
I work a full time job. In a factory. Why do I work in a factory when I could be making more money elsewhere? Because I have great job security there and they allow me to shift my hours when need be. Why would I shift my hours? Because I'm also a full-time student. You might be wondering why I would have a full-time job if I'm also a full-time student. That would be because I self-finance virtually everything in my life. I pay for my own school. I pay for my truck. I pay for my horse. For about 4-5 months each year, I take on a second job in addition to still going to school. This job takes up every spare moment I have left, leaving me with 2-4 hours of sleep 6-7 days a week, if I don't just simply work a bit later and go straight to my normal job in the morning. Why do I do this? Because I need to money in order to go to school, and take proper care of my elderly and arthritic horse. Now, normally I wouldn't whine about my work, but I couldn't let you get off thinking you were the only one putting out some effort. ;)
 
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