Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Moving Big Round Bales - No The Bigger Ones this time.





So I asked my neighbor to drop off a couple of round bales for the sheep the other day. I am not quite sure how he manages to always show up exactly at the precise time I happen to be gone but he always does. It's like I can spend an entire week not leaving the farm at all and the minute I finally do like magic he shows up.

So to make a long story short of course he didn't put them where I wanted them.

Now I know farmers take a certain pride in how tight they roll up their bales and if you ask em they usually over estimate the actual weight by at least 200 pounds per bale and he claims these bales weigh in at about 1200 pounds. I know I was moving the 6 to 800 pound bales around fairly easy with the 861 tractor but the top weight limit on that PTO is suppose to be 1000 pounds.

Do I want to risk it?

After thinking about it a few days I finally decided I didn't. I am not sure how good the seals are on the 861 and even those 800 pound bales were lifting the front end off the ground pretty good when I moved them. The last thing I want is to pop a seal and have hydraulic fluid all over the barn lot. I thought about calling my neighbor and asking him to stop by and move em for me on his way passed the place. He drives by on his tractor at least three or four times a day as it is, but that would be like admitting I was beaten. All these guys like to chuckle at my old timey way of doing things as it is.

Then determination set in. I was going to figure out how to move these bales on my own no matter what.

They needed to be rolled about 20 yards closer to the sheep pens and they needed to be flipped on their flat side so I could fork hay off em easier until they get down to a more manageable weight.

I looked at my available resources.... I had two tractors....




One with a bale spike on the back and the other 8N with a 6 foot blade on it....

I had a chain....

A Hammer....





And a Big honkin bolt about 14 inches long....

It was about 20 degrees out today so I asked my son if he would take some pictures while I figured this out. He told me I was literally insane and went back inside.


No pictures I guess.


I used the 8N since the blade was already on it. I then backed into a bale with the blade just low enough that it was under the curve of the round bale. As long as I kept the smooth part of the blade on the bale and didn't let the middle adjustment part hit I could actually push the round bale without hanging up. It took a bit of practice but I managed to actually maneuver the round bales right into the position I wanted.

Now to flip em over.

I unwound the chain off the blade, backed around to the side of the bale and tossed the chain over. Then above the center section of the bale at the top I hammered the big honkin bolt into the bale and hooked the chain on. After that it was just a matter of pulling forward with the little 8N and pulling the bale over onto it's side right up close to the sheep pens.


I had quite the audience for this long drawn out affair to say the least and since I was moving food closer they were cheering me on the whole time. They couldn't clap but they did BAAAAAAA their appreciation.

I don't really know if those bales were above my weight class or not but I do know that unlike the smaller, looser 6 to 800 pound ones I normally use I couldn't really budge these by hand at all. Unusually I can pretty much roll the smaller ones anywhere I want on flat ground and even sometimes tip em over by hand if I have good traction. These larger ones though laughed at me when I hit even an un-noticed wheel rut.

The real trick to this was finding the sweet spot that allowed the bales to roll over the smooth section of the blade without catching on it and lifting it up while rolling. With bales this size I may not need to do this again before the grass starts growing but we will see.

Keep Prepping Everyone!!!!



20 comments:

  1. Good thinking, I have rolled them by hand but everything has to be just right for it to work. They look like they are right heavy in the photos. I have square bales this year but I am finding a lot of leaves and junk in them which isn't making the horse happy.
    Still a long time before grass really does anything here.

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    1. Sf - I can usually move the 4x4 bales or 4x5 bales at least a bit by hand. These 5x6 ones are a different matter. The internet claims 5x6 bales can weigh anywhere from 1200 to 2000 pounds. My neighbor claims between 1200 and 1400 so who knows. The thing with the long bolt has me thinking however that I might be able to make or have made a relatively cheap device with bolts, chain and a simple bushing that might allow me to actually roll these big monsters around at least for short distances before the bolts work their way out of the hay.

      Ya it will be at least another month before the grass grows here but I figure one of those bales will last that long for the sheep. The horses will more than likely need another two at least though.

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  2. And here I thought you were going to hammer a pipe through them to use as an axle & then pull them with the chain. Your way sounds easier.

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    1. MV - I actually am thinking about something like that now but instead of driving a pipe allt he way through the bale just going in about a foot on each side. The bolt I used to turn the bale over held pretty good so I might be able to pull the long ones with a bit of ethnic engineering and some welding.

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  3. I thought you were going to use the hammer to pound in a post, chain a couple of sheep close to the bales and let them nibble it down to a more manageable size. BUT you were more creative in your thinking. The sheep sure look like they were appreciative of your efforts! Good work! :-)

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    1. Hobo - I don't mind letting the sheep nibble on the looser lighter round bales. They are loose enough to not be much of a danger but these larger ones could potentially do some damage if the sheep ate out the middle and the bale collapsed on them. I have put round bales out in feeders and watched the sheep climb all over them though which kinda fun :)

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  4. Your three point ought to pick up about 1600 lbs, if you have something in the bucket to help keep the front wheels on the ground. I find a few chunks of broken concrete let me get things done easier.

    You shouldn't blow seals, your hydraulic pump will go into bypass well before that time.

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    1. B - The original specs on the 861 say 1200 pounds max lift on the 3 point. Of course that was 53 years ago :) The 8N was rated at 800 pounds and that was 63 years ago.Not sure if I want to test em to those weights these days although I haven't noticed any problems with them. I also don't have a bucket for either although I am pricing one for the 861. It's on the wish list anyway.

      Good to know that about the pump though it might explain how some of the guys have tried lifting too much and not destroyed their hydraulics. I also had a bale feeder I was trying to move that got stuck to the ground and wondered if it was hurting anything when it didn't lift.

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  5. PP,

    I see you were determined to get those round bales right where you originally wanted them. Glad to hear your equipment and ingenuity worked with no problems.

    Sometimes I think neighbors deliberately wait until they see you go before they do what you need them to do.

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    1. Sandy - Thanks!! I swear he must. If he wasn't over a mile away as the crow flies and didn't have a direct view to the house I would swear you were right on that theory :)

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  6. We used to roll the big ones by hand but you hhad to rock them and then increase your rocks before it would go over, when it was moving you kept it going.
    Moving it with a tractor I used to hate dropping it in the big feeders as I'd always worry I'd chop off one of the ewes heads, so one of us would be in the pen keeping them back. Stupid animals. ..

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    1. Kev - Well since I can't lift that high with the three point I set the bale down then flip the bale feeder over the bale. I find the tractor pretty much keeps the girls at a distance anyway but I am sure they would get used to it eventually and come running.

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  7. You are an engineering genius Preppy. You really are.

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  8. I've got a '57 841 gas, and those old tractors are stupid tough. I've tortured mine, and if you pop a seal it needed fixed anyway. Drive it like you stole it. Great use of what you have though. More fiction?

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    1. Mr.Tool - Thanks for the comment!!! You are correct they are stupid tough. I am just a bit protective of my 861 diesel right now trying to get to know the old girl. I am not as protective of the 8N since I literally grew up on one of them I know about everything they can do.

      I fully plan on having another fiction story up this Sunday... keeping my fingers crossed that I get it done :)

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  9. You know the old guy waits until you leave don't you. I bet he wanted to see how you would move them....

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    1. Rob - He must. There is no other explanation for it :)

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