Front Loader from a Ford Truck

[Creamer]

Back in the 60s when I was growing up, Pa built a hay stacker from an old military truck. He took the body off and set it up to have the loader part over the rear, driving it backwards just like you are describing... It worked great and was set up to handle (8) 100lb bales. The baler had an "accumulator" on it that collected 8 bales (2 bales x 4 bales) and dropped them together. Then the homemade stacker would run around the field, picking up a set of 8 bales, then taking them to haystack and stacking them up to 12' high or so... BTW, Pa had degree in mechanical engineering so he figured all the loads and such out... he was very fast with the slide rule and could make most anything.

It is doable, I would not suggest renting it just due to the lawyers that chase everything.

I had a couple of neighbors growing up that did the same thing except it was for loose hay. Bucking and moving the hay piles at 20-30 mph versus tractor speed at the time. They used old trucks and put the loader on the back and reversed the transmission so that they would have at least four gears forward (towards the original rear end of the truck) and only one reverse. These machines were definitely fast and single purpose useful but would not compare with a regular tractor in mud or loading a feeder wagon or other chore type work. But out in a dry hayfield that you spent a month a year at least they saved a lot of time.

Not to mention they rode very smooth with the suspension as compared to a tractor and were a lot more run with the speed and rear wheel steer.