Moving large square bales, with no machinery. Let’s do this.

[BlueKnife]

2 of my bales side by side, pushed together tightly would be 10’ (120”) wide, unless you stabbed the ends of the bales, but then they might fall off. They are 4x4x5.

I'm no mathematician, but, if they're 4 feet wide and you put two side by side, wouldn't that be 8 feet, not 10 feet?

 

[Hay Dude]

I'm no mathematician, but, if they're 4 feet wide and you put two side by side, wouldn't that be 8 feet, not 10 feet?

Its not your math, its your ignorance of how hay bales are carried.
If I stabbed 2 4x4x5 bales on the 4' wide side, then you'd have the spear in the 5' "end" of the bale. If you carry a bale like that at high speed over the road, the bale will sag, become misshapen and break.
It puts too much pressure on the strings.

 

[Hay Dude]

For what I would imagine she's going to end up paying for delivery, she could probably just buy a little 4x8 utility trailer and come get the bales from you every couple weeks. Then she could just leave them on the trailer to feed. It'd save her some hay probably, due to the bale not laying directly on the ground.

What you don't realize is how frighteningly stupid some people are. I have to deal with them on a weekly basis. They will promise to buy hay, then you never hear from them again.

 

[BlueKnife]

Its not your math, its your ignorance of how hay bales are carried.
If I stabbed 2 4x4x5 bales on the 4' wide side, then you'd have the spear in the 5' "end" of the bale. If you carry a bale like that at high speed over the road, the bale will sag, become misshapen and break.
It puts too much pressure on the strings.

I thought we were talking about how they'd fit on a flatbed.

 

[BlueKnife]

What you don't realize is how frighteningly stupid some people are. I have to deal with them on a weekly basis

Indeed. I dealt with some real doozies when I was doing residential tree work.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

ignorance

Ignorance?

Didn’t they just ask a question?

 

[BlueKnife]

Ignorance?

Didn’t they just ask a question?

Ignorance can be a good reason to ask a question. In this case though it wasn't ignorance. I'm well aware of how hay bales of all shapes and sizes are carried. It was a miscommunication about the carrying method we were discussing.

 

[Hay Dude]

I thought we were talking about how they'd fit on a flatbed.

And I thought we were talking about stabbing them with a bale spear? Lol

 

[Rustyiron]

I like the electric over hydraulic bale carrier. Just don’t like the idea of swapping balls every time I need to hook up the GN

Just get another truck to put under a 2 5/15 ball. I hear the new 8sp is nice!
Might as well mount a smaller knuckle boom loader behind the cab!
Jeez it's fun spending others money. Maybe I'll get into the government.

 

[BlueKnife]

And I thought we were talking about stabbing them with a bale spear? Lol

@Shawn T. W. , in post #48, was talking about hauling them stacked "side by side" on a 53' flatbed. You quoted his post and said that 2 of your bales "side by side" were 10 feet "wide". Perhaps we need to coordinate on terminology. When the bales come out of your baler, the part that you see first I would consider to be the "end". That has dimensions, if I understand you correctly, of 4'x4'. The "sides" as well as top and bottom would be 4'x5'. Do I have that right?

 

[Hay Dude]

Haydude, out of curiosity, do you get flaky people like this to sign a contract of some kind, like x amount of bales in x amount of time at x dollars delivered per bale, or just do the deal verbally

No contracts. I get verbal commitments and if they get flaky on me, I sell to someone else. Many horse hay buyers are flaky and will throw a hay supplier overboard to save 50 cents.

? What I,m kinda asking is, how do you know for sure you can at least cover your investment ?

When you say “cover my investment” you mean like make my equipment payments, fuel, insurance, parts & service, right?

I know my field sizes & yields, so I have a rough idea of how much hay I will make before the year even starts.

I have been making hay for a long time and one thing that’s always stayed the same is if you make good hay for a reasonable price, you’ll sell out fast.
I make as much hay as I can, store it best possible ways, ask reasonable prices, then watch it fly out of the barns.
The outdoor stacked hay is mushroom hay, which is always in pretty strong demand.

 

[dodge man]

Go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and sit the parking lot and just watch. Someone will unload something heavy in the parking lot by accident, just copy their method.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

@Shawn T. W. , in post #48, was talking about hauling them stacked "side by side" on a 53' flatbed. You quoted his post and said that 2 of your bales "side by side" were 10 feet "wide". Perhaps we need to coordinate on terminology. When the bales come out of your baler, the part that you see first I would consider to be the "end". That has dimensions, if I understand you correctly, of 4'x4'. The "sides" as well as top and bottom would be 4'x5'. Do I have that right?

My understanding is he is making the bakes from the same size baler the farmer was using that I hauled for, except he stops them short at 5' instead of the longer 8' ones like I hauled ...

So the 4'X4' is looking at the ends as it's coming off the baler.

 

[BlueKnife]

My understanding is he is making the bakes from the same size baler the farmer was using that I hauled for, except he stops them short at 5' instead of the longer 8' ones like I hauled ...

So the 4'X4' is looking at the ends as it's coming off the baler.

Right. That was my impression as well. That's why I was confused about his statement that "side by side" they were 10 feet. Seems like they'd be 10 feet end to end.

 

[Shawn T. W.]

Yes, but if you "stab" them with the spears in the "sides", and the spears are on the back of the truck, he would have 10'+ of hay width going down the road.

The hay is laid in a bale with the ends of the grass blades and stalks at the "sides" that's how the spears are able to penetrate the bales ...

 

[BlueKnife]

Yes, but if you "stab" them with the spears in the "sides", and the spears are on the back of the truck, he would have 10'+ of hay width going down the road.

The hay is laid in a bale with the ends of the grass blades and stalks at the "sides" that's how the spears are able to penetrate the bales ...

Got ya. I didn't realize he was talking about a bale spear on the back of a truck. Thought we were talking about loading them on a flatbed. I'm caught up now. Carry on.

 

[4570Man]

Why would there be friction between hay & pipes? You put the pipes on the flatbed first, then the plywood on top of the pipes, then the bale on top of the plywood. That will roll pretty easily.




.

The plywood plus pipe idea would work. If you set the hay straight on the pipe without the plywood I’d be really surprised if you could push it off with 2 guys.

 

[jyoutz]

Is there something you could secure a rope/strap to? If so, secure rope to bale and anchor and drive truck out from under the square bale?

I have done this before. It works well if you have a solid anchor for both ends of the strap.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

I saw something like this today and thought about you @Hay Dude

But it was a bigger, longer truck.

In fact, it was carrying large square bales of hay, which is rare to see around here.

 

[Sprinkler Fitter]

I saw something like this today and thought about you @Hay Dude

But it was a bigger, longer truck. View attachment 4430578In fact, it was carrying large square bales of hay, which is rare to see around here.

When I was hanging fire sprinkler pipe still, we would get a lot of of our deliveries on trucks like this