Moving round bales, how much to charge?

[lug nut]

I may have to opportunity to help a local farmer move and load several (possibly hundreds?) round bales of hay.

He is an older gentleman who is having a hard time finding anyone to help with his land and cattle. Since I have a tractor with a loader and the means to trailer it, I offered my services, but I don't really know how to price something like this. For the time being, I told him I would do it for hay, since I have 4 1/2 horses to feed. This may work out well, since it looks like this winter will make for some high prices for hay.

 

[texasjohn]

Too many variables to provide good answer. We don't know how big the bales are, how hard they are for you to get to, how far you have to move them... just to side of field or 5 miles down the road and stack them 2 high in a shed?

Moving bales takes longer than you might think..particularly if you have to trailer/truck them very far. I have a 5 bale mover.... I'm doing good if I can load 10 bales and transport them 3 miles and unload them randomly at my place in 1 hour without any rest stops or complications and no bales break and no tires go flat, etc.

If you want to make $10/hr for your labor and equipment, charge $1 per bale. Else, go up from there.... however, likely he'd rather pay you in hay... assuming that this is horse quality hay... be aware that feeding round bales to horses is a difficult thing as well. Hard to control portions. If a broken bale has to stay out in the weather for long, it deterioriates quickly, gets stomped on unless in a bale ring,etc... ..

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I agree with John, moving round bales does take time. Using our trailer I could load 14 bales per load but I was hauling them a mile down the road and had to climb a hill to get out of the field so each load had to be strapped down. I could do two loads and hour with a driver strapping the load and helping to unload. The biggest time issue is driving all over the field grabbing bales, the driver can move the truck around the field as you pick up an area saving you a lot of time. Either way it isn't an easy thing to figure out a price for.

 

[texasjohn]

Robert, would you be using a 20 ft flatbed and stacking them 2 high?
That would be 4 double rows on the lower level = 8 bales and 3 double rows on the upper level = 6 bales, for total of 8+6 = 14 bales in one load with a 20 ft flatbed.

Just curious... I recently purchased a 20 ft flatbed and am thinking that is what I can load on it.... haven't gotten it back to the place yet to try.

 

[Grrrr]

One other thing you might want to think about if you are going to be moving lots of bales is to get a bale spike on the TPH as well.

Then you can bring to bales back to the trailer from the field, dump the one on the TPH on the ground and use the loader to stack it on the trailer.

Also, when driving back with the trailer, you can always have a bale on the loader as well as the ones on the trailer.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert, would you be using a 20 ft flatbed and stacking them 2 high?
That would be 4 double rows on the lower level = 8 bales and 3 double rows on the upper level = 6 bales, for total of 8+6 = 14 bales in one load with a 20 ft flatbed.

Just curious... I recently purchased a 20 ft flatbed and am thinking that is what I can load on it.... haven't gotten it back to the place yet to try.

The bales are just over 4' diameter. But yes, they were double stacked but on a 16' trailer. Here are a couple pics. If I was using any larger of a bale I would have needed an over the axle trailer with a 8'6" flat deck. But these bales were going into a vineyard so they needed to be narrow.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

One other thing you might want to think about if you are going to be moving lots of bales is to get a bale spike on the TPH as well.

Then you can bring to bales back to the trailer from the field, dump the one on the TPH on the ground and use the loader to stack it on the trailer.

Also, when driving back with the trailer, you can always have a bale on the loader as well as the ones on the trailer.

This is how we do it now. Hook one on the 3pt, pick one up with the loader, load it then drop the other on the ground and load it later but it is already at the trailer. What I do is drop 3 of them in a line so it is easy to pick up and swing onto the loader. Usually as I back away from the trailer and turn a 90 to head back into the field I drop the arms and let the bale come off as I pull away.

 

[Grrrr]

This is how we do it now. Hook one on the 3pt, pick one up with the loader, load it then drop the other on the ground and load it later but it is already at the trailer. What I do is drop 3 of them in a line so it is easy to pick up and swing onto the loader. Usually as I back away from the trailer and turn a 90 to head back into the field I drop the arms and let the bale come off as I pull away.

Another thing is to have a pick up hitch on the loader tractor. Then you can easily move the trailer around without to much fuss if there is not another tractor.

There should be enough room to leave the spike on and still connect a trailer.

 

[JayDavis]

It is a good idea to have a ale spear on the back and have a round bale on the back while you load the trailer. Adds stability to the tractor and helps distribute the weight (front axle is a lot happier).

When moving hay, always load the rear spear first, then get a bale on the front loader. When trasporting through the field keep the front bale as low as possible with it tilted back towards you. It brings the weight closer into the tracter and plus if you bottom out the bale on uneven terrain it should skim over it.

This friday and saturday I stacked about 200 5x6 round bales with a JD 2555. Before you transport the hay, stage it. If it is spread out in a field figure out how many you can haul in a load and stack that number of bales in a row in convient places in the field. This will speed up your stacking time and loading time. We stacked in rows of 17 because that was what the flatbed could handle.

Lastly keep in mind that those bales do have a bit of weight to them, it isn't a matter of how many you can stack on a trailer and not have fall off, you need to stay within the ratings of the trailer and the truck.

 

[lug nut]

Thanks for the advice, guys. I hadn't thought about what I should charge if he wants me to haul the hay too.

I could only handle 3-4 large bales on my trailer, since it's only an 18 ft car hauler. I am looking to get a tandem axle gooseneck, but I won't be able to afford one until my old house sells.

As far as handling the bales goes, I have moved 10 bales out of the field across the road from my property. The tractor handled them fine with the rear tires filled and nothing on the 3-point.