Moving Square Bales 10 At A Time

[WM75Guy]

I am learning to work smarter, not harder, as I get older. I have to get 240 square bales this weekend to stack in the hay barn to last until 1st cut this summer. Today I took delivery of a 2025 JCB 270T to mate with my new Steffen 10-bale hay grapple. Should make unloading and stacking easier. I need to get longer hydraulic hoses today. Fortunately, the hydraulic hose shop is just around the corner. The electric adapter plug that connects to the arm next to the hoses for the 3rd/4th function solenoid that allows the grapple to rotate 90° is on order, should be here next week. Being able to rotate the grapple lets me get 6 stacks placed sideways in the barn instead of 4 stacks end to end. For this weekend longways as shown in the picture will work.

 

[WM75Guy]

Put the JCB 270T and the Steffen grapple to the test today. Put 240 additional square bales in the barn, about 6 months' worth. That plus the 30 still in the barn should get us to first cut this summer. Two trips to my hay supplier about 30 minutes away in Chandler.

 

[Tx Jim]

Congratulations you have a very nice Skid steer & bale grapple.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

You can't hide money , congratulations on your new equipment, hay grapples take most of the manual work out of square bales and will definitely make your life easier.

 

[CH4Ohio]

I like the design of your grapple in that it's always level! That's a big part of the hassle using grapples in the field to load wagons or trailers. (I don't have a self-leveling loader.) But when picking bales up in the field I ALWAYS have to use the L-frame on my grapple to crowd them into a tight stack before picking them up. The accumulator lays them out in stacks of 10, but they spread out a little when they lay out on the ground. Do you have a problem with needing to move bales around so they're grouped tight or are you always grabbing a 10-pack that's already nice and tight?

 

[QRTRHRS]

Nice set up. It will save you a lot of work. Stacking directly on the concrete? Do you have any damping off issues?

One of my hay suppliers that uses a Bale Bandit to bundle 21 bales into big blocks has a telehandler for his grapple. He can stack like four layers with his setup.

 

[ericm979]

Just curious- why all the expense to stick with small squares rather than going to round bales?

 

[WM75Guy]

Just curious- why all the expense to stick with small squares rather than going to round bales?

Our dressage warmbloods are in individual paddocks. We tried round bales but had too many colics, they wouldn't eat them fast enough. Feeding squares also allows us to keep a consistent weight on the horse, important in dressage horses.

Nice set up. It will save you a lot of work. Stacking directly on the concrete? Do you have any damping off issues?

One of my hay suppliers that uses a Bale Bandit to bundle 21 bales into big blocks has a telehandler for his grapple. He can stack like four layers with his setup.

Not so far. This is the 3rd year of storing hay in the hay barn. The ridge vent allows for ventilation.

I looked at the JCB Teleskids. Same setup with the arm that extends out an additional 5'. I didn't really need it so I couldn't justify the extra expense.