Hauling Hay

[Nelson Atwell]

I'm planning to help one of my co-workers haul some hay for his horses in the next week or two. I'm getting a receiver hitch from one of the members here. How many of these bales can I haul safely? I'm told they weigh about 1500 lbs each. I estimate the trailer is about 500-800 lbs. My buddy thinks I can haul three on each load, but I'm not sure.



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[Gary DiPietroSr]

I'm towing 5000lbs. with no trouble

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[Ben Poche]

if you are not going far(5miles) 3 would be max i would try 2 would be fine just give your self stoping time

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I'm told the place is only 5 - 10 miles from his house. He's buying a dozen, so I either take 4 or 6 trips. I'll probably stay on the safe side and take two each trip, since I also have to pull them into his field. I'm still unsure how we're getting them OFF the trailer. Maybe we can get the horses to pull them off for us. :unsure:

 

[2]

You get them off by unstrapping them and driving fast in the field, they bounce right off. I know from experiance. If you want them in a certain location you can roll them off. I am a skinny guy, and I can roll round bales, so you and a friend should have no problem. Just start rocking it till it rolls. Have fun.



Olaf

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I've got a feeling my 43 year old body will be feeling this for days after.

 

[Todd Z]

HEY !!!!!!!

:lol:

 

[2]

Nelson, are you sure that is hay and not straw? Those bales look 'loose' for hay. Maybe hay is just coarser down there then up here. If it is straw you will be able to roll them yourself no problem. Must be nice still having green vegetation. As of Wednesday we have snow on the ground here.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

These are just examples I found on the net. What we will be hauling are bales of Bermuda grass hay. I just wanted to give a picture of the approximate size of the rolls. The rolls I see locally seem to be about six feet in diameter and about 4 feet wide.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Take three of them. You are driving a Ford. It can handle it. I have towed 8,000 LBS without trailer brakes.



I hope you arent running Ceramic brakes. If so, you might end up trashing your rotors or something.





Tom

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I'm not worried about anything, except the French transmission. :blink:

 

[Tom Schindler]

I am not worried about the tranny. It can handle it.





Tom

 

[Glenn Brown]

Don't forget to strap your load!

Those hay bales are heavier than straw bales! Depends on how long your trailer is, if you can haul 3!

I get semi loads of these bales daily, here in Iowa! My job involves me to spread these out for Erosion Control!

If you have a tractor, get a bucket with a bale stabber on it. If not......grab a chain and wrap around the bale and pull it off the tractor.

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[A1cntrler]

I have never seen those kind of bales for horses. Those are usually for cattle. Something to do with the way it dries. Those large bales tend to grow more mold on them with is bad for the horses. We have always used the rectangular bales since I was little. Many, many hot summer days were spent heaving those rectangular bales up onto the back of a truck or the trailer. I always thought my stepdad got off easy just driving the tractor and pulling the bailer. I was right. I did not realize how easy I had it until my brother turned 13 and then he got to drive the truck and I had to move out and heave bales.......

 

[Nelson Atwell]

Maybe that is why his horses are so fat. They may just be skinny cows.



I'll take some photos of his farm when I go out there. Of course, I'll make sure I get some good ones of MARS ROVER all loaded up too.

 

[2]

A1-I worked on a ranch with 800 head of hoarses, we fed rounds all the time. Mind you, I live in Alberta and we have a pretty dry climate. Maybe the mold is more of an issue in humid areas.