We are going to mostly all round bales this year. I wanted to be able to load the round bales with my tractor without adding a very expensive FEL. Not a fan of having FEL blocking view of what is ahead of tractor. We harvest hay from a number of fields and a sharp lookout for holes is required. I found one hydraulic unit for sale but could not get a reply from the poster. went looking. Found a unit that had been striped of parts. After much measuring, figureing and a few modifications I ended up with what I think is a workable system. At full lift I have 8' 7" from ground to main 48" spear. Has anyone else had experience with such a bale loader? I played with it yestiddy and it seems to work ok with a full size round bale. It is on my Kubota M7040. Pics to follow shortly.
hydraulic three point bale loader
- Thread starter rongarrett
- Start date
I am assuming this is for 1000 pound bales, so I dont think there would be a problem with the weight, how ever I might be a litt bit concerned about the lateral movement 8 feet off the ground and a 1000 pounds a little lean either way, and things might get a little interesting. My bud the sheep farmer has one large MFer and when stacking hay I always get a little puckerd watching him, but then hes stcking them 3 to 4 high too
I plan on using this lift in three ways. One is to load from field to trailer. To do this I will pick level ground to load on. While transporting, bale will be kept as low as possible. Two is to unload at pole barn which is nice and level. Only will stack two high. Oh yeah, three is to take one bale at a time out to cows in pasture. Will not have to lift in that situation, just drop off in pasture. Hope to get pic up this afternoon.
Here it is fully extended. Distance from ground to 48" main spear is 8' 7". On level ground the tractor handles a 5' round bale just fine even extended. Climb a hill though and the front end gets light, even with bale lowered. Gonna fill front tires with anti freeze and see what happens.
I swear this brute followed me home. Bush Hog 3210. 3000 lbs of mower. Thats me on the left and the boss on right.
Thank you. After some anxious moments, I got the mower to doing what it does best. It pushes the tractor a little in certain situations, but is easily controled if ya just pay attention. This thig must have real heavy blades. We have a six foot mower. Using that mower if ya hit a big ant hill you can feel the mower shudder and hear it slow down a bit. With "Godzilla" ant hills don't afffect it in the least. Can't tell when ya mow one down unless you look behind mower and se that said hill has disappeared.
After three months of looking, I finally found the hydraulic top link that fits my tractor. Even comes already painted orange. Last piece of the puzzle for awhile. Early spring has moved hay season up a month here. Just about to get really busy. I will try and post a pic before the 18 hour days begin.
Hydraulic top link received, installed, and tested. Whom ever thought of this is a genius. Boss wants one for his tractor now. I will post pics today.
Actually tried bale loader with new top link. Very nice working. Am slowly making this tractor a "do all". Will be stacking round bales tomorrow. That is the true test!Ok here it is.
Here is a pic of the sun screen thaat installs in between the rops uprights. I can actually feel the temp go down when my back is to the sun. One of the best mods I have done.
steve l
New member
Equipment
2 m9000,9540 all cabgmd700 kuhn 605m vermeer,r23a vermeer rake,468 jd baler,
i would love to see this in action.we had to put 10 98lb suitcase weights on our 9540 to keep the frontend down while loading on the trailer with kuhn gmd700 mower on it .dont know exact weight 1400?maybe not sure.
After loading some fifty bales with the bale lift I found out the following.
1. The hydraulic top link did not work out. It was too jerky.
2. I could not tell what angle the spears were at when they were inserted into the bale.3. Frot was minimally ok on fairly level ground. We made sure to park trailer bales were to go on in a fairlym decent area. Slow was the word. 3. Very handy as the loader could be put on the trailer that tractor was hauled on taking up minimal space.
4. I set bale spears to be level at about half raised height with standard top link and things went much smoother.
5. Turned out to be a good investment.
1. The hydraulic top link did not work out. It was too jerky.
2. I could not tell what angle the spears were at when they were inserted into the bale.3. Frot was minimally ok on fairly level ground. We made sure to park trailer bales were to go on in a fairlym decent area. Slow was the word. 3. Very handy as the loader could be put on the trailer that tractor was hauled on taking up minimal space.
4. I set bale spears to be level at about half raised height with standard top link and things went much smoother.
5. Turned out to be a good investment.
gpreuss
New member
Lifetime Member
Equipment
L3200DT w/FEL, K650 Backhoe, 5' Rotary, 40" Howard Rotavator, 6' Rhino blade
You might try a couple of check valve flow control valves on that hydraulic top link. I put them on my backhoe swing cylinder, to slow it WAY down - takes almost a minute to fully extend or retract. They only cost about $50 each. Line them up to inhibit the flow back to the reservoir.
The monster looks "WOW"!!
The monster looks "WOW"!!