Go BottomMoving round bales of hay with a Kubota
 | Willy Chu
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2001-08-16 31022
I'm starting to research my first compact tractor and was thinking about some of my needs. We have horses, so this winter I would need to move round bales of hay out into the pastures. I believe these weigh 400+ lbs. The terrain is mostly sandy and fairly flat.Are there a forklift type tines that can replace the bucket of the FEL? If so, would a BX2200 or B7500 be heavy enough to lift these round bales? Or is there a 3 point attachment for the rear that can do this job?Thanks.
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| Craig Dashner
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-08-17 31028
I am sure, someone more qualified than me will post, but I'll get you started. Yes, three point bail spears exist for cat 1 and above hitches. I know Tractor Supply Company sells them (you can search and find thier website). I have also seen bale spears for loaders, can't remember if they were a bucket addition or a replacement. It wouldn't be too hard, and probably cheaper to buy a 3pt and modify it to fit loader. Your tractor size, I am not sure. I gotta believe the 3 pt would handle it, but not sure about the loader. Those bales would push the center of load out from the loader making it seem heavier. I am sure, someone else can help you better!! ....
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 | Art White
Join Date: Jan 2000 Posts: 6898 Waterville New York 
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2001-08-17 31029
Technically speaking I think they would move a 400lb round bale. I haven't seen them that small, I think 600lbs is about as small as we deal with. On a loader I would move to the larger L-series for your project at a minimum if not a small M series. On the three point hitch definitely move up larger as you have to figure on a 4' width of a bale but you won't have to be as large a tractor as on the front loader. ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-08-17 31030
The 3ph implement is called a bale spear, and there almost certainly are units for loaders that could be equipped with spears. I don't know the specs for those Kubotas, but the answer is 'very likely' for 3ph spears and 'probably' for a loader unit. A couple of things to keep in mind: 3ph spears won’t lift bales very high or take them off a stack. Loader lift capacities are reduced when 'bolt-on' forks are used. The rated capacity of a loader can't be lifted when a load is ahead of the bucket on forks. Fork units that replace a loader bucket may be a better choice. Bolt-on forks prevent a bucket from being used normally and taking them off takes time. Around here, many of the commercially available round bales are much heavier than 400 lbs. If you go with a small tractor and hay is purchased, it might be a good idea to make sure that small bales continue to be available. Of course, you may a stable, and a small tractor would be really good for cleaning out stables etc. ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2001-08-17 31031
Yep, 600# is more typical around here as well. The problem isn't the weight, it is that the darn things are so unwieldy when they are up in the air. Too tippy because the center of gravity is so high. You might drag them on a skid; any compact tractor could do that would ease. ....
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| BillBass
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 190 North Texas
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2001-08-17 31043
Many guys with larger tractors have a spear they attach to their FEL buckets (if they don't have quick disconnect FELs). However, this really puts the load way out front and increases the downward force on the front axle. Same principle as using a cheater bar to loosen a stuck bolt. The force is a function of the weight and the distance. It would be considerably greater than the 600# of the bale itself. That could cause front end failure if done too often on a small tractor. Quick disconnect FELs usually offer a spear or fork as an option. This would help keep the load distance shorter and the resulting force on the front axle lower (but still greater than the 600#). ....
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| Rick
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2001-08-17 31048
We have a customer that has been using his 1630 new holland to retrieve and feed his cows round bales for 4 years now with no problems. the bales weigh 600-700lbs and he puts one on the front bucket spear and one on the rear 3pt spear and carries them from field to barn yard daily he has put over 1200 hours on this tractor doing this with out a single problem. It really says somthing about the reliability and stability of a small new holland compact. for those of you that dont know the 1630 compares to the current tc25. ....
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 | dsg
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 528 Franklin, Maine 
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2001-08-17 31053
Willy, I don't think the BX series or a 7500 will be heavy enough for your work. You should be looking at a larger compact (at least for safty issues). David ....
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| TomG
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 5406 Upper Ottawa Valley
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2001-08-18 31059
The story I got from my dealer when I bought my used Ford 1710 (24HP) was that the previous owner traced it in on a farm tractor. He had a highway service centre and used the 1710 for grounds maintenance. He started a small livestock operation and found that the 1710 couldn't handle bales very well. I don't know the size of bales he was getting, but there are transports loaded with really huge bales that go past here. Seems sort of a consensus that it takes a bit of a tractor to manage round bales very well. Roger's skid idea should be noted, or maybe even something fancier like a dump trailer. A BX could be very nice for the rest of the operation. A side note: It took me awhile after I got the 1710 to realize that the loader float was on the bucket rather than the lift. Somebody said that people sometimes used them that way for haying operations. I never really figured out why. The only thing I can think of is that the spears may not come out of the bales easily unless the bucket can be floated. ....
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