« Fleece! | Main | Last Craft Show of the Year (with pix) »
December 9, 2004
I got hay all by myself
It sounds goofy to be proud of, I know, but it's true.
It sounds goofy to be proud of, I know, but it's true. In the past, we have used a larger truck, and Gary has driven. Actually the past couple months we have been getting one round bale at a time, but they are starting to be scarce so we are switching back to square bales.
A round bale can weigh 1000 pounds. It is loaded onto our truck with a tractor and a bale spear -- a long spike of metal mounted on the tractor's bucket that is inserted into the center of the round bale. Once we get it home, we back into the barn, jump in the back of the truck, and push it off onto pallets. We tried one bale outside, and when we pushed it off the truck, it kept rolling down the hill and took out one of my chicken coops. Oops.
So square bales can weigh about 40 pounds each. They are compressed and cut grasses. For our non-farming friends, they are called square bales but are typically rectangular and even then, not so recangular. If they are on a bottom row, they get squished. A length of twine can be crooked on the bale and create more of a trapezoid shape.
Loading these into trucks can be an art and a science. You need to place each bale efficiently so you can haul as much as you can, but still be aware of gravity and realize these bales can shift on your drive home and you may lose some. I am sure in your travels you have seen trucks on the side of the road with hay all around them, and frantic people trying to load them back on the truck.
When we used a truck with an 8' bed we could load them like this:
| | | -- -- |
-- -- | | | |
| | | -- -- |
bottom middle top
and not worry too much about balance and losing bales.
My truck is narrower and has a 6' bed. I went with just 13 bales this time, wimpy me.
| | | -- --
| | | -- --
| | |
bottom top
Now the worst part about this is that in either scenario, all the bales cover up the rear window of the truck. So you are down one window and one mirror. That is not too bad on the backroads driving home, but backing up in the driveway and avoiding turkeys who love to chase trucks can be a chore.
Well to make a long story short, I arrived home safely, lost just one bale when driving up our steep driveway, and no turkeys were hurt in the process. Maybe next time I will go for 20 bales :-D
Posted by roosterh at December 9, 2004 6:09 AM
