Trailer Dumps Round Bales On End

Trailer dumps round bales on end HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 16-1-10 "It makes it easy for one man to load, transport, and unload round bales and you can pull it with a pickup at 40 mph," says Greg Koether, McGregor, Iowa, about his home-built bale trailer that "self-unloads" bales, standing them on end. The bale mover is mounted on a 5-ton axle salvaged from a Schuler silage wagon and is equipped with 10 by 20 truck tires. The 16-ft. long rig holds 4 round bales. Koether loads the trailer in the field with his tractor's 3-pt. hitch. Once loaded, he pulls it with either a tractor or pickup. The trailer is equipped with hinged cradles on each side for self-unloading and a dump lever in front that releases all four cradle locks at once. The bales dump one at a time, starting at the right rear and finishing at the left front. Once bales are dumped, cradles automatically close. "Dumping bales off on their end saves a lot of time because there's no need to flip bales onto their ends before stacking them," says Koether, who built the unit with the help of friend Bill Tesar. "Bales stacked on end keep their shape better for greater stability and you can fit more of them in a building." Koether spent $1,500 to build the trailer. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Greg Koether, RR, Box 215, McGregor, Iowa 52157 (ph 319 873-3385).

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