How To Load 71 Bales On A 1/2-Ton Pickup

How To Load 71 Bales On A 1/2-Ton Pickup PICKUPS Miscellaneous 22-6-7 Take a guess - how many bales do you think you could safely haul on a conventional 1/2-ton pickup? Victor Somerville of New Brunswick, Canada, has figured out how to haul 71 bales at a time without losing a bale. "It eliminates the need for a wagon and means a lot fewer trips back to the farm," says Victor's wife, Barbara. "We've used this idea for 15 years on two different 1/2-ton pickups - a 1982 GM 1500 and a 1980 Ford F-150. Normally there are about 40 small square bales per ton so we're carrying a 1 3/ 4-ton load, but with heavier bales a full load would weigh more than 2 tons. If the hay is heavy, we leave the top layer off. Haying is seasonal work, so we don't work the pickups this hard every day." A removeable steel rack, mounted directly behind and above the cab, provides a vertical support for the front of the load as well as a place to put the front part of the fourth layer of bales. The rack extends about 10 in. above the cab roof and has a 10-in. overhang. It drops into stake holes in the sides of the bed. "At first we used a wooden rack, but after many years of use it wore out so Victor re-placed it with a steel rack that he made from 2 by 2 posts and mesh. We usually leave it in place all year long as it doesn't seem to get in the way." Barbara says it's easiest to explain the loading process layer by layer (see diagrams), but that's not the best way to do the job. "It's much easier to work from the front toward the back, leaving a place on the bed where the person who's loading can stand for as long as possible." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Victor and Barbara Somerville, Box 52, Juniper, N.B. E0J 1P0 (ph 506 246-5583).

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