Big Bale Truck Loads And Unloads

Big Bale Truck Loads And Unloads TRUCKS Conversions 27-6-32 Jerry Janssen doesn't like wasting time when it comes to hauling big round bales. That's why he modified a 1965 Chevy 2-ton truck to load and carry 10 5-ft. bales or 12 4-ft. bales. Once loaded, he can zip down the road at 40 mph. "I can load straw bales on-the-go and have a load in as little as 5 to 7-minutes," says Janssen. "Hay takes a little longer because it's heavier so I have to stop at each bale." He got the idea from a neighbor with a pull-behind bale-loading trailer, says Janssen. "It worked real well but I didn't want to tie up a tractor." Also the owner of a machine shop in Barnesville, Minn., Janssen started out by building a model out of wire. He finished it on the computer with a computer aided design (CAD) program. The challenge was to pick up a bale perpendicular to the truck and lift it into place behind the cab. Without the CAD software, he says it would have been nearly impossible to figure out. Once on the truck, the bale is released and a small kicker arm mounted on the truck frame kicks the bale to the opposite side of the bed where it rests against a bar. Once a second bale is loaded in place, a pusher plate or bucking bar behind the cab moves the bales down the bed, preparing room for the next two bales. Once the bed is full, Janssen hauls the bales out of the field to a storage location and raises the truck's original hoist. He then activates the bucking bar to push the load of bales off the bed. The bar is attached to two chains on sprockets, similar to the apron chains on a manure spreader. "Everything is run off an engine-driven hydraulic pump, controlled by a series of solenoid valves activated from the cab with electric switches," explains Janssen. Janssen made the lift arm out of various sizes of tubing supported by 1-in. steel plate. It mounts direct to the truck frame. The main bed is made out of 8 by 2 by 3/16-in. tubing with 5 by 3 by 3/16-in. tubing for cross supports. Janssen estimates he has about $5,000 in the truck and loader, not counting labor. "I extended the track frame 5 feet and spent about $1,000 on the bale bed. The hydraulics were all new and cost about $1,500, while chain, sprockets and paint ran about $750. The truck itself cost $500." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jerry Janssen, 23062 Hwy. 34, Barnesville, Minn. 56514 (ph 218 493-4470).

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