Move Twice The Hay With 2-Bale Hauler

Move Twice The Hay With 2-Bale Hauler HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 29-5-4 This rear-mounted Hay Handler lets you haul two bales at once, saving time and fuel. Independent hydraulic cylinders on each side let you pick up and drop bales one at a time. "I built the first one for myself, mounting the forks on an old plow frame," says Ricky Thomas, a cattleman and custom baler. "A welder wanted to build one on a new frame, and we decided to offer them for sale." He notes that adding a loader-mounted bale spear on a tractor equipped with his twin unit would let an operator pick up and move three bales at once. The 10-ft. wide, 950-lb. Hay Handler can be equipped with either spears or twin forks. It can also be equipped with a quick hitch attachment that fits either a Cat. 2 or Cat. 3, 3-pt. hitch. "The reason I built it was to handle more hay with fewer trips," says Thomas. "I always thought bigger tractors should be able to haul two bales. An 80 hp tractor or larger can handle two big bales, and smaller tractors can handle two 4-ft. bales with the Hay Handler." One thing that concerned Thomas when designing the Hay Handler was durability. Some rear-mounted bale carriers can't handle the full force of the tractor backing into a row of bales. "My Hay Handler will hold a 150 hp tractor in place when backed into other bales to unload," say Thomas. "It makes the tractor wheels spin, but the Hay Handler is fine." Current inventory of the Hay Handler is retailing for $1,650 with forks and $2,050 with spears. "I expect I will have to raise prices once these are gone, due to higher materials costs," says Thomas, who is looking for dealers to handle the unit. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ricky Thomas, 500 FM 55, Barry, Texas 75102 (ph 903 673-2359; RickyT913@aol.com ).

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