No-Hydrauics Bale Handler For Pickups

No-Hydrauics Bale Handler For Pickups HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 18-3-10 If you've been looking fora way to handle round bales with your pickup, you'll want to take a look at this 2-bale rig that re-quires no hydraulics to load and unload a pair of big bales. Maurice Bourne, Marquez, Texas, wanted a simple, inexpensive way to retrieve bales from the field and move them to storage. Using a pickup lets him work in comfort and drive at highway speeds back to the farm. A 10,000-lb. 12-volt electric winch is used to operate a bale fork at the back of the truck. The winch mounts on the front corner of the box. The cable runs back to a lift arm mounted on the side of the fork. It lifts up the first bale into a "cradle" mounted at the front of the pickup bed. Bourne then picks up a second bale - either from the side or the end - and raises it up at an angle, so the bale can't roll off in transit. To unload, he simply drops the rear bale onto the ground and drives ahead. To unload the bale on the bale cradle, he flips a trip lever that lets the off-center cradle fall backward so the bale rolls down onto the ground by gravity. "I designed and built it in my shop and then had some guys help me slip it into the truck, bolt it down, and it worked great right off the bat. When not in use, you can take off the bale fork and cradle to free up the pickup bed." Bourne says he can build the bale mover for about $2,000, including winch. He'd also be interested in talking to manufacturers. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, Maurice W. Bourne, Jr., Rt. 1, Marquez, Texas 77865 (oh 901 529-34911.

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