"I built this 3-bale trailer that eliminates the need for a second loader tractor to unload bales," says Carey McNeil, Bronaugh, Mo., who used railroad rails to build a heavy-duty self-unload trailer.

McNeil started with the running gear from an old hay wagon. He fitted it with a bale carrying frame made out of two 16-ft. railroad rails joined together by two channel iron crosspieces. To dump the bales, he salvaged a pair of 3 in. dia. by 18-in. long hydraulic cylinders taken from a worn-out elevator. The entire trailer, which is fitted with 15-in. wheels, weighs under 1,000 lbs.

Three bales are placed end-to-end on the rails for transport back to the farm. To unload he simply tips up the rails with the cylinders and they roll right off.

"The rails were given to me just for hauling them away and I had everything else I needed except for some hose fittings which I had to buy," says McNeil.