Milo Sayler. Menno, S. Dak., farmer and inventor, converted an old school bus into an 18 bale capacity round bale carrier.

First, he stripped the bus down to its chassis, leaving a 6 ft. wide, 31 ft. long frame.

Around the outside of the chassis, he welded on an outer frame that makes the trailer 11 ft. wide and gives the unit extra strength. The extended frame is made of 1 1/2  by 2 in. tubing. Across the frame he welded on 2  by 4 in. square tubing on which the bales sit. A support bar runs the length of the chassis under the crossbars to keep them from spreading.

The trailer holds 18, 5  by 6 ft. (1,400-lb.) round bales. Ten bales make up the bottom layer, and eight bales the top layer.

Sayler notes that, for loading and unloading, a second tractor is needed. "It takes about a 70 hp tractor to pull a load of 18 bales. I also built a 6 bale model that uses only the bus chassis but doesn't have the extended frame," Sayler told FARM SHOW.

The trailer has six 8.25 truck tires, two in front and duals in the back. It's equipped with a Sayler-invented telescoping hitch.

The sliding hitch's outer frame is made of 3 by 4-in. tubing while the inner portion is 2 1/2  by 3 1/2-in. tubing. To unlock the hitch, you simply lift up on the lever and pull the tongue out. It automatically locks when the tongue pushes back in.