56 bale handlers... what are they like?

Selectamatic · Jun 3, 2020

Just thinking out aloud...

Those 56 bale handlers, that take a cube of flat 8 stacked bales, are they any good at their job, or best avoided?

Hillside · Jun 3, 2020

Great machines, first time we could make wee bales and get them undercover by night without touching them.
Do away with the mounted controls and pipe the machines hoses straight to the tractor also quite easy to coup.

Hesston4860s · Jun 3, 2020

We had one back in the day got sent for scrap when I lost the farm (nothing wrong with tho), they have abit of a Knack to em. I could drive it and rarely lose a pack, dad on the other hand rarely ever managed to pick a pack up with it !. I tried to ban him from it (unsuccessfully I might add) as it was muggings here that had to stack em all back up when he’d finished f@#£ing about with it ?

Phil P · Jun 3, 2020

Handy bit of kit, couple of points though-

Stack the bottom 3 layers of you 56 the same way then alternate the top 4.

If you want them to stay stood up after you drop them in the shed tie a piece of string around the stack before picking it up, helps to stop them splitting when you drop them.

As has been said, just pipe it into the scv’s but remember which lever is to squeeze and which is to tip! Otherwise it’s like opening the backboard on the grain trailer ?.

Go steady on the corner or uneven ground as they have a habit of wanting to lay on there side (never tipped one mystery though ?)

Once you get the hang of them you can soon shift some bales, ours hardly gets used now but for what it’s worth it’s handy to keep for the few hundred little bales we do. Better than having to manually handle them 3 times to get them in the shed!

Dry Rot · Jun 3, 2020

Couldn't get the hang of them and always lost bales, even good tight Welger bales. Maybe the rams weren't strong enough, I don't know. And backing them exactly square onto a stack is a separate art. A flat trailer on a second vehicle would be a lot easier and more forgiving, IMO. Restacking when you are old is not something to be enjoyed!

bobk · Jun 3, 2020

I've got 2 for sale .

Mark Hatton · Jun 3, 2020

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Hampton · Jun 3, 2020

They were a revelation when they came out.

good on straw but not so good on hay. If you want to use them on hay then tie string around the bottom, third and fifth courses.

always pick the bales up so that the machine clamps against the long side of the bottom course. When you back up, you should see the ends of four bales on the bottom course.

they are unstable when loaded, particularly the ritchie ones with the wheels underneath, so go steady.

they will also pick up 6 four string mini Hestons if needed, although these are longer and make it even less stable.

it used to be my job when I left school in 1997. Worst part was when you knocked a stack over then had to re stack it by hand.

long gone here, but nice to remember

Suffolk Serf · Jun 3, 2020

You think the trailed 56 ones are problematic. You should try the mounted 40 bale ones.

tomg · Jun 3, 2020

We used to use one a lot, good tool. When stacking the 56 make sure the bottom 8 is straight, I'd often get out and spread the bottom 8 out from the middle so when your backing up to the heap you have a bit of wiggle room for the middle tine.

Hampton · Jun 3, 2020

tomg said:
We used to use one a lot, good tool. When stacking the 56 make sure the bottom 8 is straight, I'd often get out and spread the bottom 8 out from the middle so when your backing up to the heap you have a bit of wiggle room for the middle tine.

Ours didn’t have a middle tine.
“Luxury, we used to dream of having a middle tine” etc etc

Pringles · Jun 3, 2020

We put the bottom layer on their edge and add another 2 bales, ie 10 on the base then 8’s on top, this makes a much steadier stack.
We have removed the middle tine.
It is also very important that the bales are the same length as two bales wide. Nothing worse than stooks that look like a fat woman going for the shopping!!?

DanniAgro · Jun 3, 2020

Tricky to use until you learn the knack of picking up a stack, and as Pringles says, remove the middle tine, if it's still fitted, as it is the devils own thing to try to push between the bottom layer. No long bales if you value your sanity!

Northern territory · Jun 3, 2020

We found if you nip the bottom layer about half way up
Lift up a bit then nip again was most effective way to pick them up.

dubs · Jun 3, 2020

Old man never had any money too spend but i still remember the day a new sledge, bale grab and bale carrier came home, a Russell's.
Worked well, did have a few collapsed stacks but once you know how to stack them, brilliant.
Or perhaps iam looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles cause 4 years later a round baler came home and they were consigned to the scrap yard

internet picture for illustration purposes only.

turbo · Jun 3, 2020

Fantastic machine and we moved 1000s of them with it,the biggest mistake people make is to move all the packs instead of leaving the bottom pack as it came out the sledge so the spike has a gap to fit in and then the bales close over it when you shut the sides.

C.J · Jun 3, 2020

Ours was adjustable for 48 or 56 bales . 48 was enough for meadow hay - they worked much better on straw.

A tele-handler version for loading trailers would bring things up to date - especially if it could be adjusted to take 8'x4' big bales.

Red Fred · Jun 3, 2020

Mrs Fred had her hay (6 packs- 336 bales?) delivered to the stables yesterday, and they always bring it with a 56 trailed Browns. It must come 3 miles down the road, and the horse girls just manage to stack the 56 in the barn between loads while I supervise and keep an eye on things.

I keep meaning to find one for our own hay on the farm as I'm sure it is easier than loading flat-8 trailers on your own, as long as the distance to the dutch barn is not too great.

ploughman1963 · Jun 3, 2020

We were lucky enough to find this one at a bargain price a couple of years ago - really strongly built

ollie989898 · Jun 3, 2020

Used to tip over for fun, not something to let the apprentice use without supervision.

56 bale handlers... what are they like?

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