Bale trailers, Rigid or turntable?

[Agriimark]

Would a tri axle hm with rear steer be no good? Had 1 last year and went through tight gateways perfectly and easier to back up than a dolly imo [emoji57]

 

[Kidds]

good fun when you turn so tight with a dolly trailer and you get the trailer going backwards and your still going forwards

When the turntable axle is at 90° to the rear they are very unstable, especially when loaded. Seen a few go over like that.
I much prefer a turntable trailer to a long rigid and I can reverse them. When I’m rich and famous I’m going to buy one, Pronar probably.

 

[betweenthelines]

The problems with the ones above is you don’t get any weight onto the tractor. A proper dolly one transfers some weight. I would much rather have a artic over a long ridget any day having grown up only ever using one. It’s a sure fire way you make me look a prat giving me a rigid trailer I just can never believe how much room you need on them.

Massey with Pressure Control-job done!

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

When the turntable axle is at 90° to the rear they are very unstable, especially when loaded. Seen a few go over like that.
I much prefer a turntable trailer to a long rigid and I can reverse them. When I’m rich and famous I’m going to buy one, Pronar probably.

^^^^^^^
This! Been using 34ft single axle and single dolly for 25 years. Rounds, no problems as generally it's only 1 single row on top. Big squares 3 high though.......Be very very careful turning sharp like @Kidds said. Especially if turning up or down an incline off a track/road. Have tipped mine over at least 4 times....mine is also a flat rigid mounted ball race turn table with the pull pivoting in front of dolly wheels. Bloody frightening when it goes...

 

[Boohoo]

McCauley make turntable trailers.
https://www.mccauleys.co.uk/products/agricultural/turntable

 

[solo]

There used to be a company that made turn table trailers that was at a sugar beet demonstration in the 1980’s. Pulled by a ford 5000 2wd that went anywhere a 4wd could go. Very impressive to see the weight transfer in action. Two 24 ‘ scammel trailers here for bale lugging. Easy to reverse on the old 2wd tractors, not so good on the current 4wd. 4 wheel steer loader is a doddle.

 

[Andrew]

Turntable will get you in places a rigid won't go, but as said when turning tight is not as stable. Also no weight on the tractor when it's wet. A proper dolly trailer though will solve both these issues, and is best in my opinion if you can reverse them.
We run all rigid trailers now though - casual staff and dolly trailers are a bad mix!

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

I can back both my 34 foot dolly trailers on to a 10 cent piece. The shorter the trailer the more difficult it is to back.

 

[bobk]

I can back both my 34 foot dolly trailers on to a 10 cent piece. The shorter the trailer the more difficult it is to back.

Me too , you have to watch the drawbar on a dolly trailer .

 

[cows sh#t me to tears]

Theres another point with being able to back @bobk . The drawbar or pull on the dolly needs to be probably at least 8 foot long. 10 is even better.

 

[deleted user 837354]

I hate the things with a passion and cant reverse them at all. Dont mind rigids though but what is the difference between dolly type and turntable type??

 

[Kidds]

Many years ago we had a wagon and drag of bales delivered. I put their trailer on my 434 to reverse it to the barn for unloading. Backed around the corner and tight to the barn for unloading in one hit.
Wagon drivers mate turned to the driver and said “He’s just backed that closer to the stack than you did when you were driving forwards and in a big field”

 

[Richard98]

4 22ft turntable and 2 30ft artic dolly trailers here for carting little bales, I find you can get them in tighter spots than grain trailers a lot of the time and it’s satisfying to get them backed in a narrow space just right. Agreed about the Stability with the dolly at 90 degrees, it can give the odd hairy moment coming out of tight gateways but we haven’t had one over yet. They wouldn’t be a lot of good if we had casual staff etc though, backing them well is a skill not many people have. We coupled the turntable trailers in pairs last harvest and the back one followed near enough in the wheel marks of the front one

 

[JWL]

We coupled the turntable trailers in pairs last harvest and the back one followed near enough in the wheel marks of the front one

A lot of the above is dependant on the attachment point and the position of the last axle of the towing trailer, ie the tailswing. In my distant youth I coupled three Scammel trailers together and went off bale carting. I could load the second and third trailers whilst all still hitched to the loader tractor but getting them into the field was a bloody nightmare, I was lucky to get the second one through the gate even after going past the gateway and turning back into it!

 

[Richard98]

A lot of the above is dependant on the attachment point and the position of the last axle of the towing trailer, ie the tailswing. In my distant youth I coupled three Scammel trailers together and went off bale carting. I could load the second and third trailers whilst all still hitched to the loader tractor but getting them into the field was a bloody nightmare, I was lucky to get the second one through the gate even after going past the gateway and turning back into it!

The drawbar on the back of the towing trailer must be about 4ft behind the back axle so there’s a good bit of tail swing as you say. The artics aren’t as good for gateways because the axle is right at the back so they cut corners

 

[tomg]

Do you want the hitch close to the rear axle or further back on the towing trailer? I'm planning on putting a hitch on 1 of our trailers this year and the axle is at the very rear of the trailer, so hitch will be very close to rear axle.

 

[Richard98]

Do you want the hitch close to the rear axle or further back on the towing trailer? I'm planning on putting a hitch on 1 of our trailers this year and the axle is at the very rear of the trailer, so hitch will be very close to rear axle.

It’s a balance really, the further there is from the back axle to the drawbar, the less the second trailer will cut corners, but if it’s too far back then the front of the second trailer could swing out too much on the outside when you turn sharply and clang a gatepost etc.

 

[roscoe erf]

I use dolly trailers for the exact opposite I don't want weight transferred to lorry and you can drop them with out legs win win

 

[Richard98]

About the best pictures I can find, hopefully that gives you some idea

 

[puntabrava]

All your musings over drawbar positions on two and three trailers are only applicable if you have a large estate as you cannot tow more than one loaded trailer on the public highway.