Bale Kicker vs NH Stackliner - Back In The Day

[Absent Minded Farmer]

I don't think I've ever seen a stacker in Wisconsin, guy up the road had those triangular trailers that the baler pushed the bale up into.

There are a few in WI. I have one & can think of a couple over in Dodge & down in Rock counties.

Mike

 

[showcrop]

Only one other time I've ever heard of someone manually stacking bales behind a bale thrower. Sounds pretty dangerous to me.

My cousin who was 6'7" used to do that. His hired hand would drive. He could direct the bales to where he wanted them rather than picking them up after they landed so he had plenty of time between them.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Strictly from a one-man operation, assuming you have enough wagons, the thrower and wagons wins hands down. One pass over the field, and the hay is picked up, processed, and loaded. Every other solution is purely to save on manual labor.

With a stackwagon, there's an extra pass over the field, and you're running home every 120 bales or so to offload.

Round bales, you're chasing them down two at a time just to get them off to the edge of the field.

 

[INCase]

I have a friend who when still milking had a stacker wagon. I baled for him one day. i started before he got the stacker out. by the time i baled the last bale he had just about caught up to me. I didn't bale as fast of a ground speed as he probably did as i didn't want to break someone else equipment. plus too many ground hog holes to dodge around.

most around here are using large square bales and skid loaders and semi trucks to handle and haul. aamish still like small squares so good market still. My one uncle only hand stacked on wagon, never put them on the ground. even when picking up within a couple hours he always felt they absorbed too much moisture (North East). another uncle had a kicker wagon set up and I always thought the kickers beat up the bales too much.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I have a friend who when still milking had a stacker wagon. I baled for him one day. i started before he got the stacker out. by the time i baled the last bale he had just about caught up to me. I didn't bale as fast of a ground speed as he probably did as i didn't want to break someone else equipment. plus too many ground hog holes to dodge around.

most around here are using large square bales and skid loaders and semi trucks to handle and haul. aamish still like small squares so good market still. My one uncle only hand stacked on wagon, never put them on the ground. even when picking up within a couple hours he always felt they absorbed too much moisture (North East). another uncle had a kicker wagon set up and I always thought the kickers beat up the bales too much.

If you think the kicker beats them up too much you should have seen how we stored the bales for the better part of 45 years here on the farm. Dad would blast them into the wagon with the kicker, and we'd just let them fall on a mound in the hay mow. When the pile got up to the elevator we'd go up and throw some around. Cows ate them just fine, no matter how mangled they got, and the ones on the bottom in the middle of the mound got pretty mangled.

One year my brother just randomly decided to start stacking hay in the mow. Was a lot more work up front, but slightly easier to get them out. Cows didn't eat the perfectly shaped bales any better than the mangled ones.

 

[jon f mn]

If you think the kicker beats them up too much you should have seen how we stored the bales for the better part of 45 years here on the farm. Dad would blast them into the wagon with the kicker, and we'd just let them fall on a mound in the hay mow. When the pile got up to the elevator we'd go up and throw some around. Cows ate them just fine, no matter how mangled they got, and the ones on the bottom in the middle of the mound got pretty mangled.

One year my brother just randomly decided to start stacking hay in the mow. Was a lot more work up front, but slightly easier to get them out. Cows didn't eat the perfectly shaped bales any better than the mangled ones.

That's how we did it too. But most talking about this would be selling it to others. Those bales would be hard to sell.

 

[connor9988]

Saw a few videos of a New Holland “Stackliner” bale wagon at work. Wonder who thunk of that contraption…

Back in the day, which was the best tow behind bale collector, a NH Stackliner bale wagon or kicker off the baler into a wagon?

Which was faster getting square bales of hay off the field and into the barn.

Just curious…

Thanks!