What size tractors for moving hay

[Graveyard1984]

What is the best size tractor to move 4x5 round rolls of hay and do general purpose stuff around the house


Thanks

 

[flying belgian]

100 horse.

 

[Cory Schmidt]

4x5 is around rough guess 600 pounds...so minimal something around the size range of a Farmall 504 and 560 should almost do.

 

[shaun wallace]

800/900 Ford, 3-4000 ford ,135/65 massey, D17 allis .3020 JD, 430/530 Case. These all 3 point but if using trailer type mover then anything that runs will do the job, 2cyl jd wc allis h farmall

 

[farmerwithmutt]

It's balance and how level is your ground. I've used light tractors and ended up having to backup a few hills but i have a neighbor with a 40 horse cub cadet loader and front wheel assist that moves 800 plus with out problems. I use a 1550 with one starter weight on 1200 without to much problem but i wouldn't like to take to steep of a hill with it.

 

[David G]

My Ford 6610 handles one on the front and one on the back just fine.

 

[Erik Ks farmer]

That?s not much of a bale, my 4x5.5s are 1100. I moved a lot of hay with a 180 Massey (65hp) and great bend loader and got along ok, sheared some spindles along the way. I?ve recently bought a 4440 John Deere to make into my loader tractor.

 

[JD Seller]

The term 4x5 really leave it wide open. A 4x5 bale of alfalfa can easily weight 1300 lbs. with dry hay. Silage bales can weight even more. Grass hay bales could easily weight 1000 lbs. With the rear three point I would say 50-60 HP minimum. With a loader I would say a little bigger to be totally safe. I handle 5x6 bales with a JD 6400 mfwd (85 hp) and really would not want anything smaller.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

I have 5 X 5 bales and use an Oliver 1365 (55 HP),Allis Chalmers D19 (72 HP) and an Allis Chalmers 185 (80 HP) to move them around use the 1365 most of the time to feed with and it does fine
for me.All are 2WD BTW have an Oliver 1365 4WD and an Oliver 1450 4WD to use when its really muddy where I have to go or with a whole lot of snow they only have a bale spear on the
back no loader the others have bale spear and loader.

 

[rockyridgefarm]

(quoted from post at 20:16:15 03/04/18) What is the best size tractor to move 4x5 round rolls of hay and do general purpose stuff around the house


Thanks

You didn't say whether you were gonna use a 3 point hitch hauler or a loader.

I use a Deere 317 skid steer for 6 by 5 bales. I wouldn't farm without a skid steer. So, 59 hp, I guess. Skid steer far exceeds a loader tractor in most situations. I also have a loader on a 4430 and recently bought a 2020 gas with loader, but the skid steer does almost all loader work.

 

[Traditional Farmer]

I have a skid steer but its no substitute for a tractor,it'll get hung up in deep mud and not much clearance in snow,would be useless trying to feed cattle where I've had to travel over a mile or more thru a couple feet of snow to get to the cows.

 

[James Howell]

We have used a <a href="http://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/005/9/3/5934-ford-2810.html">Ford 2810</a> in the past for moving 4x5 round bales of Coastal Bermuda and Bahia grass.

It is also used for powering the wood splitter and other duties around the farm.

We now use a <a href="http://www.tractordata.com/industrial-tractors/000/0/8/80-ford-445c.html">Ford 445C</a> to move 4x5 round bales of Coastal Bermuda and Bahia grass.

It is also used to move trees and limbs to burn piles and other duties around the farm.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

The best size? I guess if your moving a lot of them something over 100 hp with reverser and double spear on front and back is nice.

 

[rrlund]

Best? I don't know. I use a 55 horse FWA Oliver 1365 and a 56 horse two wheel drive Oliver 1600.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Also depends on how much hay you're going to handle. You don't want some little barely adequate utility tractor if you're going to handle 500 rolls a year. It's another story if you're just setting out a roll for the horses/cattle every few days.

 

[Texasmark1]

Don't have any 4x5s (886# if comparable 5x6 weighs in at 1600). I do have some 4x6's that will easily come in at 1280# and I can lift (rear 3 pt system) and transport them with my '63 Ford 2000D (30 hp, weighing in at around 3500#) with no front end weights......however the front end is light, still steerable but light. Having your brake levers separated and brakes in good working order a plus.

Years ago I had a '74 International 464 (45 hp) gasser ant thought I was going to lift a 5x6. Front end came right off the ground before I even got started in the attempt to lift. Solution was 4 ea, 2' railroad "siding rails" on a frame I made out front.

I have hauled 5x6's with my Ford also but for that I made a front bracket and loaded 6 solid concrete blocks (6x8x12) in the bracket which was plenty to keep the wheels on the ground.

The problem is not the 3 pt lift capacity, it's keeping the front wheels on the ground.

My guess is that a 30 hp will be plenty. If not you can always add weight to the front end. 30 hp should get the forks up high enough off the ground to transport that bale over varying terrain without bottoming out like would happen on a low hp tractor with a 3 pt that rides close to the ground.......like my Brabson 2400 which weighs in at around 1800 and the rear axle is only 16# off the ground.

 

[Ronnie Budd]

"Best" is a matter of personal opinion. I fed two bales a day, for many years, with my John Deere 60 two cylinder. Later, I used a Minneapolis Moline M602 with Great Bend loader if it was dry enough. I can just drop the bales into the feeder with it. If it was really wet, I had to use the JD 60, and set the hay rings by hand. It will go when the loader tractor tends to get stuck.

 

[rusty6]

As big and new as you can afford I guess. Although I think for myself anything over 108 hp with mfd would be over kill. I've been handling medium sized round bales for a decade or more with the Massey Super 90. Sometimes run short of traction in deep snow but not often enough to look for a set of chains. Same with the JD 2140. Both tractors two wheel drive in the 70 hp range. I guess I'll find out how adequate they are today as we just got a heavy snowfall last night. Maybe ten inches new snow on top of the old so I won't be able to see the trails. Just work from memory as I carry hay bale to the feeder.

 

[kyhayman]

All our tractors are either 7610 or TB 110 (its sucessor) Ford/New Holland. 6 of them here (currently the only tractors we have/use). All our hay is 4x5 netwraps. So, that is perhaps my best answer. However, I rarely use a tractor to handle hay, almost all our hay handling is done with skidloaders, either 1845C Cases, or 259 B3 Cats. That tractors do fine with the hay, I just prefer the speed and hydro-static controls of the skid loaders. 3 of the tractors do have front end loaders with hay spears, and the one 4wd 7610 gets some feeding use for going back deep into the farm to get to one pasture.

 

[SVcummins]

I like my 3020 powershift for doing farmstead jobs 65 pto hp 55 drawbar horsepower

 

[Cory Schmidt]

yeah I realized that after posting...our 3x3's run about 4-500 I think it was last time we tried to weigh one...1000 plus sounds closer.

 

[Destroked 450]

We've moved a number of 4x5 bales with a Ford 3000 but my 4000 handles them much better, for moving two at a time I have a loader on the 6610.
If you can afford a newer model the Ford N/H 3930 has the heavier 4000 style front axle but is on 28" tires making it a good utility tractor, also has the better hydrostatic steering.