Bale spinners

[Texan]

I've read through some old threads here on bale spinners. I usually feed hay in hay rings, but need to unroll it this year. Trying to decide whether to go with a 3pt bale spinner or a 3pt Deweze unroller. I haven't priced either, but figured the spinner would be cheaper - except I don't have a dealer close.

Do any of you use one of these Worksaver spinners?

Jody, in an old thread you mentioned having two of them. Do you still like them?

 

[Hayguy]

really liked Lazy WP's extra use for one as a wire rollerupper (if thats a word) :lol:

would think that it would leave a narrower row of hay than the dew-eze equaling less trampling

 

[Justin]

do you have a loader on your tractor? that works too :wink:

 

[wdcook]

I have used one of these for about 15 yrs. I feed young cattle in rings mostly, but feed cows by unrolling on pasture, and I really like being able to spread the hay as thick or thin as I please. About the only problem with them is if the hay has heated or is moldy, sometimes it can be frustrating to get the bale to unroll and even with good hay sometimes the last little part of the bale is diffucult to get off the spinner, but it is not much of a problem.

My son is a very good welder and he makes them now using a final drive off old combines driven by the hydraulic motor. He makes them a little stronger as with big bales the spin-off or worksaver will eventually need some reinforcement in all likelyhood.

 

[Faster horses]

We have one and it works pretty good. It cost $1200 new, but that
was several years ago. Mr. FH likes to feed with a tractor, as
opposed to a pickup, so we never had a Deweze bale unroller...
if you mean one that is mounted on a pickup. If so, I think the
spear would be MUCH cheaper.

 

[jodywy]

Like mine, got 2 the new one the spike is easier to get into the bale and the hydralic motor is a lot heavier. Thing is I can feed hay on new snow every day

few guys with less snow or alot of road to go down have a 5th wheel ball welded on top and pull a full 5th wheel of bales to the feed ground.

 

[Shortgrass]

When I bought a Hydra-bed years ago, I thought I was going to have to rob a bank to pay for it, but it has wore out 2 pickups, and still going strong. It has a myriad of uses beyond hay. I must use mine 2 or 3 times a week year around. It is a second farm hand, and a bed extender to boot! It will cost more initally, but mine must be 20 years old and requires minimal maintaince. Check it out. Ilike the tapering arms better than a paralell squeeze.

 

[George]

Boy how times have changed!

In 1971 I came home from the Corps and started farming - - -I bought 50+ cows and at that time had a 14 T JD baler and a WD Allis Chalmers tractor.

To feed I took the beaters off an old ground driven manure spreader. Hooked it to the rear of a 7' grader blade on that WD and backed it to the side of the barn. Dropped 15 to 20 square bales into the spreader with twine removed and drove to the pasture.

I would drop the blade to get on fresh ground and engage the floor chain to shove the hay out on the ground. With a "heat houser" it was not to bad. I could vary the speed of the floor chain to determin how thick to spread the flakes and vary the number of bales with the weather conditions.

I think that probably was the way that had the least waste of any I have ever used and the cattle sure stayed in great shape.

 

[jodywy]

When I bought a Hydra-bed years ago, I thought I was going to have to rob a bank to pay for it, but it has wore out 2 pickups, and still going strong. It has a myriad of uses beyond hay. I must use mine 2 or 3 times a week year around. It is a second farm hand, and a bed extender to boot! It will cost more initally, but mine must be 20 years old and requires minimal maintaince. Check it out. Ilike the tapering arms better than a paralell squeeze.

not one Hydra-bed in my county anywhere, but then I have snow in the winter :roll:

 

[John SD]

When I bought a Hydra-bed years ago, I thought I was going to have to rob a bank to pay for it, but it has wore out 2 pickups, and still going strong. It has a myriad of uses beyond hay. I must use mine 2 or 3 times a week year around. It is a second farm hand, and a bed extender to boot! It will cost more initally, but mine must be 20 years old and requires minimal maintaince. Check it out. Ilike the tapering arms better than a paralell squeeze.

not one Hydra-bed in my county anywhere, but then I have snow in the winter :roll:

I can see a day coming that I don't want to be climbing in and out of the tractor a lot. Looks like a Hydrabed or similar would be a good investment. Perhaps in combination with a snow blade on the front of the outfit. There are times when I get significant snow accumulation, but I'm sure not like Jody does. :shock:

The few guys who have bale beds around here seem to like them. My question is which is best, single or dual rear wheels? I can see where singles might get around better, but dual have better flotation.

 

[littlejoe]

When I bought a Hydra-bed years ago, I thought I was going to have to rob a bank to pay for it, but it has wore out 2 pickups, and still going strong. It has a myriad of uses beyond hay. I must use mine 2 or 3 times a week year around. It is a second farm hand, and a bed extender to boot! It will cost more initally, but mine must be 20 years old and requires minimal maintaince. Check it out. Ilike the tapering arms better than a paralell squeeze.

not one Hydra-bed in my county anywhere, but then I have snow in the winter :roll:

I can see a day coming that I don't want to be climbing in and out of the tractor a lot. Looks like a Hydrabed or similar would be a good investment. Perhaps in combination with a snow blade on the front of the outfit. There are times when I get significant snow accumulation, but I'm sure not like Jody does. :shock:

The few guys who have bale beds around here seem to like them. My question is which is best, single or dual rear wheels? I can see where singles might get around better, but dual have better flotation.

Singles sure get around better. One bale on, about 3rd and low range, stand on it, and you can bust thru a lotta snow. Bales got enuf 'give' that it ain't quite dead weight. Cows pack a pretty good trail following you. I'll bet if one shows up in Jody's country--there'll be more. Just too handy, too often. Pull posts, loaded engine blocks, power poles, mineral tubs, dead cows--ran wire rollers, moved ditchers, etc--hell, I've even loaded round bales and fed with them!

 

[jodywy]

not one Hydra-bed in my county anywhere, but then I have snow in the winter :roll:

I can see a day coming that I don't want to be climbing in and out of the tractor a lot. Looks like a Hydrabed or similar would be a good investment. Perhaps in combination with a snow blade on the front of the outfit. There are times when I get significant snow accumulation, but I'm sure not like Jody does. :shock:

The few guys who have bale beds around here seem to like them. My question is which is best, single or dual rear wheels? I can see where singles might get around better, but dual have better flotation.

Singles sure get around better. One bale on, about 3rd and low range, stand on it, and you can bust thru a lotta snow. Bales got enuf 'give' that it ain't quite dead weight. Cows pack a pretty good trail following you. I'll bet if one shows up in Jody's country--there'll be more. Just too handy, too often. Pull posts, loaded engine blocks, power poles, mineral tubs, dead cows--ran wire rollers, moved ditchers, etc--hell, I've even loaded round bales and fed with them!

I will walk one tire out in 3 feet of snow with the pack snow on the feed ground about 2 feet thick. Sometime one still needs a cralwer. Have seen a bale spinner on a snow cat too

 

[eatbeef]

going without my pickup with the hydra bed on it would be like leaveing the house naked. use it for everything. got auxilary hydralics on this one and use it to rake hay and do about anything and everything. bale spinner works good if you dont have to travel and if you have loose bales. there is now way i could get a bale of alfalfa unrolled with a spinner, sometimes you got to drive darn fast with pickup to get them unrolled.

 

[jodywy]

going without my pickup with the hydra bed on it would be like leaveing the house naked. use it for everything. got auxilary hydralics on this one and use it to rake hay and do about anything and everything. bale spinner works good if you dont have to travel and if you have loose bales. there is now way i could get a bale of alfalfa unrolled with a spinner, sometimes you got to drive darn fast with pickup to get them unrolled.

used a IH case 885 one winter the alfalfa bales had been baled just a little 2 green, , would use a old hay saw for cutting hay stacks and saw the bale spin from the side of the tractor saw again drive up spin , drive up saw -spin-saw. Learned to wait till the alfalfa is good and dry then just bale with the dew and then they will spinn off.You don't get of the road or highway here in the winter with a truck.

 

[badroute]

ditto on the importance of a bale bed pickup. If someone told me I had to ranch without one I would literally quit. I use mine way too often to go without. That is me though.

 

[LazyWP]

I haven't really figured out this bale spinner yet. I can't get it to spread the hay out like I thought I could. I know I only feed about 20 bales a year, but when I go to spin a bale off, I get big piles, or it won't come apart at all. I am sure if you used it all the time, a person would figure out how to male it work better. I think you were asking about a 3 point Deweze unroller, instead of a pickup bed? I have never used one with a "power" unroller, just the 3 point kind that has the spikes you clamp in the center of the bale and set it on the ground to unroll. There again, after you figure out which way the bale is rolled, you can make the bale roll out as nice as you please, on bare ground. Snow, is a different game. You HAVE to have power to get the bale to unroll nice, anyway I do.
I like my spinner most of the time, but be aware that the point is sticking straight out behind you. I think a person needs a bit larger tractor to handle the bale sitting that far behind, and I have had problems getting the spear into a few bales.

 

[4Diamond]

I couldn't agree more on the hydra bed's took me 10 years to get one and it is a used model but I would not trade it for the world.

 

[John SD]

I have the tractor 3pt kind of bale unroller that clamps the bale with big spikes and rolls it on the ground. Depending on which direction you go it will unroll in a short distance or take forever/maybe not unroll at all.

My bale unroller was built by a now retired guy who built and sold hundreds of them locally over the years. Really a stout and simple well built outfit and they hold their value at farm sales.

The last couple years I have actually been feeding with a Stur-D double bale fork on the 3pt and rolling the bales out with my dozer.

 

[Angus 62]

I've used a bale spinner like the one pictured since 1996. On the third hydraulic motor and a few chains. It is so much more maneuverable then a bale bed or processor. I feed 4x5 round bales and sometimes use it on a 65hp tractor that lets me get into alleyways and corrals I couldn't get into otherwise. I even use it to fill turned tractor tire feeders by backing up to them and spinning hay off.

 

[jodywy]

I've used a bale spinner like the one pictured since 1996. On the third hydraulic motor and a few chains. It is so much more maneuverable then a bale bed or processor. I feed 4x5 round bales and sometimes use it on a 65hp tractor that lets me get into alleyways and corrals I couldn't get into otherwise. I even use it to fill turned tractor tire feeders by backing up to them and spinning hay off.

new modle has a better and bigger hydralic motor and the tappered spear goes into the bales alot better too. have one of each style