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Hydra-beds~ Which is your favorite

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PPRM

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Well, as I age, I find myself investing in things that take the work out of work.

One thing I never see in the Pacific NW is Hydra-beds. Seems like there are a few brands similar. Eager as I am to look at going that way, I am still pragmatic by nature. And, anyone I talk to from the plains states really consider it to be one of the best investments they have made.

What is your opinions on the different brands and what do you like best? Is there any to stay away from? In the back of my mind, i think we have a pretty large market here for these beyond what I want. It may be time to look at starting a dealership or company?
 
I have a dew eze, the only one I have had and like it.
The neighbor has a FalCan http://falcan.com/products/decks and likes it. The way our dollar is maybe you could import these from Alberta.
 
These parts it's either Besler or Dew Eze.
Besler's plant is about 100 miles from here.

When I'm ready to replace the box on my 250, it will probably be with a bed that has the gooseneck trough AND the bale spike. I don't have enough work for the hay handling end to justify the arms. Hughes is the only bed manufacturer I know of that can put the spikes in a bed with the GN trough.
 
I have a CannonBall and LOVE it. Cannonball stands behind their product 110%... I've had a few minor issues and they have even answered the phone on a Sunday afternoon. Parts have been mailed immediately at no cost to me. But the one thing that is so nice is the ability to raise the bed. This dump-bed feature allows you to work on anything under the bed plus I never have to crank the jack handle on my cattle trailer. I back under the trailer, line up the neck with the ball and raise the bed. That lifts the trailer to where I pull the handle on the spring-loaded trailer jack then lower the bed. Hook up the lights, latch the locking pin and that's it. Takes maybe 2 minutes..tops. Mine is electric over hydraulic. I use two Optima batteries to run it, especially when it's cold.
http://cannonballengineering.com/
 
I run hydra and won't run anything else. If you use the bed much at all get one with an engine driven pump. If not you'll burn up alternators, solenoids, and batteries.
 
I have had several Hydra-Beds through the years, and would highly endorse their product. My present feed outfit is a 2014 Ford F350 4x4 extended cab/chassis. It has a 9'6" bed. There is room to haul 1500 pounds of cake on a caker, plus two bales each weighing from 1300-1600 pounds. This pickup has a gas engine and gets poor mileage, but I still like it. A diesel engine would be better.

As I get older and less agile, the two things I would really hate to ranch without are Hydra-Bed pickups and Polaris Rangers. With these devices that "take the work out of work," I can still get a lot done and make myself quite useful.
 
I have a Hydrabed brand that is 8 years old. It works good. I havn't looked at one of their new ones for a while so they might have changed some stuff. The stringers are to far apart on mine. I put heavy pallets or a chemical tote on the back then when unloading you kind of have to pick up the back and pull it backwards with the forklift if that makes sense. The front of the tote still has lots of weight on it and I guess from that my treadplate on the back has some wavy action to it. I welded a thick piece of flat iron to the hitch straight out from the frame and bolted it to the frame. I have seen one that the hitch part broke off the back. I originaly bought the hydrabed because of the simple cable to the back to run the valves. However I saw a friend at the tire store with a remote operated one. He lowered his arms hooked a chain up to a sprinkler tire and raised it all by himself back behind the pickup. So I think my next one will have remote operation. I can't say i'm unhappy with my bed but I think the next one is going to be a dew eze pivot arm type. Definantly would not get the parallel arm style. I don't think they go wide enough and sometimes is hard to get lined up from what some tell me. I have seen some that the arms extend a long ways which would be nice if you feed a bale in a feeder or over a fence or something and you could get it a lot higher. The newer deweze I saw had two lift cylinders where mine only has one in the middle two would take less force on that back piece that goes across. Finally maybe the deciding factor for me to go deweze is they just finish them out more and they look a little nicer. Also if you use a lot would definantly go with engine driven. One thing for sure if it's engine driven you won't forget to shut off the pump. Some older gentlemen have had that problem with the electric ones around here. I wasn't sure how much I would use a bale bed when I bought it, but I use it all the time for tons of stuff. I made a little rack that you drive the 4 wheeler on and then pick it up on the pickup with the arms is one that gets used quite frequently. Actually moving bales with it is probably down around #5 on the list. :wink:
 
Count my vote in Soapweeds column, as far as brand name. I have an older Hydra-bed now, and have used a few for other people. Belt drive pump is a must IMO. Wire winder and post hole digger justify that. I may not be as fussy about which brand as some folks, but I'd get real fussy if there wasn't one in the yard. There is no end to the handy with them, nice power unit for a Silencer chute, load and unload the 4 wheeler, move portable windbreak panels, you can even feed cows with them...
 
From a couple of friends that run deweze, they say they have gotten caught up in making them look good and fancy and have lost some functionality. Glad they finally stepped up and made a pivot arm bed. The old style was limited on extra activities it could perform IMO.
 
PPRM said:
Well, as I age, I find myself investing in things that take the work out of work.

One thing I never see in the Pacific NW is Hydra-beds. Seems like there are a few brands similar. Eager as I am to look at going that way, I am still pragmatic by nature. And, anyone I talk to from the plains states really consider it to be one of the best investments they have made.

What is your opinions on the different brands and what do you like best? Is there any to stay away from? In the back of my mind, i think we have a pretty large market here for these beyond what I want. It may be time to look at starting a dealership or company?
Click to expand...

I'll bet it would be great timing to have a dealership for baler beds of some kind. When livestock owners find out how convenient and labor saving these devices are, they will beat a path to your doorstep to buy one. Go for it. :cboy:
 
I would have preferred an engine driven bed. This one came along when the money was there to buy and was 150 miles from me. The guy shot a price I could live with along with buying my Winkel flat bed. Most days thru the winter it rolls out 3-6 bales. I've had no trouble with alternators, solenoids or batteries....so far :wink: But I did have to put better batteries in my pickup to run the bed.
 
I have a fresh idler and new belts on the pump with spares behind the seat. Cold oil is a strain either way. Last year we fed up to 12 per unit per day. The challenge was to load 2 squares at a time to fork off. All the alfalfa was round bales. Final score Hydra-bed 2, Ford minus one clutch, GMC minus one tyranny. Cows stayed fed.
 
Haytrucker said:
I have a fresh idler and new belts on the pump with spares behind the seat. Cold oil is a strain either way. Last year we fed up to 12 per unit per day. The challenge was to load 2 squares at a time to fork off. All the alfalfa was round bales. Final score Hydra-bed 2, Ford minus one clutch, GMC minus one tyranny. Cows stayed fed.
Click to expand...

one I bought had a glue on 110 volt engine heating pad on the oil tank. Kinda abandoned that and just use auto trans fluid. no matter the make, I want quick couplers on the squeeze hoses---just too handy not to have. our trucks are regular cabs, I think a crew cab would be too long, but maybe next time a super cab, for all the extra coats, ropes, etc a guy accumulates in the winter time. a 5' piece of heavy pipe is handy to stab spinners into when you're using handler as a hoist, keeps arms from wanting to go together and lifts more even.
 
Thanks for the feedback. We certainly have more large squares than Rounds. That being said, I am purchasing a Round baler as the cost is so much lower and i really don't have that much ground to hay. I'm more just haying the extra pasture ground I occasionally come up with. I take it all of these will pick up 4x4 Squares as well as rounds?

I may also get some silage bales/balers in the future. I started picking up some ground on the West side of Oregon. Weather is highly uncooperative re Baling there.

I like the idea of a unit that will flake. I'd like a unit that chops into bunks even more though. It's amazing how much hay you save chopping it!
 
PPRM said:
Thanks for the feedback. We certainly have more large squares than Rounds. That being said, I am purchasing a Round baler as the cost is so much lower and i really don't have that much ground to hay. I'm more just haying the extra pasture ground I occasionally come up with. I take it all of these will pick up 4x4 Squares as well as rounds?

I may also get some silage bales/balers in the future. I started picking up some ground on the West side of Oregon. Weather is highly uncooperative re Baling there.

I like the idea of a unit that will flake. I'd like a unit that chops into bunks even more though. It's amazing how much hay you save chopping it!
Click to expand...

Get a dealership then it will be closer for us to buy one :)
 
I haven't used a Hydra Bed. I liked the Krogmann bed that I used. I have a DewEze that is probably 30yrs old, it still works and has lots of lift capacity, that's about all the good I can say about it!! DewEze has made some changes, I believe they now have pivot style arms instead of arms that slide straight, that has to be a huge improvement. They also have spinners with a balljoint so to speak so that your bale will still unroll even if you do not have it centered. The one thing I really liked about the Krogman was the ability to extend the arms so you could lift a bale into a feeder.
 
I've never been around these things but they seem interesting. How do you guys make out with them in areas where you get a fair bit of snow. Also, how do you manage in the bale yard, do you need a tractor to set them out so you can get ahold of them with the bale bed?
 
If your bales are stored 2 wide, flat to flat side, then you can pull off one spinner and clamp them to pull out. Anything stacked doesn't come apart very well with a bale bed. We have neighbors that fire up the tractor on warm days and set out enough for their feeding needs. We unload the truck in the pivot corner so they will grab. Our alfalfa is 2 wide wherever. Define a fair bit of snow. Can waller thru 18-24 inches that's not set up. We mostly drive around the drifts.
 

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