I like this horse-drawn round bale pickup wagon very much. Like other commenters here my objection to the large round bales was the power equipment required to handle them.
I cut 75 acres of hay each year and round bale 95% of it, so I have been thinking about this for a long time, and I farm alone. I am designing a lower slung version, 12 inches off the ground, built a bit lighter as I only do dry bales weighing 500 lbs. It would be ground driven off a sprocket rather than with hydraulics and a motor. As you approach the bale the gathering arm would align it as shown in this video and then the driver would step on a lever engaging a jaw clutch on the slow turning shaft driven by a chain from the wheel with the sprocket and a crank shaft would rotate moving a connecting rod which lifts the bale up and tips it onto the deck. Instead of a hydraulic ram to shove the bales back, I would use an apron chain, same as a manure spreader, to steadily move the bales back at a speed equal to ground speed whenever another pedal was depressed by the driver to engage an idler pulley on a belt driven off the same shaft as the lift arm. This belt would turn the drive shaft to move the apron chain along to allow room for the next bale. Normally there is a considerable distance between bales so the 4-5 feet it would take to shuffle the bales back 4 feet is no issue. Once the 4 or 6 bales are loaded on you drive to the unloading area and just step on the apron chain pedal and drive away and the bales shuffle off as fast as you drive away.
I like this horse-drawn round bale pickup wagon very much. Like other commenters here my objection to the large round bales was the power equipment required to handle them.
👍👍👍👍👍
Impressive horse-drawn technology, but it uses up more resources than traditional loose hay-making. And it replaces human workers.
Uses more resources and replaces human workers. Both of those are good.
I beg to differ.@@darrinrussell3526
I cut 75 acres of hay each year and round bale 95% of it, so I have been thinking about this for a long time, and I farm alone. I am designing a lower slung version, 12 inches off the ground, built a bit lighter as I only do dry bales weighing 500 lbs. It would be ground driven off a sprocket rather than with hydraulics and a motor. As you approach the bale the gathering arm would align it as shown in this video and then the driver would step on a lever engaging a jaw clutch on the slow turning shaft driven by a chain from the wheel with the sprocket and a crank shaft would rotate moving a connecting rod which lifts the bale up and tips it onto the deck. Instead of a hydraulic ram to shove the bales back, I would use an apron chain, same as a manure spreader, to steadily move the bales back at a speed equal to ground speed whenever another pedal was depressed by the driver to engage an idler pulley on a belt driven off the same shaft as the lift arm. This belt would turn the drive shaft to move the apron chain along to allow room for the next bale. Normally there is a considerable distance between bales so the 4-5 feet it would take to shuffle the bales back 4 feet is no issue. Once the 4 or 6 bales are loaded on you drive to the unloading area and just step on the apron chain pedal and drive away and the bales shuffle off as fast as you drive away.
Your mechanical skills are miles above mine@@gentlegiants1974