# Maxilator Accumulator



## downtownjr (Apr 8, 2008)

Press Release:

In 2009 Ken Sargent, owner of Sagebrush Metal Art in Rockmart, GA had a dream of developing a product that would reduce fuel consumption and labor cost while increasing productivity related to small square bales of hay. This dream would lead him to develop a product that would accumulate and pickup hay with the use of a skid steer or tractor rather than the use of manual labor. Ken's dream would be to develop a product that did both and quickly. With his background in metal fabrication he began drafting the specifications. October 2010 he introduces his first series of hay accumulators and grapples at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition in Moultrie, GA. His line of Maxilator products were a huge success with local farmers. 
The next step would be increasing manufacturing efficiently while producing a superior product. Since 2011 Maxilator Hay Equipment has increases their sales by 115%. His marketing campaign includes key regional distributors that deliver the products to local dealers. "We have chosen this business model in order to keep cost down to the consumer."
Quote: "I contribute our success to building the best accumulator and grapple in the industry to our staff and the use of superior raw materials used during the manufacturing process. Standing behind our workmanship with an unheard industry warranty of 5 years says a lot of our thought processes behind durability and craftsmanship. Each product is custom manufactured with three purposes: value to the consumer, ease of use, and management of farm efficiencies." 
"As a famer myself I understand the importance of finding ways to become profitable and minimize manual labor, our products do both. We look at every transaction as if we are delivering our product to our best friends or family members."
Information about our products can be found at: Maxilator Hay Handling Equipment

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## Barry Bowen (Nov 16, 2009)

Sorry, but around here I just cannot see pushing the bales around the field like that especially when you get into second, and third and you are only getting 30 bales to the acre. I will stay with my Kuhn's.


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## Feed Hay (May 30, 2008)

I like the idea of having the grapple and accumulator in the same piece of equipment. For my smaller acres it has a lot of utility at a much more economical price than me buying a larger separate accumulator/grapple package, which may make better sense to a larger operation. But I feed my own hay, closing on 50 and the last kid is out of the house for college, so no more cheap labor, he was not even free. Bet I can pay for one since I do not need to feed him anymore


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## Hand&Hand Farms (Feb 5, 2011)

Looks like a niffty idea. But what does it cost? I would save us half the time, accumulate and grapple with one pass. If we could afford one I still like the Kuhns because bales dont drag on ground.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

That company is headquartered and manufactures that equipment in my hometown. They are well built and well designed, IMHO.

I priced them last summer from our local Case dealer. Best I can remember, the straight accumulator was in the $2000 - 3000 range, the grapple was in the low $3000's range, and the Maxilator was around $4500. The Maxilator I priced did not have the design that allowed you to take the panels off to make it a straight grapple though, so I would imagine that "maxilator elite" in the video is more expensive than the one I priced.

For a small time producer, I think this offers a good compromise. There are a lot of us who cannot justify spending $12k+ on a tabletop accumulator or more for the bale wagons and Kuhn types - and you still have to buy a grapple.

I've been watching the Market Bulletins and Craigs List, etc, but used accumulators just don't come up for sale that often in our area. If I have to buy new, I'll probably buy one of these Maxilators.


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## blueriver (Oct 19, 2009)

I have studied these. I don't mind sliding the bales. My opinion ... nice concept BUT ... if you get the combo accumulator/grapple for about $6K and your a small operator... say you have 1000 squares on the ground and your trailer holds 200 ...yep accumulate and load 200 bales. Then what ... pull off all the panels drive to the barn unload then put them back on and load and then take off the panels and unload and put them back on ... so on and so on. Cure that problem and buy another grapple for the barn unloading and add about $3500 ... total about $9500 ... oops need another tractor at the barn!!

May be perfect for a 300 bale operation one man and one tractor.

Not saying I'm right or wrong ... we have two of us haying and yes that helps and yes we have the tractors ... we went with the accumulator on the FEL, grapple on the other two ... 3 pieces for $7980 (2 grapples 1 accumulator) bought the "Hay Buddy System" and am very pleased.

Baling time ... the boy rakes, I start baling. He is done way before I am and drops the rake, puts on the accumulator and I finish baling ... I drop the baler put on the grapple and he's done accumulating ... he drives the truck and trailer, I load ... head to the barn and offload with the other grapple and back to get more.

Sliding the bales is no problem ... afterall there is stubble they slide on. If I was concerned about sliding them in the dirt or over rocks ... well I shouldn't be calling that a hayfield !!!


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I looked at something simular before I sold my old stacker wagon and got a Hoelscher. Now I spend about 1/4 of the time in the field picking up bales. I don't have a skid steer and I was more concerned about the side loading on my FEL pushing that thing around. I still don't like the idea of pushing/dragging bales on the ground.


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## maxilator hay equipment (Mar 28, 2012)

The MSRP is $5,800 with a 5 year unlimited warranty. We run farm and trade show special quite frequency. Keep in mind the unit is an accumulator and grapple with removal sides and internal panels if you wanted to use the unit just as a grapple.


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## maxilator hay equipment (Mar 28, 2012)

You got that right with the cheap labor. What we've found is our target is customer is someone like yourself who wishes to minimize the amount of labor involved. Check out our website. Depending on the amount of acres you are harvesting the unit could pay for itself in one cutting. With the 5 year warranty on the entire unit, how can you go wrong? The product simply just works and works well. Obviously we would like the opportunity to earn your business.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

No offense to anyone, but I'm not sure how the working hours settle out.

Right now, loading bales via chute off the back of the baler, we use two people at about 200 bales per hour as the fields are too rough for the guy riding the rack, but when we stop baling for the dew, the field is on wagons and they head to the barn. Dropping on the ground, we have done up to 500 but normally 300 per hour, but if buyers don't show up, we've had several work till 2 am getting the fields picked up since rain is coming nights.

I'm guessing you can pick up and load about 150-200 bales per hour tops with a grapple accumulator from watching some videos, that would be if someone is moving the wagon around for you. Most of the time seems to be spent accumulating then driving back to the wagon.

We haven't decided what to do here for our next step, but given we normally bale 500-1000 bales a day, I can't be taking 4-8 hours getting it up.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

slowzuki said:


> We haven't decided what to do here for our next step, but given we normally bale 500-1000 bales a day, I can't be taking 4-8 hours getting it up.


IMHO, I think the target market for this combination accumulator/grapple are the smaller producers. If you're baling that many bales day in and day out, then I wouldn't consider you a "small" producer.

I've seen videos on You Tube where guys with skid steers and one of these "out front" type accumulators are fairly efficient.

At the very least, I'm going to buy a grapple this year. Stacking in the barn has always been my bottleneck.


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## blueriver (Oct 19, 2009)

RockmartGA said:


> IMHO, I think the target market for this combination accumulator/grapple are the smaller producers. If you're baling that many bales day in and day out, then I wouldn't consider you a "small" producer.
> 
> I've seen videos on You Tube where guys with skid steers and one of these "out front" type accumulators are fairly efficient.
> 
> At the very least, I'm going to buy a grapple this year. Stacking in the barn has always been my bottleneck.


I agree ... it is a nice combo unit ..I can see it taking time to keep removing the accumulator dividers. We can handle quite a few squares in a day with one accumulator and 2 grapples. But again we have 2 of us doing it. I love the grapple for loading, unloading, stacking in the barn and reloading customer trailers. Sure feels good not to lift those "idiot cubes" ... give a look at the "hay Buddy systems" grapple ... good solid unit and I'm pleased with mine.


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## hiramhay (May 5, 2012)

I have been using the latest Maxilator grapple system for about a year now. Sliding the bales on the ground is not a big problem for me. I do occasionally roll a bale as it goes across the ground. Generally it's a light loose bale and it would have been rejected or damaged anyway. Using a skid steer I can load a 30 foot flatbed with 288 bales in just over an hour in a good field. The same trailer loaded by 3 men and a driver takes closer to 2 hours and they rarely get over 250 bales on it. I am much more comfortable driving the machine loaded hay as it is much better stacked.

If I have to load and unload more hay than I have trailers I build all the 10 bale packages all at once then convert to grapple mode to load and unload. Having a driver is a big help moving the truck saves time and they can nudge any bales on the trailer so you get a perfect fit for the next packages. 500 to 1000 bales is not a problem if you do it right.

Using an Accumulator I am no longer shelling out $300 or more dollars a day to pick up hay I might not sell for several months.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

We have the Kuhns system. We have run it for 6 years now. I spread the wagons/trailers out through already baled and accumulated fields and can load 400-500 bales per hour. The less travel time you have to get the grabs to the wagons, the faster you can load. We are a two man operation. I rake, while Dad starts baling. Then when I am done raking, I start loading bales. We have baled up to 3300 bales a day with this system. I too am not a fan of dragging bales on the ground.


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## haymaker1979 (Nov 20, 2011)

i agree with ohio hay. i also use the kuhn system with a 2 man team and we can easily put up 3000 bales in a days time. i wouldnt use anyother system. i had a drag system that i used one time and i hated it. i do believe that dragging the hay messes up the bales and it also aids in helping lose a lot of alfalfa leaves which we all know we dont want to do that. i would recomend kuhn accumulators to anyone looking to purchase a great system.i also have much more success using a tractor to load my wagons than to use a bobcat. at that i have a bobcat that i would like to sell or trade to a great working forklift. a bobcat works well but using inside a barn raising hay to a certain height is hard to see what your doing 12 foot in the air.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Can these Kuhn systems be used on SMALL fields? I mean like 3-5 acre fenced fields? Some are hilly, too. 
I bale a decent amount of hay, but everything is a manuevering challenge. I can sacrafice output for a compact, easy to manage and manuever system. Looking at about 1,500 bales per cutting. Price important, too. 
Right now just doing it with my own sweat and a helper.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Since my big fields are 3-5 acres, I'm in a similar boat. I think you have to rake a bit different so you aren't baling while turning sharply. The have a banded kind of guide thing to help on tighter turns too.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I'm not a fan of accumulators or grapples for getting bales of hay out of the field. I much prefer a NH self propelled stack wagon, but if you have a truck and trailer already (especially a semi trailer and truck) the price is sure right compared to a NH stacker price. But I'm not sure about pushing bales around the field collecting other bales. It seems like a way to break bales, dig up fields, lose alfalfa leaves. My next question is why this only occurred to the builder of this product in 2009 that a mechanical means to picking up hay is better? I would change that introduction if I were them.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

Teslan said:


> I'm not a fan of accumulators or grapples for getting bales of hay out of the field. I much prefer a NH self propelled stack wagon, but if you have a truck and trailer already (especially a semi trailer and truck) the price is sure right compared to a NH stacker price. But I'm not sure about pushing bales around the field collecting other bales. It seems like a way to break bales, dig up fields, lose alfalfa leaves. My next question is why this only occurred to the builder of this product in 2009 that a mechanical means to picking up hay is better? I would change that introduction if I were them.


One of the main reasons we chose an accumulator over a stack wagon is distance. With fields up to 15 miles from the barns and constant weather threats here in the east. We felt an accumulator system with multiple trailers and wagons to be a better fit for us.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

One of the things I've learned very quickly about hay work is that everyone has different situations that cause them to buy different types of equipment to fit those situations.


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## OhioHay (Jun 4, 2008)

JD3430 said:


> Can these Kuhn systems be used on SMALL fields? I mean like 3-5 acre fenced fields? Some are hilly, too.
> I bale a decent amount of hay, but everything is a manuevering challenge. I can sacrafice output for a compact, easy to manage and manuever system. Looking at about 1,500 bales per cutting. Price important, too.
> Right now just doing it with my own sweat and a helper.


We run field sizes from 2 acres to 45 acres. Most are in the 8 to 10 acres area. We also do some contour strips too. We get along really well in the small fields. There was a learning curve. It looks like Kenny's new system to eliminate jammed bales on turns would solve any problems. One thing that really helps in the small fields is running an inline baler. This allows you to go down any windrow you want and not just have to work around the field. It allows the baler operator to manipulate a field to make it more efficient and easier turning. As for hills, we have them and plenty of them. They have never been to much of a problem. Every once and awhile a bale may get hung up on a gate due to the slope, but it doesn't happen often. We haven't had any issues with stability either.


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## haymaker1979 (Nov 20, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Can these Kuhn systems be used on SMALL fields? I mean like 3-5 acre fenced fields? Some are hilly, too.
> I bale a decent amount of hay, but everything is a manuevering challenge. I can sacrafice output for a compact, easy to manage and manuever system. Looking at about 1,500 bales per cutting. Price important, too.
> Right now just doing it with my own sweat and a helper.


im not a fan of small fields but i have done a few 2 acre paddocks and it worked just fine


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## Aurora_Ranch (Sep 25, 2012)

My fields range from 20 to 70 acres in size. We first picked up by hand and it was just my wife and I so that got nixed. I built two sets of bale sweeps and that helped a lot but we still needed to move more bales. I then bought a NH Stackliner 1033 that is in great condition but it only picks up and stacks 104 bales at a time and has a lot of moving parts to break. We just bought a new Maxilator Accumigrapple Elite and plan on using it next week on a 45 acre coastal pasture. With the Accumigrapple we will be able to stack higher in the barn which is a plus over the bale wagon so we can maximize our space. The less we have to put our hands on and the quicker we can move it means more profit so we are looking forward to trying it next week.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Aurora, it would be helpful for informed responses if you posted your location.....at least your state. You can do so by editing your profile and entering.

Regards, Mike


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## gf5205 (Jan 20, 2009)

slowzuki said:


> Since my big fields are 3-5 acres, I'm in a similar boat. I think you have to rake a bit different so you aren't baling while turning sharply. The have a banded kind of guide thing to help on tighter turns too.


Yes, the Kuhns works well in small fields.We have use it in fields as small as 1.5 acres. The turns in a small field aren't any worse than the truns on the inside of a larger field.
Greg


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## NCSteveH (Jun 30, 2009)

I have had great luck with my kuhns, My smallest field is 10 ac. I know for a fact that without it I would not be a 1 man show.

It is really a time saver to have the packages already made when I am grappling them. I can not count the times that I have raced the rain and been able to get everything picked up and if not in the barn then at least tarped to keep it dry.


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## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

Aurora_Ranch said:


> We just bought a new Maxilator Accumigrapple Elite and plan on using it next week on a 45 acre coastal pasture.


So, how did it go? I ask because I am considering a Maxilator and would like some first hand feedback.


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## Stuckey1 (Jul 9, 2010)

I bought one and didn't make it a season and it had to be completely rebuilt! Cheap metal and poor design. I rebuilt it and added something's! Called company multiple times no return call! Wouldn't suggest buying one to anyone!


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## Aurora_Ranch (Sep 25, 2012)

I , and I stress the word "I" hit the ground hard when first using mine getting the hang of it and broke the connection tab that holds the side rail on but I wouldn't say it had to be rebuilt, just welded it back on. I am not sure what you did to yours or how you treat it but I have been using mine now for two seasons and can tell you it was worth every penny spent in time savings. In the end it is a piece of equipment and if you don't treat it right it will break. I live 4 hours away from my place and I can now get the bales off the ground and stacked quickly and load trailers quickly, time is money.


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## Stan r (Dec 21, 2011)

I am on the second season of using my Maxilator Elite.

I am a small operator with 10 acres of bermuda hay fields.

The hay barn is next to the fields.

The second cut was 875 bales. I cleared the fields and loaded into the barn without any help.

I also use to load most trailers.

I find the equipment well built and have no issues.

There is a learning curve with any piece of new equipment.

The second year was much better than the first.

I called the company the first year with some questions.

I was given the sales rep cell phone and he answered all my questions.

They guy that cuts my hay was very skeptical the first year.

The neighbors gathered at the fence to watch

Both are believer the second year.


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