# BALE ACCUMULATORS and grapplers



## drkllr (Jun 19, 2011)

I am kind of looking at accululators and handlers. I want a 10 bale tie. steffen systems has one i like. I dont like the ones that drag the bales on the ground. who else makes a carry type so that i can compare and find the best


----------



## LaneFarms (Apr 10, 2010)

Look at hoelscher, I like mine.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Kuhns makes a 10 tie that is not sensitive to bale length if you get into variable windrows. I have often heard some of the hydraulic table accumulators can be touchy to bale length. Investigate all of them.

Regards, Mike


----------



## dbergh (Jun 3, 2010)

I have the Steffens ten bale handler. Good piece of equipment and a real time saver / labor reducer. Get the 90 degree swivel option if you get one. No experience with accumulators - we use a NH 1048 to stack everything out of the field.


----------



## drkllr (Jun 19, 2011)

I was lookin at the hoelscher i cant find 10 bale tie. do they have one.


----------



## blueriver (Oct 19, 2009)

Well I have the 10 bale accumulator that pushes the bales on the ground and the grapple. I see no effects on the bales or the ground as a result of this. Both cost me just at $5K ... go ahead and spend alot more. Its your money.


----------



## tdjjjs (Nov 16, 2009)

Easy does it now, no need for fighting words.







I think he was referring to the grapple/accumulator combo attachments in which you pick the bales up one at a time and sort of drag the whole bunch everytime you "grab" another.

Anyway, my question; Is steffens the only manufacturer that makes a grapple that rotates the grab 180degrees?


----------



## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

tdjjjs said:


> Anyway, my question; Is steffens the only manufacturer that makes a grapple that rotates the grab 180degrees?


The local welding shop has put together a rotator for people who have brands that aren't steffens.


----------



## jd-tom (Jun 15, 2010)

I have the 10-bale Kuhns that puts 2 of the bales across the end to make a tie. Works great - best piece of equipment I have bought in the past several years.


----------



## tdjjjs (Nov 16, 2009)

Yeah, I saw the Kuhn's 10 bale accumulator with the 2 "tie" bales but hadn't talked to anyone who had one yet. How did it do when stacking on a hayrack? Are you using a skidsteer or tractor out in the field/shed? Does it place them in a pretty tight group or do you have to push them together? I see that Kuhn's came out with the hydraulic arm on the grapples to pull in the group before the hooks go in. Sounds like the best idea i've seen in awhile.


----------



## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I've got a Hoelscher....I'm happy with it. Grapple works fine, but I would like a rotator.


----------



## tiftman (Oct 22, 2009)

Check out the koyker bale caddie.We have 2 of them very simple design and they work great.My only complaint is that you pull it behind your baler and can be a bit of a pain in tight places which we thankfully dont have much of. We have had ours for about 4 years i think when we bought them with grapple they were around 9k each but very well worth it.


----------



## blueriver (Oct 19, 2009)

tdjjjs said:


> Easy does it now, no need for fighting words.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sorry didn't think it was fighting words ...


----------



## jd-tom (Jun 15, 2010)

tdjjjs said:


> Yeah, I saw the Kuhn's 10 bale accumulator with the 2 "tie" bales but hadn't talked to anyone who had one yet. How did it do when stacking on a hayrack? Are you using a skidsteer or tractor out in the field/shed? Does it place them in a pretty tight group or do you have to push them together? I see that Kuhn's came out with the hydraulic arm on the grapples to pull in the group before the hooks go in. Sounds like the best idea i've seen in awhile.


It works good for stacking on a hayrack. I come into the pack on the ground at a slight angle and "wedge" the pack into the back and right side of the grapple (the right side has the side bar on it) to tighten the pack before I pick it up. The accumulator does a pretty good job keeping the pack together but it's not as tight as it should be. I alternate how I pick up the packs for sucessive layers on the rack so the tie side ends up on opposite sides of the rack on each layer to tie it in better. Then I put the top packs on, one from the back & one from the front to tie the whole load together. Then its as tight (or tighter) that stacking the rack by hand. I use the grapple on a tractor loader in the field. 50-60% of my hay and 90-95% pf my straw is sold out of the field so once it is on a rack I don't touch it again. The rest I unload by hand onto a conveyor to the barn mow (all my small square bale storage in in haymows). If I were to use the grapple for unloading into storage, I would definitely want it on a skidloader.


----------



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

I also have the 10 bale tie Kuhns and we pick our grabs out of the the field exactly like jd-tom does. We place on the wagons alternating tie ends by loading from one side to the other. We put 150 bales on a 20 foot wagon. We also inset the tie ends slightly(about 3 inches) on the wagons so that the straight bale ends overlap the tie ends. Seems the tie bales ride better this way. We use a skid steer to unload the wagons and stack in the barn. It is still alot of work to gather small squares this way, but it beats the heck out of loading and unloading by hand like I used to do(my sons and I). If I continue to square hay I am going to build a barn high enough on the inside where I can use a SP Balewagon. I like the idea of gathering and dumping 160 bales at a time. Especially with a climate that has over 50" of rainfall a year and humidity that you can actually see hanging in the air during most of hay time. Kuhns acumulators are well built and their grapples are well built also.

Regards, Mike


----------



## RockmartGA (Jun 29, 2011)

blueriver said:


> Well I have the 10 bale accumulator that pushes the bales on the ground and the grapple. I see no effects on the bales or the ground as a result of this. Both cost me just at $5K ...


Unless I can find a good used table type accumulator at a good price, I may be going this route myself. Either that or buy a couple more trailers and cover with tarps until I can unload. If I had enough overhead clearance, I'd be looking at a pull type bale wagon.

There is a poster on here who built his own out-front accumulator. I'm thinking that might be a good winter project. Seems like a straight forward build. Then, I'd just have to pick up a grapple.

Anyway, how long does it take to accumulate, load, and unload a trailer of 200 bales with an out front and grapple?

There is also a company nearby who manufactures these things. They combined a grapple and accumulator to consolidate those two operations. Only drawback is that you still would need a grapple to unload and stack. Maxilator


----------

