# self loading round bale trailer



## RossK (Oct 6, 2013)

Hello, I am working on getting into the custom hay business and one thing I want to do is pick up bales and stack them at the edge of the field. I think with my tractor I should be able to go pretty fast and make some decent money at it. I don't know anyone around who does it. So my question is does anyone have experience with self loading bale trailers? I have looked at Haukaas, Donahue, Farmking and Anderson. I like the look of the FarmKing 2400 because of its large capacity (14). Has anyone used any of these or have any experience with them? Thanks in advance.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

Round or square,I never have used one but the one gobobpipe builds for rounds look slick. I had a friend that built one and really does like it


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## IHCman (Aug 27, 2011)

I've never used a Farmking but I bought the Morris (Pro Ag) 900 hay hiker that hauls 8 5x6 bales. I was able to demo it before I bought it and actually bought the demo unit I was trying out. I love it. This is the third season I've used it and I've moved 10k bales with it in that time. Only problems I've had so far was wore out O rings in the hydraulic selector valve ($7 kit was an easy fix too) and the orbit motor had the bolts loosen up on the end cap and start leaking. I've also rented the Morris 1400 hay hiker which hauls 14 bales and that was also a good unit. with the 1400 I was easily able to haul 300 bales a day from 4 miles away. I bought the 900 with just intentions of bunching bales at the ends of fields but now wish I'd bought the 1400 right away and just haul em home right away. Gonna buy a 1400 within a year or two.

I'm sure you'd be happy with the Farmking one. Looks to be well built. I don't like the idea of having a loading arm on either side. I like the Morris for the reason of only having a single loading arm.

Maybe see if you can demo a few different brands or rent one for a day or two to see which one you like best.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I have a Highline 1400.It works good when you only have 1 person around.Biggest day we did 500 bales stacked on end of field.

We have been moveing them with 5th wh trailer and skidloader mostly now with 2 people.It takes about the same amount of time.But for farther away fields I can get to and from the field a lot faster.

With the bale retriever the bale gets turned about 1/3 when it tips it onto the bed so if they have sat awhile the flat spot/bottom is near the top so you can end up with 2 flat spots on bales if not picked up right away.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

"With the bale retriever the bale gets turned about 1/3 when it tips it onto the bed so if they have sat awhile the flat spot/bottom is near the top so you can end up with 2 flat spots on bales if not picked up right away."

When selling hay appearance matters to most everyone and double flat sided bales look crappy. Another problem i found with most of the double row movers is they leave the sides of the bales touching. This is real handy for double bale loading later but can cause surface mold issues in damp cool weather.

Haukass Manufacturing ltd. makes a double row mover that i think would eliminate both of these issues but i have not had a chance to use one.


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## RossK (Oct 6, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the quick replies!

The gobobpipe trailer looks pretty slow to me compared to a trailer that has an arm so you can keep moving. Plus it doesn't haul enough bales.

The proag and highline both look pretty good but they appear to be more pricey than a Farmking. I can buy a brand new farmking for 27k and it looks like it will take 30k for a highline and around 34k for a proag.

I like the look of the Haukaas but I'm afraid it isn't tough enough to hold up to rough fields. I'm not terribly worried about two bottom sides of the bale because most of the time they should be moved pretty quick because we are dealing with big crop farmers and they don't want to deal with bales in their way. I also don't want to do much work on shares. I think it is the highline that has a bar on the back so when you unload it spaces out the bales. I'm not too worried about surface mold here, everyone makes their stacks tight and atleast 2 high.

I guess i'm liking the Proag, highline and farmking. I would like to buy a decent used one. I think it will pretty much come down to which one I can buy for the best price.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

While googling theses trailers last week I stumbled upon a really cool trailer that changes from a gooseneck flatbed to a round bale hauler. I think it was 28' long with stow away ramps. Carries tractors or converts to round bales. Must load with tractor, but it Self-unloads. 
It's price shocked me. It was about $10,000. 
Now I can't find the link for it. They were still in business. Had 2 axle or 3 axle option.

On edit: it's a Haring multi trailer. Carried by ag shield. Check out www.agshield.com
Looks awesome.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

*I may be interested in selling mine.$8000.Be a bit of a drive thow*


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

JD3430 said:


> While googling theses trailers last week I stumbled upon a really cool trailer that changes from a gooseneck flatbed to a round bale hauler. I think it was 28' long with stow away ramps. Carries tractors or converts to round bales. Must load with tractor, but it Self-unloads.
> It's price shocked me. It was about $10,000.
> Now I can't find the link for it. They were still in business. Had 2 axle or 3 axle option.
> 
> On edit: it's a Haring multi trailer.


A lot higher then 10K

Ag Shield  1 year ago 

2 sizes﻿ available 26 ft. &31 ft LIST prices are $23,887.00 & $27,509.00.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

swmnhay said:


> A lot higher then 10K
> 
> Ag Shield  1 year ago
> 
> 2 sizes﻿ available 26 ft. &31 ft LIST prices are $23,887.00 & $27,509.00.


Sorry that was a used one I stumbled on. I can't do one anyway, too wide for my comfort at over 120" of 2 5' bales.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

JD3430 said:


> Sorry that was a used one I stumbled on. I can't do one anyway, too wide for my comfort at over 120" of 2 5' bales.


Yea,they look mighty wide for transporting down the road.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

JD3430 said:


> While googling theses trailers last week I stumbled upon a really cool trailer that changes from a gooseneck flatbed to a round bale hauler. I think it was 28' long with stow away ramps. Carries tractors or converts to round bales. Must load with tractor, but it Self-unloads.
> It's price shocked me. It was about $10,000.
> Now I can't find the link for it. They were still in business. Had 2 axle or 3 axle option.
> On edit: it's a Haring multi trailer. Carried by ag shield. Check out www.agshield.com
> Looks awesome.


Doesnt make sense to me it doesnt pick the bales up automaticly. Might as well have a normal trailer and put them on the other way. As for op I used one out west but I cant remember the make of it. It was a goose neck and it swung out and the bales go in and once they get to the back you lift it til you get to the next bale. Set it down drive til the bale meets the other bale pick it up and so on it holds 8. When it full you swing it behind the truck and drive to your dump spot. When unloading swing it out place where you want then set it down and back out. It might be a deweze??? Also I knew a guy that had one on a transport truck it stacked 2 across with 1 on top it was 48 feet long and picked the up automaticly it held 36 4x5 and when he got to the yard he tilted it back and it was pushed off. It was very handy.


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## RossK (Oct 6, 2013)

swmnhay said:


> *I may be interested in selling mine.$8000.Be a bit of a drive thow*


I'm not opposed to driving and I am actually looking at a baler in Wisconsin. Wonder if I could somehow get them both on one load. What brand and model is it?


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Highline 1400.

It is wide.I think with the lift arms taken off it is about 12' wide.It is 18' wide I think with them on.I could measure that to be exact.

About 43' long??

I pulled it home 120 miles with pickup.Took off drivers side lift arm.


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