# Stack wagon or accumulator good and bad



## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

I am only going to be baling about 15ac of square bales midland 99 bermudia so my yields should be pretty good. I do everything by my self and was wondering what would work better for me as I will be stacking all hay in a barn that is in the same field I will be baling. I have a grapple already but can't decide what to buy or build next as a small stack wagon and accumulator are about the same cost. I guess what are pros and cons of both and what seams to work best for everybody.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

What clearance do you have inside the barn?


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

The barn Is 16' tall and i have plans on building another one that will also be 16' tall.


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## covenanthay (Oct 2, 2009)

Used bale wagons for years and went to an accumulator for ONE year and it left the farm. Worked well but was too slow. For a single operator I don't think you can beat a bale wagon.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

I'm debating the same path forward. In our case, we are putting up shelters such that we can pull 10 wagons out of the weather at the same time. We bale with a wagon in tow and stack, but it is two - driver and stacker at minimum. Once my kids get away from me, I want to do it all myself. I'm considering a kicker and retrofitting my wagons with racks. Fill a rack, park it and unload when it's cooler.

For us, an accumulator and grapple might make sense, but again I'm back to two people minimum or I need more time in the day.

Another option is the EZ Trail Bale Basket: https://e-ztrail.com/library/literature/Bale_Basket_Lit.pdf

Folks that have them seem to really like them.

Good luck,
Bill


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

I almost always vote stack wagon but in this case I'm going to go accumulator. If you're doing it yourself you only need one or two wagons or trailers and you already have the grapple (and presumably an appropriate loader to mount it on) so your supporting equipment needs are extremely minimal. In that case, the simplicity of the accumulator would win out for me.

(I think I'd still vote for a small stacker in your case if you were starting from scratch)


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

I would chose the grapple. We had a bale wagon for years and it worked well. We are all rounds now. A friend uses the accumulator and grapple. I like the way his operation works.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

leeave96 said:


> I'm debating the same path forward. In our case, we are putting up shelters such that we can pull 10 wagons out of the weather at the same time. We bale with a wagon in tow and stack, but it is two - driver and stacker at minimum. Once my kids get away from me, I want to do it all myself. I'm considering a kicker and retrofitting my wagons with racks. Fill a rack, park it and unload when it's cooler.
> 
> For us, an accumulator and grapple might make sense, but again I'm back to two people minimum or I need more time in the day.
> 
> ...


As someone currently running a kicker and seven wagons, I'll just say this. Don't. In theory this is great for one person as once everything is baled you're "done" but you still have several loads to tow to the barn and back in. This takes time. It also takes time to do all of that hitching and unhitching as you're baling. It doesn't sound like much but it adds up over several wagons. Your baling efficiency will drop. I am convinced the time wasted would nearly be enough to get the bales off the field mechanically if choosing stacker or accumulator, especially if you're close to your barn.

You couldn't pay me to run bale baskets as a one man operation UNLESS you're fortunate enough to be able to directly deliver them loaded to customers.

You don't need two people for either accumulator or stacker. As long as you're using a loader tractor on the grapple and you equip the tractor with a hitch that will allow you to hook and unhook your wagon or trailer without getting off the tractor, you're well set. Even if this slightly reduced the bales you could make per day, the savings in manual labor should be well worth it.

Clearly one man can operate a stacker. Biggest issue there is the efficiency of your storage space.


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## 506 (Mar 22, 2016)

I am a one man operation. Give some thought into converting your grapple into an accumulator. I went that route with a Kuhn's Mfg 408. I run it off the FEL on a 5103 Deere (open station). My hay barn is in the pasture so I pick up a load and shuttle it right to the stack. It's slower than a stack wagon but it works. It would work better had the barn been built for this. The next barn will be but that is next year's project.

This was a lower cost option for me as compared to buying a stackwagon. I didn't want to have another piece of equipment to have to store/maintain.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Is he talking about a NH stackwagon or hay wagons? I thought NH stack wagon but some of your responses are talking about hay wagons. The way I think when someone says bale wagon is to think about a NH stacker


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Teslan said:


> Is he talking about a NH stackwagon or hay wagons? I thought NH stack wagon but some of your responses are talking about hay wagons. The way I think when someone says bale wagon is to think about a NH stacker


Yes I am talking about a new holland stack wagon.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

Well I'm a NH stacker guy. But self propelled and I wouldn't recommend that for just 15 acres unless you have money to burn. I don't know if you would buy a new PT (do they even make them new). Or used. As I understand it the Kuhns accumulator systems are fairly affordable new. If you have a truck, trailer, and loader already I would probably go with the accumulator for just 15 acres. If you plan to expand your operation and have the clearance and size in your barns I would go stacker. But again NH stackers are all I know.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Teslan said:


> Is he talking about a NH stackwagon or hay wagons? I thought NH stack wagon but some of your responses are talking about hay wagons. The way I think when someone says bale wagon is to think about a NH stacker


Because typically any thread here involving bale retrieval eventually covers all options.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Teslan said:


> I don't know if you would buy a new PT (do they even make them new).


I was told no new ones have been built for around the last 10 years or so. Self propelled, still made.

Larry


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> Because typically any thread here involving bale retrieval eventually covers all options.


true enough. Just clarifying for myself. By the time this thread is done he might decide round bales are the way to go. Ha ha


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Teslan said:


> true enough. Just clarifying for myself. By the time this thread is done he might decide round bales are the way to go. Ha ha


LOL yea that is why I am trying to make the process as easy as I can on myself as every time I go to pick up square bales after baling I ask my self the same question why did I not just round bailing this.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Ranger518 said:


> LOL yea that is why I am trying to make the process as easy as I can on myself as every time I go to pick up square bales after baling I ask my self the same question why did I not just round bailing this.


I didn't notice, but are you using for yourself or selling. Some call small squares idiot bricks for some odd reason. 

Larry


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

r82230 said:


> I didn't notice, but are you using for yourself or selling. Some call small squares idiot bricks for some odd reason.
> 
> Larry


I Mostly use round bales for myself and try and sell all the square bales.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Ranger518 said:


> I Mostly use round bales for myself and try and sell all the square bales.


The best method in MY world is to do the same. Can't seem to get a fair price when selling the rounds in MY area.

Larry


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

I'm also a one person operator and use a Hoelscher accumulator and grapple. I prefer this system because we sell alfalfa to buyers in the field as well as out of the barn. My wife is the hay sales person, leaving me free to do the baling and loading customer's trailers. So simple with this system.

When putting sm sqs into the barn, my wife used to have to pull the trailer with the pickup. This was a lot of down time for her. We purchased a 3-pt hitch with a mounted ball and I now back the ball under the trailer hitch, pick up the trailer without getting out of the tractor and go to the field, drop the trailer and, with the grapple on the tractor already, proceed to load the trailer. When loaded, I pick up the loaded trailer, proceed to the barn, disconnect, and unload the trailered bales into the barn. Usually, with only 8.2 acres, I can bale, load customers trailers while my sales lady visits with waiting customers, and when they are gone, can get our bales into the barn by nightfall. With 15 acres, this may not be accomplished using our system.

One bad thing about this system is that it is not user friendly after dark. It's difficult to find the 10-bale stacks in the field after dark and it's difficult to get them into the grapple properly in the dark bc the tractor lights don't shine adequately through the grapple. If I could overcome these two problems, loading them on the trailer in the dark and unloading the stacks into the barn could be done. Perhaps it's best to have the problems after dark, because after a long day in the field, it's time to quit at dark, unless rain is coming.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

I think I'd use a nh stacker to put it in the barn then grapple on the truck.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

I use an accumulator and grapple. I don't have a good set up for storage so it has to be stacked by hand so a stacker wouldn't be a great option either. I try to sell most of my hay out of the field and with the grapple I can set the hay onto a customers trailer. People sure do like watching their trailer being loaded from the shade. I load for free and it sure helps repeat business. I tell people that I charge $15 a ton to accumulate and load, but beings they are repeat, good customers I'll just not worry about the fee this year. Unless you happen to be that lady that wants 4 tons until she gets there and then says, oh no I only said one, or gives me a good check, that I just can't cash until next month, etc. I keep forgetting the part about good, repeat customer when I deal with her...


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

vhaby said:


> One bad thing about this system is that it is not user friendly after dark. It's difficult to find the 10-bale stacks in the field after dark and it's difficult to get them into the grapple properly in the dark bc the tractor lights don't shine adequately through the grapple. If I could overcome these two problems, loading them on the trailer in the dark and unloading the stacks into the barn could be done. Perhaps it's best to have the problems after dark, because after a long day in the field, it's time to quit at dark, unless rain is coming.


Vincent, if you have standard lighting you might look into LED lighting. It is a much "whiter" light and not at all yellow like standard.

This outfit is a good company...I bought my LED lights for a 1990 tractor through them and it made a significant difference.

They are knowledgeable and will work with you over the phone if needed.

Regards, Mike

https://larsenlights.com


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Sounds like my best bet is for me to build me a accumulator for now as I have most of the material laying around to build somthing like posted below. I just can't decide if I should build it to gather bales string up or on the side I would like to make it to where the string was on the side so when I use my grapple I would not haft to worry about breaking any strings I am just not sure if this type of accumulator would work with string on the side sliding bales across the ground and gathering them all up. Anybody have any Experience with this type of accumulator?


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## tomharmon (Jan 28, 2015)

I built a small pull-behind accumulator that works well for my one man operation.I don't mind handling bales, but the worst part is getting on and off the tractor .My accumulator drags up to 12 bales, but works best went only 6-8.This saves a lot of time when you can pick up 20 bale in one stop.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

I use an EZ trail bale basket. The pro is that you only handle the bale once, to stack either on a trailer or in the barn. Bales never touch the ground until you are at your destination(barn lot, etc). Con is that you do stack by hand, and changing over from one basket to another is down time when your hay/humidity is in the proper range.

Accumulator/grapples seem like an awful lot of work, stacking on a trailer at the field, then unloading/stacking at the barn/on trailers.

Seems like a stack wagon with a compatible grapple would be the ideal setup.


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## Idaho Hay (Oct 14, 2016)

I find that for my operation, nothing is more efficient than the NH bale wagon. If your barn will accommodate stacking hay in it with a bale wagon, and is relatively close to your fields, then you can't beat the one man show and efficiency of one. With your setup, probably the biggest disadvantage of a bale wagon would be the learning curve. They can take a fair bit of perseverance to get everything dialed in. But once you do, you'll likely love it.

If you build your proposed accumulator, How do you plan to get those bales off the field and into the barn?


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Idaho Hay said:


> I find that for my operation, nothing is more efficient than the NH bale wagon. If your barn will accommodate stacking hay in it with a bale wagon, and is relatively close to your fields, then you can't beat the one man show and efficiency of one. With your setup, probably the biggest disadvantage of a bale wagon would be the learning curve. They can take a fair bit of perseverance to get everything dialed in. But once you do, you'll likely love it.
> 
> If you build your proposed accumulator, How do you plan to get those bales off the field and into the barn?


I have a hay grappler to use to load into and out of the barn.


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## Missouri hay hauler (Jan 7, 2017)

Great post all.

I have used the Maxillator Accumagrapple the last two years. It accumulates with FEL. Then you remove the guides to use as a normal grapple. Pretty slow but I just did 350 bales. That is accumulate and then haul and stack in neighboring barn in about 4 hrs. It takes a little technique but can be pretty simple to use.

I also purchased a used New Holland 1012 Stackliner. This is where I need some help. It did fine out in the field. A few bales got snagged but I got off tracker and pushed them along and they were fine. My trouble was in the barn. It went back against the back of the barn fine. But when I went to use the push bars, it pushed the trailer away and all the bales fell forward. How can i prevent this? Maybe I need to bring in some rock to angle the floor to the back? Any help would be greatly apppreciated.

The other consideration on bale wagon is you need a quarter turn shoot. With strings on the side. The accumagrapple needs strings on top. So not easy to switch back and forth...


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

Missouri hay hauler said:


> The other consideration on bale wagon is you need a quarter turn shoot. With strings on the side. The accumagrapple needs strings on top. So not easy to switch back and forth...


You need a multipurpose chute, not a regular quarter turn. Then you can easily switch between your two needs.


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## Bishop (Apr 6, 2015)

My two cents:

I am a one man show (ish) and run four wagons and a kicker. I am set up to put wagons away nicely (drive through shed, two wagons wide), and it works great for me, BUT you walk away feeling a sense of accomplishment but still have to unload 650+ bales the next morning before you can get back at it, my kids help with this part.

Also the bales can get a bit mis-shapen. You'll have a broken one here or there. You do have to "clean" the wagons off in the field because of this before using again. In terms of one manning it though it works well. If I can find someone to unload while I am baling I can fill them twice in the long part of summer (just).

The only way I've seen bale baskets work well is with a four person operation. Baler, basket runner, putter-on-the-elevator person, and mow stacker.

If there was more money in this game I would have the hay custom baled by someone with a bale-bandit, and run around hauling the hay back.


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## Wethay (Jul 17, 2015)

If there was money in it I think I would do like my neighbor does. He leases his ground out to some fool doing hay and then sits on his deck and watches with a cold one in his hand.


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