view from the hay loft

larry@stinescorner · Oct 2, 2013

The view from the top of the hay loft ,I posted more pictures in T tales,This picture was taken in Lehigh co PA,
The old fork for lifting loose hay is still hanging up top of the loft.

showcrop · Oct 2, 2013

Well, that view brings back memories, except that we stacked them flat instead of on edge, yes, I know now that they should have been on edge, but I was not in charge. I remember liking the view better that I had from the top of the elevator of just the half dozen bales that were visible before I closed the door and put a nail in it.

J.Wondergem · Oct 2, 2013

Sure reminds me of our barn in the 50s. The fullest ours was, was still open at the very top. We didn't have a elevator. We had a wide Oak board about as wide as the bale. When we first started the mow it was the best. We could slide the bale down hill. As the mow filled we had to push them up hill to the point of impossible, then carry the rest up the board. We would park the load as close the the side of the mow the keep the board from springing.

GVSII · Oct 2, 2013

Brings back memories for me too.Can you feel the heat?

oj · Oct 2, 2013

Why should hay bales be stacked on edge??

The farmer i used to work for always stacked them
flat, but with the requirement the cut side was
facing out (looked neater he said), we stacked in a
polebarn which held about 12000 bales if you got her
filled into the roof space.

Fergienewbee · Oct 2, 2013

Just curious, why stack on edge? Seems the would be unstable. We always laid them flat when I hauled hay in the 60s.

Larry

Jim in Ma. · Oct 2, 2013

If you stack on edge, They hold their shape better. When you stack them flat the lower bails will come out of the barn like a pancake with loose strings.

Old Bob · Oct 2, 2013

I live in Arkaansas and have baled, sold, and hauled a lot of hay. Small squares are always stacked on their edge here.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 2, 2013

plenty more room there ,,.since I bought the farm one barn of mine has never been completely filled .. the other one at the house is filled clear to the cone in the roof ,,. Oh btw ,except in dry hay , we always stak on edge ,I had it drummed into my head as soon as I could stack a bale to set them cut edge up ,,,,this allows a more complete dryin/breathing of stems that can wick all the way thru serveral layers ...

Glen SW Wi · Oct 2, 2013

No where near as hot as putting up loose hay.

jimont · Oct 2, 2013

Stacking on edge not only keeps a better shape to the bale but also makes walking over each layer much easier (ever trip over those **&*## strings on bales layed flat??)

ss55 · Oct 2, 2013

If you are selling hay then appearance is more important, so stacking on edge might be worth the extra labor.

We never sold hay, fed it all out. We stacked bales flat wether they are stored inside or outside. Outside the flat bales shed precipitation better and don't wick moisture up from the ground as much. It takes less labor to stack them flat and less labor to pick them up to remove them also. Fewer holes and cracks to step into. If the hay was not dry it never went in a barn or a stack anyway, so wicking was not a problem.

Nice picture, it brings back memories without the itch and the heat stroke, miss the smell of a barn full of fresh alfalfa.

rustyacres sd · Oct 2, 2013

Being the smallest of the boys, I was the one in the peak squeezing as many as I could. It was dang hot up there in the 90-100 degree days.

waltdavies · Oct 2, 2013

That looks like an accident waiting to happen all the bails in one direction on their side, pull the wrong one and the whole wil come down.
That's not a loose hay lift I have one it's used to lift two bails at time for storing up high. I guess before they used elevators.
Walt

Josh in Pa · Oct 2, 2013

That fork may work for pulling up 2 bales, but it was made for loose hay, and was hanging there before balers were invented. Drop in a pile of loose hay, pull the 2 latch levers in and drive the horse out of the barn. Pull the small rope to release the hay.
Josh

Ken Macfarlane · Oct 2, 2013

Really? Looks like a standard 2 prong loose hay fork to me, roughly the same as the one in our barn. Is there something special about this one?

waltdavies · Oct 2, 2013

Sorry josh it won't work loose hay lifts have forks that are half rounded and queese the hay together the one that have has non moving arms and two little tabs about 3 inches long leaving a rather large whole for the loose hay to fall out.
Walt

Dave Sherburne NY · Oct 2, 2013

When I was a youngster 60 yrs ago, we had a hay fork just like that. My job to set the fork, father loaded the wagon just right so we could get it of in four fork fulls. Mother led the horse to pull the rope which lifted the fork fulls to the track and down the track to the mow.

Josh in Pa · Oct 2, 2013

Their is one hanging in Dad"s barn. Same as you describe. I guarantee that it will work for loose hay. He has a few work horses he plays with, and a few years back we put some hay up loose with the horses and hay loader, and the hay hook in the barn.
Josh

oleclint · Oct 2, 2013

Yep ,that hay fork is for loose hay, was invented before balers were common. That 2 pronged fork did not work good with bales. clint

Ken Macfarlane · Oct 2, 2013

Walt ours has the little tips, was used for 40 years in our barn with loose hay. The barn still has one of the bays 12 x 40 x 12 full of loose hay.

You have a well tramped load and the fork was driven in and set before lifting. The tips released on a trip rope. It was hard to get the last bit of hay off the wagon though, some had to get forked by hand.

Ken Macfarlane · Oct 2, 2013

We stacked on edge one year, the bales on the bottom 20 layers came out about 15x14 instead of 14x18. The strings were not loose I guess but what a pain trying to load the trailer and trucks for delivery.

Went back to on flat the next year. Our mow is quite tall though, maybe 40-45 ft? Can't remember exactly.

Dick L · Oct 2, 2013

I have been personally involved in baling hay since the mid 1950's and it just tares me up to know that all these years I was doing it wrong stacking the bales flat. The only time we stacked bales on edge was when we had a few that was a little damp and we stacked them on the barn floor two high until they went thru the heat and then sent them up the elevator and stacked them flat in the loft. I would guess that walking on bales stacked on edge would be wiggly and hard walking.

JimIA · Oct 2, 2013

Great picture. Thanks for posting. Would love to see more of your barn.

Heres a link that shows some pictures of single tine, double tine ,triple tine and grapple forks all used for loose hay.
Haytool collectors.

farmerjohn · Oct 2, 2013

I think if you look closely at the photo it looks to me that the layers are alternated directions. We always did it that way, stacking on edge, cut side down. Bales came out of the mow as good shape as they went in.

Owen Aaland · Oct 2, 2013

The only time I remember stacking bales on edge is when they were stacked outside. Even then the only ones on edge was the first layer. It helped keep the twine from rotting from being in contact with the ground.

Lifted many bales into the loft with a four tine grapple type carrier.Put down four bales flat in a square and then four on edge on top of them crossways. Put one fork into each lower bale between the twines. The bales usually came off the forks when the carrier was tripped. I don't ever remember using horses but spent many hours on a Farmall H pulling the rope.

ericlb · Oct 2, 2013

that brings back memories of my grabndpas big old wood barn i havent been up in the hay loft since the early 1970s but the barn is still there

36 Coupe · Oct 4, 2013

Josh is right,there are 3 straight hay forks in the corner of my barn that were used to lift loose hay.I am old enough to have worked loose hay and built outdoor hay stacks.The pulleys are still hanging from the ridgepole in my barn.There was a board in the barn wall that could be removed to let the rope out the side of the barn.A horse was used to lift the hay to loft level.The grapple type forks came in later.I have worked with that type in the 50s.We used a hay loader pulled by an International truck.The last loose hay I put up was in 1967.One of my first farm jobs was pushing hay down the hay chutes for the milk cows.Bedding came down a center chute.Corn silage was brought in to the cows in a wheel barrow.

Anonymous-0 · Oct 4, 2013

i'm with walt on this one. i'd almost be afraid to walk in there. never seen hay stacked that way, only the bottom row.

GVSII · Oct 5, 2013

(quoted from post at 08:58:01 10/02/13) That fork may work for pulling up 2 bales, but it was made for loose hay, and was hanging there before balers were invented. Drop in a pile of loose hay, pull the 2 latch levers in and drive the horse out of the barn. Pull the small rope to release the hay.
Josh

Absolutely correct Josh!

view from the hay loft

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