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Follow up on bale basket question I had in 2012

K

Ken Macfarlane

Well-known Member
I had asked about using them and hauling - never posted an
update.

Forage king baskets at least are bolted together and can be
collapsed into pieces. Be warned they are often welded too.

We have 2 seasons with just a single basket on the farm, we
have two balers so one pulls the basket cleaning up while the
other baler pulls big racks.

Close to barn the basket is quick - 250-300 bales an hour
dumped at the elevator. Away from farm a few miles you get
down to 200 bales an hour or a bit less as we don't have other
baskets. Soon to be rectified though with 5 more arriving.

They cope ok with soft ground but can't be fully loaded.
Unhitching is a pain as the pin is under tension but quick hitch
is going to solve that. Unload is great for delivering just wish
they held 280-300 bales like our racks. No sure if there is a
way to double or triple hitch them. Other nice think is they tarp
really well when full if you get a shower come through.

Overall I give them a good grade, far more enjoyable than
thrower wagons ever were. If you put hay up a conveyor I
recommend them.
 
The tough part to choke down is the price, if I remember correctly. They're not cheap. That's why the farmers that still handle small bales continue to patch together their rickety old kicker wagons, and why rickety old kicker wagons bring WAY TOO MUCH at auctions.

Does pushing the bales up that chute seem to have an effect on the density of the bales? It seems like that would act as an extension of the bale chamber.

3347773_1.jpg
 
How many can you get on a load? Been pondering these for a couple years now, just hate to bite off the cost and possibly not like them. Forage king is the brand you have? Any other brands you've ran across?
 
You reduce the tension on the baler to compensate, so there
is some but not much effect.

Paul
 
EZ Trail also makes them. Pro-Quality used to, but went out of business. I have 2 Pro-Quality, one with the chute extension into the basket, one without. The one with the extension typically gets 90-100 bales, the other one 80-90. You can get about 10 more bales on either one, if they happen to pile up just right when you're finishing up the load.
 
Dump them out on the ground and if you do not have extra help to keep putting them on the elevator you may have a stack that you have to carry the last 30' or more to the elevator and have to cover that whole stack for rain and have all the chaf in the yard to pickup. Wagons you can always get to elevator with and no pile of chaff in yard and easier to cover for rain. And then they are too wide for our roads.
 
They do scatter the bales if you dump and run, but open the gate and pull the bales out onto the elevator and it unloads really nice right at your feet, very easy. I would not want to dump on the ground often, unload as it sits there and much easier than a bale catcher wagon.

Paul
 
I"d much rather throw 140 on an 18 foot rack, carry at most 9 feet, and drop them DOWN onto a conveyor.
 
It does effect bale density, but you just back the chamber tension off to compensate. Once you get the baler set it's not a big deal. The only real problem I found with the baskets when I used them was that once they get overfilled they do tend to exert more pressure on the baler and then the bale weight goes way up... The ones I was using.... if you kept the load down to 70-80 bales was fine.
I don't think baskets are for everyone but they have their place, same as all other systems of handling squares. Personally I use an accumulator and grab and that works well for me. Last thing I'd want after hand picking off the ground is a thrower/wagon....

Rod
 
I've found it makes bale tension far more steady. My JD balers are good for whatever windrow anyways but with the basket you have to have a major change in the hay to need to make an adjustment on the tension.
 
I did put a section on our conveyor so it is on the ground now, it would wear out backs quick to lift up to the rack stand. Hay hook is handy to drag the bales onto the conveyor without having to bend over or touch strings. Very little struggling to pull out wedged bales as the dumping loosens the pile even if the basket has been sitting for a week. That is my biggest hate for thrower wagons.

We back up next to the conveyor and dump so the farthest stragglers are maybe 15 feet. Bulk is with 10 ft of conveyor.
 
We don't dump unless we have people to put up. Yes the pile is big but in the basket it tarps really nice.

We have 6 flat racks that hold 250-280 bales a piece that I like but I can't work alone with them. As is I can use them for round bales but if I caged them for a thrower that isn't gonna work.
 
Could work if you had help at that time for unloading and did not have to in 5 minutes be back to field to get anouther load. If nobody to be unloading and you had to get back to field for anouther load and repeat for a few loads would be quite far from elevator.
 

I may have responded back then too, Ken. The guy that I buy hay off of uses these. Loads them up and brings them over and dumps in front of the hay elevator. Hold about 105 bales on average. Limits his extra labor need to just at my place, usually one loading the elevator and two in the loft carrying and stacking. Good deal for both of us, I don't have to take off work to be there or help and he can do it when he can. Did I mention I don't have to touch it until I have to feed it? He can dump and go if needed, or drags two over at a time to unload (he's not far away). We only stack 5 high (so the wife can reach them) so the average wimpy high school kid can carry and stack. He also loads them up and keeps in his barn if he can't get over right away. I do notice some of the bales get a little twisted up and there seems to be breakage of 2-3 per load, but we feed that right away so there's no loss.
 
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