Stacking Round Bales

Considering other ways to stack twine tied round bales (4 X 5) inside an open-sided shed. Currently use a hay spear attached to the loader bucket (7ft. wide) on a backhoe and place the bales on their side in a pyramid stack. Using this method, you effectively only use one half of the volume available inside the shed. Also any unused bales get buried at the back of the stack when next years crop is placed in the shed. It is not possible to remove one "row" of bales from the front to the back of the shed, so that the unused bales could be fed up first the next year. In my travels, I have seen round bales stacked on their flat ends, two to three bales high, to fill an open sided hay shed. It appears this method would allow removal of one or two "rows" of the bales clear to the back of the shed and the surplus hay bales from one year could be fed first the following year. The bales would not be stacked in a pyramid and the full volume of the hay shed would be used. This would allow a much larger number of bales to be stored under cover without increasing the size of the shed. My questions are: (1) What type of spears, grapple, squeeze, etc. is used to rotate the bales and stack them on their ends two or three high? (2) Would it make any difference if the bales were mesh wrapped? (3) Do the bales compress much when stacked vertically on their ends three high? (Could see a house of cards toppling if they did.) (4) Got any personal experiences stacking this way or other suggestions of how to stack? (5) Got any pictures? Thanks for any suggestions or clever "farmer fixed" ideas.

For stacking as you do now, can your shed be modified so you can get at bales from either end. So you would put the bales in from one side, then remove from the other side. Switch the next year. This way you would use last years hay first.

We always stack the first 2 layers of bales on the ends in lean to sheds for the reasons you have mentioned. The top layer on each course is stacked horizontally which allows us to use the maximum amount of shed space and not worry about hitting the purlins and trusses with the loader, of course it makes it easier that I knew the dimensions of the bales I would be storing when I built the sheds. I just use a double spear hay fork and knuckle the bale to about 125 degrees and then roll it into place and pull the spear out, this is the other reason the last layer is stacked horizontal. There are several different bale squeezes on the market and many of them have some sort of protective outer covering or shell on the squeeze arms to avoid tearing the plastic on baleage or net wrap etc. If you google bale squeeze there will be several options to look at. Auction time always has them on the ''attachments'' auctions.

I've don it the same as LAA

I built my hay barn so I could put 4 round bales side by side. I then put the first row down and stack a 2nd row on top of them which is another 4 bales. Some times it gets hard to keep the 2nd row from trying to be only 3 but with a little work at it it can be done. Then the next layer is 3 some times depending on how things go. Either way I get 10 bales per row and I can do say 6 or 7 rows on a good year. Both ends of it are open so you can get bales out form either end so that keep the bales from being 2 or 3 years old

I stack bales 3 high with this skid steer. note the two spears on the bale fork. Bruce

In the far end of the barn,I stack them 4 high on end. The floor is a little lower down there. This unit is a Work Saver BaleHand. Any questions,I'd be glad to answer them.

You can see them 4 high in the background in this picture.

Pallet forks set as wide as they go.

I don't and probably won't have a shed for hay. I put all my net wrapped rounds on truck tires and set in rows in the yard. The tires keep the contact area to a minimum and will not rot or break up like skids will.

I wrap my bales and leave them outside, then park the equipment in the shed!

I even stack them on end on the truck, seems more stable, and of coarse they are strapped down. Never have found bales stacked on there ends wanting to fall over ,or squish down much . And net wrapped bales work just as well as twine tied . For some reason one picture is sideways.I didn't stack them that way.

(I was looking at the nice equipment)

WOW it looks like you own some very nice old Oliver tractors and a combine.

The picture you have of the bale loader; what make or model of bale loader is that?

I've taken to wrapping bales and would like to come up with a better way to move them

I used to stack them on their round sides,but I started stacking them on their ends;they look just like rrlund's 1st pic where you see his loader.The benefits are better appearance for loading and selling,and I get more hay in with less wasted barn space.I only have a spear on my loader,but learned how to 'flip' them on edge(end) by dumping them off the spear as I go forward.It only took a little practice to get good at it,and my stack looks just like his.The only down side is one corner of the barn,the floor,(gravel over filter fabric and plastic),stays a little damp,and this messes up the bottom edge side.I even have a ditch outside that corner.
As far as last years leftover hay,I just move to one corner and then stack it in front of this years hay. Mark

The grapple is a Worksaver brand. I guess they call it a model UBH or some such thing now. When I bought it,it as just a Bale Hand. I've attached a link to their website.
The loader itself is just an old Dunham model 22. It had a single bucket cylinder,but I made it over and put a quick attach on it like my Oliver loader has on the 1365.
Worksaver

I have a DuAl highlift loader on a WD45 WFE. I have to use this one when going 3 high. My utility tractors, with loaders, won't reach high enough to do over 2 high. Good tight bales just bulldoze ahead of the spike, and are a PITA. I welded chain hooks on the bucket corners and wraped a chain around the bale, then tilt the bucket back, and it lets me put them up high, but is another PITA, to fasten the chain, and unhook it up high. My neighbor uses a grapple, and rarely leaves his tractor seat. Whatever you use, watch closely when using a bucket up close to a metal roof. I have had to replace roof panels twice!

How do you get the top row of bales stacked horizontally then pull the squeeze out without hitting the front columns on the shed? Are they loaded perpendicularly to the stack from inside the shed? Thanks for the info and photos.

Does the front-end loader on the tractor have only one spear as shown loading the bales onto the truck? What size and weight are the bales you're loading? What is the length of the two spears, and how far apart are they as shown on the skid steer? How big is that Thomas skid steer? I used one belonging to a friend this past summer for some construction grading and backfilling. It was a very nimble and easy to operate unit with the hand controls. How has yours held up to regular farm use? Thanks for the photos and info.