There's not a level piece of ground on our ranch. Consequently, the stack of round bales that Dad put-up three high this spring, started to tip. Catching it before it fell into the fence, he pulled the stack apart. Then, wanting to escape the heat, he headed for the mountains and left the hay for me to deal with.
No problemo. These 21 grass round bales came off our irrigated pasture back in June. We'll feed them up this winter.
For stacking round bales, the tractor of choice is always the 4010. When it's a light job, we just chain the bale-spear onto the front of the bucket so we don't have to change the head.
The first row of bales were sitting on end. This is a good way to make a stack, but only if the ground is level, turns out. First step was to get all the bales back on the round so we could stab them with the spear.
I was just getting the hang of it when I lost my steering. It can be easy to ram and jam when stacking hay, but I was taking it easy. Especially in this sandy ground, a man has to becareful turning with a bale on the font of the loader. Regardless, the bolts on the hydraulic turning motor must have been coming loose for a while. I was just the unfortunate cowboy for them to fall out on.
So I walked back up the hill and found some new bolts. A little long, but with a lock washer, we should be just fine.
White Horse to the rescue.
No hurry here. Get all your ducks in a row and tackle the problem.
Thankfully, one bolt was still in place, allowing the others to start back in without much trouble.
Tightening them up worked pretty well too.
Alls well that ends well.
4010s are good stackers. Their gear selectors are a bit confusing. But if you get the hang of it, it is pretty handy. I like to keep it in the second range and go from 2nd reverse to 5th forward when situations are easy. If I'm in a tight predicament, I have 2nd forward right there.
I like to ponder the steering wheel of this tractor. Dad's dad bought this John Deere new in the early 60s. It was a staple on the farm until the late 90s when the transmission got bound up. In the early 2000s, Dad brought it out to our place and fixed the grinding gears. It has been our main tractor ever since. There have been a lot of Lungren hands grabbing this steering wheel over the years. So much so, that it is worn down to the metal. When I grip this wheel, I'm hanging on to history.
Just as I start to sing her praises, though, she keeps showing her age. We've had trouble with the battery staying charged, so we often have to jump it when she dies. I was putzing at an idle with the sand and killed the engine before I could get the clutch pushed in. Lo and behold, the battery wouldn't fire it back up. White Horse to the rescue once again.
With all the quarks worked out, we were back to work. The simple triangle stack was our new method of choice. I like to put all three fronts flush with each other. Why? Just cause.
You can never put a stack of hay too far away from a fence that has cows behind it. If they can get a whiff, and think they can touch it with their tongue, they'll push through a fence and graze on the greener other-side. Unfortunately, I've been on the backside of that disaster a couple times. Not going back.
Should work. Two on the bottom and one on top is always a safe stack. The one on top actually makes the two on bottom roll into each other, making for a tight-knit scenario. Should hold on this hillside.
Another well job done.
Fun stuff. I always enjoy a good crisis or two. They test a man's perseverance and help him grow in confidence. No man ranches alone. God is always present, helping us work through the good, bad, and ugly in life. With His grace, and a good John Deere tractor, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). On to the next one!
