Hauling Hay

One good thing about dryland farming in Johnson County is that you don't have to pick up hay right away. Because you are not want to irrigate the field again, you can often leave it until time allows. With Jack getting a 1/4 of the hay produced on his place, White Horse and I took sometime this afternoon to haul it in. 

The hay was already bunched up in groups of 10 or so. Made for easy hauling.

This HydraBed on White Horse is meant for hauling round bales. We have retrofitted it for other jobs, be it can still load and haul the hay. 

The cows out here are nice and content. 

So are the horses. 

To get the truck ready, we removed these arm extensions. I've hauled hay before with them on, but it's tougher. 

Then pinned on the bale rollers that the bed came with. 

Just back up close and drop the arms.

Stab and load. All the controls on this bed are outside the cab. Minor inconvenience. 

We can haul two at a time. I will say that this net wrap is nice when it comes to moving hay. With twine, there is always one or two that loose a string. 

Buck found us a nice spot behind the shed to stack the hay. 

In a line like we are doing is a convenient way to stack this hay. It'll also be a nice way to retrieve it. However, the best way to preserve round bales is end to end, single file. Doing it this way allows for a moisture trap. Snow and rain settle where the two bales meet and will rot the bale a bit. If you use it within a year, it's not a problem. More than a year out, you'll see the damage. Work with what you got. 

We also got good enough at unloading the we could just leave White Horse in neutral and push the truck forward as we unloaded the second bale. Efficiency. 

There we three different sets of bales to haul off. Good we did when we did because the cows were starting to work on them. 

Done.

33 Bales total. Hay in the stack is like firewood in the shed. Winter ready. I've stacked a lot of round bales over the years, so it's fun to get back in it. Certain things come back to mind. Like, 8' away from a fence is hardly enough. If a cow can smell it, she'll push through to get it. Been there. Winter is not far away. The horses are starting to hair up and the air is plenty chilly. Best be ready before it gets here. Ranchin'.