He Built His Own Small Square Bale Accumulator, Grapple Fork

He Built His Own Small Square Bale Accumulator, Grapple Fork BALE HANDLING Bale Handling (31B) 24-1-29 "It's not fancy but it saves me a lot of time and labor," says Robert Banks, Riceville, Tenn., who built his own small square bale accumulator that makes groups of eight bales at a time. To handle the bale groups, he built a 3-pt. grapple fork that's mounted on a reversed Ford 800 tractor. The accumulator is equipped with a chain-type loading conveyor on one side. As the driver approaches the bale the conveyor picks it up and delivers it onto a platform. A steel plate then moves the bale sideways over onto the accumulator's table to make room for the next bale. Once there are four bales in a row on the table, a steel "pusher plate" at the front of the accumulator pushes the bales to the back of the table. Then another row of four bales is placed on the table. Once there are eight bales on the table it automatically tilts backward and the bales slide off onto the ground. The grapple fork is a modified commercial loader and is equipped with eight small steel hooks that are hydraulically extended or retracted. Banks uses it to pick up eight bales at a time and stack them in his barn. "They cost a lot less to build than commercial rigs," says Banks. "I do have a commercial grapple fork mounted on my Case skid steer loader, which I use in the field to load wagons. However, my employees prefer my home-built grapple fork because it's much more compact and maneuverable and the driver has a much better view." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Banks, 109 County Rd. 159, Riceville, Tenn. 37370 (ph 423 462-2272).

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