Truck-Mounted Hesston Stack Mover Also Plows Snow

Truck-Mounted Hesston Stack Mover Also Plows Snow HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 19-6-10 An old pull-type Hesston stack mover mounted on a used 1-ton truck makes a great low-cost hay mover, says Bill Glebe of Pickardville, Alberta. "It saves a lot of wear and tear on my tractor and cost less than $4,000 to build. I found a way to get more use out of the truck by mounting a 10-ft. steel blade on back of the Stak Mover to plow snow," says Glebe. He paid $2,000 for the truck, which was equipped with a 350 cu. in. diesel engine and an automatic transmission, and $1,200 for the Stak Mover. He shortened the truck frame 4 in. and welded steel brackets onto it as well as onto the Stak Mover, then bolted the Stak Mover on keeping the original wheels and axle on back. The brackets are hinged so that the back end of the Stak Mover can be tipped down to load the stack. A 2-in. dia. hydraulic cylinder raises or lowers the deck. A hydraulic pump belt-driven off the engine is used to power a hydraulic motor that drives the Stak Mover's loading and unloading chains and also operates the hydraulic cylinder. "It works even better than we thought it would," says Glebe, who made the con-version three years ago. "It took me and my brother Floyd about a week to do. We built it because our hay land is several miles away from where we feed our cattle. We had been hauling them on a tractor-pulled Stak Mover, but it went slow and I didn't want to use my tractor just to haul hay. Now I can travel 25 to 30 mph on the road. I could go faster but any loose hay might blow off. To load the stack I pull on a flow control valve that causes the electric clutch to engage the hydraulic pump. Pushing the valve in shuts off the pump. "It takes only about 20 minutes to feed the cows. After unloading the stack I back into it again and push it around so that all the cows have equal access to the hay. The result is similar to that of the original Stak Mover which unloads with a built-in slicing device and conveyor system. The deck can also hold up to three round bales. When the deck is empty the truck springs hold the Stak Mover wheels off the ground. "The only disadvantage of a truck-mounted Stak Mover is that in very muddy feeding conditions even the 4-WD truck doesn't have adequate traction so I have to use my original pull-type Stak Mover, which I kept for that reason. As a safety precaution, I rerouted the exhaust muffler out the right side of the cab and straight up to keep sparks off the hay. I also mounted lights on top of the truck cab." Glebe used 1/4-in. thick steel to make the quick-tach snow blade. It attaches with two bolts to a pair of angle iron plates that bolt on top of the Stak Mover frame. He simply tips the mover and puts the truck in reverse to clean snow out of his yard and away from the stacks. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Gleve, Rt. 1, Pickardville, Alberta, Canada TOG I WO (ph 403 349-2761).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.