You've Never Seen A Bale Hauler Like This!

You've Never Seen a Bale Hauler Like This! HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 14-4-36 "I built it when my 3 boys left home and I had to start doing everything myself," says DuWayne Rader, Menahga, Minn., who built a first-of-its-kind 3-in 1 bale wagon that's unlike anything else on the market. The new bale handler transports round bales as a flatbed, self-unloads its cargo, and also transforms itself into a king-size bale feeder. The wagon has movable, hydraulic-controlled sides that move into different con-figurations as needed. When in the flat, horizontal position, the 18 1/2-ft. long wagon functions as a conventional bale carrier, handling 10 to 18 round bales depending on size. When hauling wide bales, the sides of the wagon slide outward, widening the wagon from road-legal width of 8 1/2 ft. to 10 1/2 ft. The sides of the wagon can be tilted upward to tightly hold it's load of bales, stabilizing the load. "This is a great feature, especially when hauling bales over rough fields. Keeps bales from rolling off and stabilizes the load on the wagon so it trails better," says Rader. The moveable sides of the bale wagon also drop downward to unload bales. The operator simply drops them down with hydraulics from the tractor seat, tipping the bales onto the ground. To use the wagon as a bale feeder, the two sides of the wagon tip upward from the inside, forming feed panels. A row of bales is positioned down the center of the wagon and cattle eat through the now-vertical side panels. "It makes a nifty feeder because you can move it if it gets muddy around the wagon. Also, bales are off the ground so there's less waste," says Rader, who has about 100 acres of cash crop alfalfa. 'He just finished the prototype bale hauler this spring and is already negotiating with a manufacturer to produce the patent-pending transporter-feeder. He says that unlike the prototype, production models will have a metal rather than wood bed. The hauler can be mounted on a standard 4-wheel running gear. Two hydraulic cylinders on each side of the bale hauler control tipping of the sides. The same cylinders tip the sides up and down, and also lift the sides up from the inside to convert the bale hauler to bale feeder. Sells for $4,750 with running gear and $3,500 without running gear. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, DuWayne Rader, Rt. 1, Box 185, Menahga, Minn. 56464 (ph 218 346-4568).

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