Winch-Operated Forklift Bale Mover

Winch-Operated Forklift Bale Mover HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 15-3-10 If you've been looking for an inexpensive forklift-type bale handler for your tractor 3-pt., you'll be interested in this winch-operated bale mover that uses a cable-operated lift assembly. Built by Tom Markley, Canton, Ill., it's been used for more than two years to load round bales onto trucks. "I wanted to keep weight on the rear of the tractor, rather than using a front-end loader, but most 3-pt. bale movers don't lift high enough to load a truck." Markley built the rig from scratch, using 2 by 3 by 1/4-in. box beam for the forks as well as the uprights that the forks ride up and down on. Heavier 2 by 4-in. tubing was used for the second set of uprights, which are positioned directly behind the first set of uprights and attach directly to the 3-pt. Forks ride up and down on the 2 by 3-in. uprights via 3 steel rollers per fork, two mounted behind each upright and one in front of it. A salvaged hydraulic motor mounts on top of the mast. It's fitted with a 10-tooth sprocket that chain-drives a 30-tooth sprocket connected to a 1 1/2 in. dia. steel pipe running across the width of the forklift. The pipe winches up 1/4-in. dia. cable at both ends. Cable is threaded through three 3-in. dia. pulleys, two mounted on the forks and 1 on the mast above. "Stringing the cable like this slows down the lift speed of the forks and boosts lifting capacity," says Markley. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Markley, Rt. 5, Canton, Ill. 61520 (ph 309 647-7587).

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