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Big Bale Handler Clears Fields Fast
The Bale Handler picks up big square bales and big round bales quickly and easily, hauling as many as 12 large square bales from the field at a time. With its 3 sets of hydraulically activated bale spears, it grabs bales in the row with no need to crisscross the field. It can even load a mixture of big square and round bales on the same load.

    “I got the idea after helping my cousin pick up bales with a tractor and wagon and a skid loader,” notes Paul Derstine, inventor. “There are a number of bale loaders out there, and they all work the same - an arm flips down and loads the bale from the front. You’re often limited in the size of bale they will handle, and they work best when you drive across the field.”

    Derstine’s concept lets the operator drive down the row of bales as they were dropped in the field, stab a bale, pick it up and set it on the rack.    

    “I’ve picked up nine 2,700-lb. round bales in a single load and carried them down the farm lane at a good speed without a problem,” says Derstine. “The Bale Handler is built extra strong to handle roto-cut silage bales.”

    Derstine shares credit for the Bale Handler with friend and business partner, Lavern Hoover. It is Hoover who builds the units.

    “It is really a collaboration between us,” says Derstine. “It took us about 2 years to develop the concept and build a few prototypes.”

    The final product is a trailer about 30 ft. long. The 2-in. hydraulic cylinders with their 16-in. reach push the 4-ft. spears into bales as the trailer pulls alongside. Once speared, 5-in. cylinders with 2-ft. reach push the speared bales up and over the rack. Radial flotation tires help minimize compaction.

    Derstine says the biggest challenge was making a loader that would work with both square and round bales. The dual option has proven popular.

    “The last customer we sold one to makes 1,200 big squares and 1,500 round bales in a year,” says Derstine.

    The Bale Handler is priced at about $19,500. For a limited time it is being offered at an introductory price of $18,400.

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bale Handler, N15635 Cty. Rd. E, Curtiss, Wis. 54422 (ph 715 654-0014).




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2019 - Volume #43, Issue #2