Faced with the need to quickly come up with a bale unroller, Karl Oysmueller, Pink Mountain, B.C., built one that fits inside a front-end loader bucket.

A solid rectangular frame bolts to the bucket. Triangular-shaped arms, fitted with bale spears, mount to the frame on heavy hinges. A pair of hydraulic cylinders move the arms in or out.

"We had a drought last year so there was a big demand for feed. We had a lot of leftover fescue straw which we made into round bales. However, many of the bales came out loose and ragged and therefore couldn't be transported long distances. We built the unroller so we could unroll the bales in a uniform layer on the ground and then rebale them," says Oysmueller.

"To unroll the bale, we grab it in the middle, cut the strings, and roll it out. The more downpressure applied, the thicker the layer of straw."