Draft Horse Powered Hay Loader

[shovelhd07]

i have one of these for sale is anyone wants one it is a McCormick Deering all original in operating condition

[Hughganaught]

When oil hits $200 a barrel, we'll be doing that again.

[FirstClassSkeptic]

I used to go by one of these things, near Woodstock Virginia. It was along the road that goes down to the river, toward the fire tower. I forget the name of the road, but it started behind the Safeway store, w hich probably isn't Safeway anymore.

My friends asked me what it was, and I didn't know, but I suggested maybe a potato digger. A few years latter, I figured out that it might be a hay picker-upper. Now, thanks to this video, I can see it in action.

[onceANexile]

In Montana, they used a beaver-slide.

[KYGuyz]

I wish I had enough hay to use a beaver slide! We have small steep fields here in Kentucky. We used to stack outside but now have a barn to stack in.

[pecoslover97]

cool

[itrancesoul]

i want one loader too. can anyone send me some close-up pictures of a loader please.cool and interesting stuff, thank you for posting the video

[nquadess7]

my grandfather did the same but he used voice commands nah and hee i think. i got some of the old equiptment like hte mower and i think the other piece is some sort of tedder for hay.

[fyrefox4289]

Great to see small farmers using old methods succeeding. Keep it going. You're giving all of us wannabes hope.

[KYGuyz]

Thank you! We hope to have new videos on here soon!

[oilpatchgirl]

Aw they're beauties. There is only one thing worse than loading hay by hand and that is running a chop mill.....all that ITCHY stuff in your clothes in the heat!

[hitchmasters]

the only ones that call them a man killer never loaded by hand!!

[jakephelps01981]

my grandpa did this by his self. He said he had a team of gray percherons, a stallion and a mare that would follow the windrow. Says he made his hayfields somewhat round then raked in a big spiral and the horses would split the row and follow it around and round. Says he rarely used the lines that they drove off voice commands. His dad won the 1906 Iowa state fair pulling competition with a team of grey geldings. Since everyone in Iowa had a good team then, I think that says a lot!

[KYGuyz]

It sure sounds like your family has had some great horses! I have used this loader by myself, but I have to drive a bit, then stop and arrange the load, then drive a little further and repeat. Not ready to trust my team to walk a row by them selves.

[jakephelps01981]

I hope to be where you are at after this next hay season. Do you have the track and grab hook set up in your barn? I have the track in mine still, but I need to climb up there and make sure it will still hold a heavy load. I will need to find the hook and pulleys and ropes at an auction or something. I'm not exactly sure how it works just going off what grandpa told me. I need to see a working model. I am going to use a motor baler too.

[KYGuyz]

We have a track and grapple but have not installed it yet. Right now we still fork hay off the wagon. That is the bottle neck in the operation and the track will sure speed things up! We have a john deere 14t and can't decide whether to make it ground drive or put a motor on it. We feed loose hay to the cattle and only bale to bring down to the horses otherwise we don't really have much need for the baler. We don't intend to ever sell any hay off the farm.

[KYGuyz]

Check out Lynn Miller's book, Haying With Horses. It covers all the variable of putting hay in a barn. It will show you how to run the rigging to get your grapple working right. It also shows what types of hay carriers work best and the advantages or disadvantages of all types. It would be worth looking at.

[jakephelps01981]

I just subscribed to SFJ last month. I am going to see if the book is at the library or if they can get it. I have been wanting to read it. my e-mail is towboatjake (at) yahoo (dot) com. please let me know how it works if you make that baler ground drive! Do you have plans of some sort for that???

[KYGuyz]

We live near an Amish community that uses a number of ground drive balers and one that uses motorized balers instead. It seems the John Deere balers are best for ground drive due to the fly wheel being on the side. A lot of the Amish in Indiana are going to motorized fore carts and pto's. Ground drive balers can be bought cheap there now.