Custom hauling of round bales

[tweaker101]

I was thinking of getting our bales hauled off the field and stacked in the yard this year by the custom haulers. Any ideas what they charge for this ie. how much per bale? or is a flat hourly rate? any thoughts would be appreciated.

[smcgrath76]

We no longer haul our own bales. They
usually charge a flat cost per bale and
then the price goes up as you add
distance. There are a few outfits
around here that run self-picking/self-
unloading trucks.
Generally they are around $3 per bale.
If they are picking and hauling 4-5
miles distance I would figure around $6
a bale or so.
The biggest difference is that they are
fast. The guy this summer moved 650
bales between 1 and 4 miles in under a
day and a half. It would have taken us
2 weeks solid with our truck and
tractor.

[tweaker101]

3.00/bale don't sound to bad when you consider that to rent a bale trailer is about 650/day plus the tractor/fuel/wages, so I think my idea on hiring out this task is a good idea.

[ALLFARMER]

I bought a converter for $500 cut off the pintle ring and put a regular hitch on it. Now I can turn on a dime pulling about a 48' trailer. And I don't worry about busted tie rod arm in deep snow or mud. Also I have no jack for the converter so when I nead to move closer too more bales I just give the wagon a push. When I am ready to hook up I back the tractor so the hitch hole is just above the converter hitch holes, get off the tractor swing the hitch to the side a little the use a jack all to lift the converter hitch about 3 jack clicks swing the tractor hitch back into place and drop in the pin. I haul 25 bales with this unit and the only draw back is almost no weight on the tractor back axle. But it turns great and wont break. No custom haulers in this area...1/3 of the cattle farmers have quit.