[AT] Semi-O.T. One man baling?

[Robinson]

	I have been thinking further about the big flat sled
I mentioned earlier. We used to use one many years ago
that as a kid I thought was huge. In reality it was
probably about 6' x 10' and stood about 8 inches tall.
The advantage of the low deck is of course when
picking bales up off the ground how much easier it is
to not have the first layer already 3 feet off of the
ground like on a wagon. Also you don't have to keep
climbing off and on the wagon, just a simple normal
height step.
	The down side is that the sled would do a fair amount
of damage to the turf. It had occurred to me to make
one but to use two skinny runners on each side and use
a row of smallish round faced wheels between the two
like in-line skates. In soft spots the runners could
take over. The wheels that John Deere uses for gauge
wheels on the lawn tractor mowers jump to mind or
maybe something a bit wider and heavier.
	Then I got to thinking about making a "very" lo
trailer patterned somewhat like the big trailer here:
http://www.arnes.com/lowbed2.html
	Picture one made in this style but of course a little
lighter with only one axle on the rear and a dolly
axle under the front. For my purpose the deck could be
less than a foot off of the ground. Bales could also
be stacked on the rear deck and over the dolly wheels.
The bottom of the side rails could have wide skid
plates for crossing humps and ridges. As a piece of
slow speed farm equipment it could be a bit wider than
legal trailer width if needed.
	The next thought is to just use a regular hay wagon
to build it but cut it out in the middle, stretch it
out and make a very low platform in the middle. Done
that way it could still be used as a wagon to pull
behind the baler when help was available and would
just hold that many more bales.
	Just wandering around...




"farmer"

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Francis Robinson
Central Indiana, USA
robinson at svs.net