Loader Bale Handling

Might depend on the make. The roller type one here is fairly old but the spikes underneath the rollers are quite short. I wouldn't be using it to handle bales of silage in the winter as I think they might be likely to fall off the end (or else go in bits if handling them with net only after the plastic is cut off)

Trunk is a better job though. I don't know how the soft hands works as regards packing tightly side-to-side on a trailer but never had an issue getting the trunk back down down the centre between the bales. There would always be enough of a gap in behind them no matter how tight you thought you had them.

You would want to be confident (and justifiably so) before making up anything to handle silage bales. Especially if you are going to be out walking around them cutting plastic or net off them. I'm sure you are yourself, but I wouldn't be recommending it in general to the average punter.

I bought a tr3 from jm agri last summer. €1950 inc vat direct from jm agri. I love it. I haven't even dreamt of taking out the roller since.

Stacking bales of hay or straw in the shed I just use the old tine grab. Just do a quick tot on how many wraps you handle a year and you won't be long making your mind up. See if any neighbours have one and ask to see it in action

I did have one yes. Good job but hard to explain till you’ve used it. Johnstons we’re selling them for 1250 the week of Black Friday don’t know what they are now

Have used them all. Have an old Rossmore roller type which should be on done deal sooner, borrowed the soft hands of a neighbour and will only used the trunk type handling bales and stacking now. When feeding them, it's just the tine grab and take the hassle of hopping up and down opening them in the passageway. I have no round feeders but what some guys locally do is cut the plastic of the end of the bale and drop it in then pull it up over the bale. One chap even flicks the plastic off with the tines of the grab

@limo_100 forgot to mention theyre not chopped.

The accumulator can burst......but more likely is that the pressure in them just goes and they become useless anyway.

Some loader manufacturers tell you explicitly to turn it off when under load, and others appear to advertise along the lines of "makes your travel smoother even when under heavy load" or similar.

Can you re-pressurize them yourself? We have one here that I'd say would need to be done. I can't see us getting any part for 60-150 Euro ............ had to replace the headstock on it a year or two ago and it cost about 1500 or something!

I had a soft hands, gona go with a tr3. Who's the best to make them

how much is the nugent one these days?

I have a nugent one and it’s getting a bit shook but it has served me well.