Changed Direction on Hay Wagons for Grapple

danwi said:

Nice setup now your in business. Semis work good and your not working the snot out of them like a pickup and gooseneck. As long as you have good access to fields. Day cab with a 40 foot flat with sliding rear tandem works good. I have a 45ft. spread sometimes not as maneuverable. Just make sure you secure your loads.

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Funny you should mention the toll taken on the pickup trucks. My son's buddy was also using a gooseneck on his pickup this same day. He hit a big bump leaving the field and the tongue weight sent the gooseneck ball plate right through the bed! It won't be hauling a gooseneck anyttime soon.

I wished it was a true day cab so it had a shorter wheel base. It does have a slider hitch on it but haven't adjusted it. The trailer is 44 feet. Not all fields we have can we get a semi into them, but they are all small. We got a bunch of straps given to us but it seems you can never have enough.

IH 1586 said:

My wife was already drooling over your setup. She loves buying vehicles and I hate it. Makes for lots of arguing. Several years ago she forced me to buy this and I will say it was well worth it. This was for less than the cost of a good used running gear. She checked it out and drove it home after the auction.

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Any wife that encourages farm equipment purchases is very special so hang onto her! I was worried about my wife's reaction on getting the semi but she understands the need to automate. There are good deals out there. The truck and the wife looks good!

Hawkins2015 said:

I've really thought about doing the same. Right now, we deliver roughly 600 5x5 rounds every year and a few thousand squares on pickups and goosenecks. Can tell it's taking a toll on my 3/4 ton!

I also bought a '75 GMC 6500 with a 16' flat dump. Plan to put a pintle behind it and will have better weight capacity, but the 366 gas engine in it will be a DOG grossing that much weight.

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After using it for a week, I would highly encourage you looking into a semi after hauling 100 round bales. The semi acted like it didn't have a load on it. Listening to my pickup truck and gooseneck moan and groan and worried about something breaking made for long trips home from the hay fields. My transmission has gone out on my Chevy 3500 dually and it was my primary hauler. It is just a matter of time before yours goes out.

I actually spent about 6 months looking at semis and trailers. It all came together but I never thought I would find a decent flatbed with a title for less than $7000-$9000. This one fell into my lap at $3,000. Farmer was upgrading his liquid tank hauler and didn't want to mess with it at an auction. I used Facebook marketplace and an estate auction to find my deals. Dealers and equipment auctions are really high right now.

We will see how the rest of the season goes and I am sure I will make some adjustments but it looks promising.