Yesterday our neighbor who grows our hay for us, Bob R., brought over the first load to store in our new hay barn. If that building doesn't look finished, it's not! The metal roof started going on today and is now half done, and should be complete by the end of tomorrow. Then the metal sides will go up on the walls. We wanted to use wood siding to match the other barns, but for a building this size -- 100' x 32' -- it was just prohibitively expensive. The roof will be green and the walls white, so it will actually match our house. (Hey, at least it matches something.)
This is how Bob brings the load over ... one big 6-ton stack at a time on his hay wagon. That piece of equipment actually scoops up the bales from the ground in the hayfield first and then arranges them in a stack on the wagon bed. By the time Bob is done driving around the hayfield, he has six tons of square bales -- 160 bales total -- neatly picked up and stacked on the bed. In this photo Bob is backing up to the rear wall of the barn. He will power the bed hydraulically so it rises up vertically, tilts back, and then gently sets the stack on the ground.
It's the same idea as a dump truck, in effect. Once the stack is in place on the ground, Bob drives forward and the row of tongs slide out from underneath the stack.
We have needed a hay barn of our own for a long time, and this one will easily store our entire hay purchase, which is 125 tons this year. This barn will be almost completely filled when the last load is brought in. You can see why this hay wagon sure beats stacking all that hay by hand!
(Click on photos for larger image.)
What a barn! This is amazing that you will have all the hay needed for the winter!
Posted by: Nina | July 18, 2007 at 08:20 PM
Congratulations on your new barn! That should save you a lot of driving and extra work over the winter, good for you! Loved the sleepyhead picture yesterday too, how in the heck did he climb up there???
Posted by: Katy | July 18, 2007 at 07:27 AM
Happy hay days; congratulations on your hay barn!
It's a monster, from my point of view! We're looking forward to seeing the final green and white barn.
Posted by: Boundforglory | July 18, 2007 at 07:16 AM
Great addition.
Posted by: Shirley & James | July 18, 2007 at 12:26 AM
THAT is truly amazing. We've come a long way since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and the likes of McCormick, Whitney and John Deere!! Thank heaven for their tinkering!
Posted by: Susie from LA | July 17, 2007 at 10:04 PM