Installing and Using Hay Trolley on New Dairy Barn (Building Dairy Barn #17) 

Believe it or not, we’re not the only ones in our valley putting up loose hay with a trolley! Haha! And we’ve since learned of many others doing the same thing all over the country! It’s a good system, tried and true. We like it. Thanks for watching!

old time engineer Yes Sir I did the same thing, it was my job to drive the tractor pulling the main rope. I remember the rope being a lot bigger than 3/4 maybe even 1.25. Those were the good days

Thank you for your support! We appreciate the kind comments!

Thank you neighbor! We enjoyed your pictures of putting up hay! We can only take on so much at a time, but we look forward to introducing draft animals to our hay making system someday. I hope to start working on our #9 this winter.

Thanks for the kind comments! I love the older equipment. In general, I feel it is made better than much of today’s equipment. And when it does break, it is easier to repair. Parts can sometimes be an issue, but again with the older equipment, most of the parts are less intricate, and can be either fabricated on the farm, or at the local machine shop. No, there will not be a loft. We decided we wanted the mow on the same level as the cows (although the floor does slope to the back so nothing from the cows can run into the hay.) Just like when we did outside stacks, we did use cattle panels to make a hoop to contain the hay, although this hoop is much bigger! As far as the glass milk bottles, we have friends who bottle milk in glass bottles, and we couldn’t imagine any other way! They are making a resurgence! We do farm tours for small groups right now, practicing good social distancing and such, and that is going well. We have details on our website. Things are busy right now, especially with haying still going on, but don’t worry, they’ll be more videos! Stay tuned!

@@vnthomas16 you two really ROCK!! You are so quick with responding to comments and questions......which is really awesome! Another advantage of using the older equipment, you usually do not have all of that complicated computer type parts!! And the fact you have already found yourselves a fabricator is awesome!! I'm so happy for you both! Being able to do what you're doing, is truly amazing! I guess I will need to check your website prior to asking my questions!! Lol. I have never been out your way before. Maybe I should try to plan a trip, one of these years, out your way, so I can get in on one of those tours!!! That would be so cool!!! Please keep up the amazing work you and your animals are doing! I do look forward to each and every video y'all post. Thank you for all the hard work you do........between the farm itself, to the various sections of your farm - cows, calves, milking, putting up hay, land/pasture management, processing, bottling, selling your milk, building (barns, sheds, house, & garage) management & upkeep, cooking, cleaning, time for the two of you to have together, oh and the real elusive one - SLEEP!!!!! Then there is the whole RU-vid part. I'm not sure how y'all do everything. I know thank you doesn't begin to cover it, but thank you for all you do, for allowing all of us a glimpse into your farm and your lives. Everything you do, EVERYTHING, is very much appreciated!!! Hope you are having a great day!! 💞😍🐄🥛🚜📸🛠😍💞

Thanks!!

“Back in the day?!?”... It’s a game changer for us this year! Haha! Last year we did use the grapple on the front-end-loader of the blue tractor to help with unloading, but the hay trolley is amazing! Yes, the door breaking was a downer, and if we could have gotten it closed a minute earlier we would have been all ok, but Mother Nature had different plans! She’s very unforgiving! But, it’s repaired and reinforced, so all is well. Thanks for watching!

Thank you very much! We appreciate your support!

Yes, every time I go by an old barn, I look to see if the trolley is still there! We’re glad we could put an old trolley back to work! Thank you for your support, and thanks for watching!

Thank you for sharing your memories! Believe it or not, we’re not the only ones putting up loose hay in our valley! Thanks for watching!

Should put the state of Washington on my bucketlist

I’m pretty sure I don’t have the hand-eye coordination to be a trapeze artists! Plus, I don’t like heights (even though it seems half our videos have me on a ladder, or a roof, or a giant pile of hay! Haha!). We love that you love our channel!

Seems like a lot of extra work! I don’t plan to move the hay from the stack until it’s going to the cows! Haha!

Thank you for sharing your memories! We appreciate it! Thanks!

Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed the video!

There were some behemoth hay trolleys out there. Some even used wire rope! Thanks for watching!

Thank you! We’ve been packing that trolley around for a while, so I’m glad to finally get it up and put to use!

Yes, I (Virginia) have terrible grass allergies...which is ironic, of course! During hay season, I have an inhaler, use a saline nasal rinse, and either allergra or claratin. Once the worse of the pollen and dust is gone I'm better the rest of the year. Thanks for watching and feedback!

Well thank you for your lovely comment!

Thank you for your support! We try and do as many videos as we can. Thanks for watching,

Glad you enjoyed it! We someday plan to add lightning rods to the barn, including a cool weathervane! Thanks for watching!

Thank you! And thanks for watching!

I believe we had four wagon loads of Alfalfa. It was first cutting, so it was a bit course, besides the fact that we couldn’t cut it when we wanted due to weather, and then it lodged also due to weather, so it was a challenge to cut. But, the second cutting is coming in beautifully! Hope to cut again at the end of the week! We thought about trying to separate the alfalfa out, but then decided to go with the layering technique! Haha! So right now it’s grass/alfalfa/grass... and then we plan to put some more alfalfa on top. I think it will work out fine, as we want to feed out grass and alfalfa as a mix. It may vary, but we try and get the layers even. Oh, and yes, my rigging experience from the CG has been very beneficial to my farming career! Barn smells great! Thanks for watching!

You’re welcome, and thank you for your service as well! Do you know what kind of trolley you have in your barn? Hay trolleys are pretty neat and have quite a following, so you might just have a collector’s item hanging in your barn! Thanks for watching!

Je vous remercie! Nous aimons l'agriculture. Nos vaches améliorent les prairies. (Thank you! We love farming. Our cows make the meadows better.)

Thank you! I’ve seen the “swing and release” technique before, but I don’t know if I’d want to add that much stress to my system! After all, I did most of my own engineering! Haha!

@@vnthomas16 Good point, I know when he did that the barn was just a rocking, LOL.

Thank you! We will! We appreciate your support!

We have a Hesston 530 (MF 1734) round baler that works great!

Thanks! ;)

It does! We’re very happy with it! Thanks for watching!

We are too! The weather has not been very cooperative this year! Thanks for watching!

Thank you! Yes, love the smell of fresh hay! It’s stored sunshine! Thanks for watching!

Thanks for the kind words of support! We appreciate it! Stay tuned, more to come!

Thank you!

I feel that putting up loose hay is actually less work than when we baled hay. In fact, many of the hay trolley manufacturers offered a winch as part of their lineup to use in lieu of a horse or a tractor!

@@vnthomas16 I bet one off an old well drilling rig would work perfectly.

Yeah, we thought about it, but this video was mostly on the hay trolley, so we had to edit it for time. As a result, the actual haymaking process was very abbreviated. I guess we figured since we had other videos on it, it would be ok. I can see though how if this is someone’s first time watching our channel they could get confused. Thanks for your insight, and watching of course!

if y’all are not subscribed I would love one more at Heddings Farm

Thanks, we’ll check it out!

Rope walks require... well... a lot of walking! Haha! Interestingly, the oldest trademark in the US belongs to, and is still used by, Samson Cordage. I have no problem buying my ropes. Today’s cordage is vastly superior to anything someone could make on the farm. Of course, I still use my fair share of baling twine!

Thanks for sharing your memories! I’ve heard about the water cooling tanks for milk from my Dad and Grandpa, back in the days of milk cans. I bet that was brain freeze! Haha! Yes, there were lots of different trolley manufacturers and even lots of models within a manufacturer back in the day. Our trolley, a “Boomer” is a common trolley today, which meant it was popular back then. Trolleys were only popular if they worked well! So a rare, collectible trolley today means that it probably wasn’t very good at it’s job! Thanks for watching!

Great question! Alfalfa, and all hay really, just needs to be dry before being put up for hay. It’s the moisture that causes spontaneous combustion (and mold, for that matter). Loose hay is a little more forgiving than baled hay, but is still something to be taken very seriously. We’re blessed with hot temperatures and low humidity in our area for haymaking, so it usually goes pretty well. Actually, Alfalfa can be damaged if it is put up too dry, as you get “leaf shatter”, meaning has the hay is jostled about, the leaves fall off the stem. Most of the nutritional value is in the leaves. The cows can actually pick through the alfalfa, eating the leaves, but leaving the stems. We usually use the stems in their bedding. Thanks for watching!

Thanks!

No, no loft. We like everything on one level. Will moisture come up through the floor? Possibly. But the concrete is nearly a year old now, and even if we lose a few of the bottom inches, our loss will be much less than when we did outdoor haystacks just on the dirt. Everything is a science experiment in farming, so if the loss this year is unacceptable, then next year we’ll try something different, maybe a plastic vapor barrier under the hay for example. Time will tell! Thanks for the great question and thanks for watching!

We thought about that, as that is a very popular hay mow door design (for good reason, as you noted) but decided against it as we’d have to pad out the entire door structure to clear the door rails below it since we have a relatively short barn. We added some additional bracing so I’m not concerned about the doors in the future. Thanks for watching!

I don’t know! I guess we’ll find out by Spring! Haha! Every year I feel like we don’t have enough hay. Just the way it goes I suppose! Thanks!

I would assume loose hay is easier to cure in the barn with a higher moisture content than are bales. You can't stack either permanently until thoroughly cured, but loose hay you can work and dry under the roof regardless of the weather in the field

Yes, with loose hay you can work with a slightly higher moisture content (you still have be careful you don’t burn your barn down!). As far as storage, you could probably fit in a little more baled hay, and nothing says we can’t stack bales hay in there in the future, but loose hay will self compress under its own weight and become surprisingly dense. You can get a lot more loose hay in a space than you think! Great question though, and we appreciate your support!

Hello! We used to bale, but then we switched to loose hay. Frankly, at our scale I don’t think I would go back. I actually find it less labor intensive than baling since we use machines to both load and unload the hay. It’s all about economies of scale though... If I were bigger, of course it would make sense to bale, and have a harrowbed to solve the loading and unloading issues, or put up in the large squares. Believe it or not, we’re not the only one in the valley putting up loose hay! Are you still in the Colville Valley?

Yes, not a fan of round bales!

Great question! We have a 1940’s John Deere hayloader. We pull it behind the hay wagon through the field, where it picks up the hay and then pushes it up a ramp to dump it on the wagon. If you check out our hay videos from last year or the year before, you can see it in action! Thanks for watching!

Great question! We didn’t show it, but for the first few loads of hay, we backed the wagon in and just pitched it off the sides. We use a large metal hoop to contain the hay, so once we close that in, we can’t get a wagon in there anymore. Thanks for watching!

Thanks!

I’ve thought about it. Our trolley isn’t designed to be used with slings, I kinda just make it work. The forks do a pretty good job, but can’t get the floor of the wagon very clean, hence the sling. I may make another on the future. We’ll see. Thanks for sharing!

Yup, the pile gets too high. When the barn is full, the hay in the grapple will actually drag across the top of the pile. For the first few loads, we do sometimes back in the hay wagon and just shove it off, but it quickly gets too deep. Great question and thanks for watching!

We just used some flat stock as fish plates between the two angles. Thanks for watching!

Great questions! So actually, we used to bale, but than transitioned to loose hay. I find putting up loose hay much more enjoyable than moving hay bales (Pretty much anything is better than moving hay bales! Haha!). I have a machine to pick the hay up out of the field and deposit it 9n the wagon, and now I have a machine to lift it off the wagon and deposit it in the barn! The loose hay will self-compress under its own weight and become surprisingly quite dense. Not quite as dense and a bale of hay, but close. So for us, the storage issue is quite marginal. Back when we did bale hay, we also sold hay, so obviously if you’re treating hay as a commodity, than bales are the way to go. But, we don’t sell hay anymore, and all of our hay equipment now cost less than just a baler by itself, so there is an economical standpoint as well. Thanks for the kind comments and we appreciate your support! Thanks for watching!

I'll take a guess about the answer. For us, we feed outside only (beef cattle) and have more heads so bales make sense. We only feed hay so we have to have a lot of it (over a hundred round bales, plus a supply of small squares for sheep and anything that needs to be in the barn only for short periods). We store the round bales outdoors currently. We need machinery that can deal with heavy snow loads and transporting it to different parts of the winter pasture. We keep and maintain a lot of old haying machinery which is costly in time and money (and we certainly don't run farming as a profit business). They can use even older equipment that they've restored to make less but higher quality hay, store it inside, and feed it primarily (I think?) inside, at least during inclement weather. They don't need machinery to feed (which I covet, haha). To me it feels more sustainable, besides extra neat to see the whole integrated plan. But I'm sure there is more to it :)

@@vnthomas16 makes perfect sense. I handled several million (a slight exaggeration) as a kid so I feel your pain. Besides it makes a great swing!

Douglas Allison our sling release doesn’t have a name on it, but I’ve seen both Hudsons and Myers that look very similar and seem to operate the same. Before I found this on eBay, I did look into modern quick-release hooks. I used Sea Catch in the Coast Guard, and they work really well, but are very expensive. If I hadn’t been able to find an actual hay sling release, I probably would have tried a Wichard snap-shackle. I think it would work, but never tried it. Good luck!

@@vnthomas16 thank you for responding and your time

Hope you find what you need!

I guess I’m confused by your comment. From 11:49 through 12:38, the footage is all taken from inside the barn and shows multiple drops. Could you please elaborate on what you wanted to see? Thanks!

Thanks!