Hay Hay Hay

 I've always (well, okay, not always, but for many years, probably more than fifteen) wanted a hay elevator on wheels.  They just seem so much easier for a woman to use than one that you have to drag around and lift into place, bearing all it's weight--like the one we used to have that came to us very old,  very used, and very banged up when we started cutting our hayfield in 2006.  

That one was just barely long enough to reach from the ground to the bottom edge of the hayloft door opening.  It had an electric motor, and needed two long extension cords (because 100' was not long enough) to reach from the nearest outlet (in the garage) to the front of the barn where the base of the elevator sat while in use.  It was really heavy, and when not in use it was stored in the hayloft; which required both DH and I to get it up into (him lifting with the tractor bucket, and me trying to cantilever it over the edge of the doorway then pull it into the loft--oh how I hated that).  It also was a pain to get any hay out of the loft with it stored in there, as it took up most of the length and width of the narrow aisle between rows of hay.

I was kind of glad when that one died bad enough that DH declared it not worth fixing.  And I hoped and prayed, and looked for a good deal on a hay elevator on wheels.

Several years went by without an elevator, which meant DH stood on the hay wagon and tossed as many hay bales into the loft as he could, and the rest just had to be stored (on pallets) on the ground floor.  Late ,last summer, he got into the habit of looking at online consignment auctions within about an hour of this little place here.  And one day he surprised me with the announcement that he had been the high bidder on a hay elevator.  For $250, we were now the proud owners of an ancient New Idea hay elevator on wheels!!

It was located only about 10 miles away, so DH was able to tow it home, slowly, on the backroads.  The day it arrived at this little place here was one of the best days ever!  I had a hay elevator on wheels! My days of lugging/dragging/praying it wasn't going to pull me out of the loft a regular hay elevator were over!  I was sooooooooooooooooo glad he'd bid on this (it had been a few years since the other one croaked, and in that time he'd tried to talk me into several used elevators of the undesirable kind we'd had before).

The most beautiful thing in the world!

This elevator is pretty mammoth.  Honestly, it's longer than we need.  BUT it tows like a dream, can even be pushed by hand if we really want to, and the angle is adjustable.   I love it.  Did I mention it's on wheels?!?

Putting up hay this summer was so much easier with this wonderful hunk of metal.  What a difference in time, and body wear, tossing bales onto the elevator and letting it carry them to the loft and dump them inside makes.  I think DH and I did first cutting hay in about half the time it normally takes us.

For second cutting, DH had to be out of town, so I called in DS1 and DS2 for help.  That way I didn't have to throw a few bales on the elevator, then run up to the loft to stack them, then run down and throw and few more on, repeat ad nauseum.  K3 and Rascal came to 'help' too (Toad was at a friend's house that day).  Rascal ended up corralled in the bed of the pickup so that we didn't have to worry about him a) wandering off, b) getting too close to the PTO shaft while in operation, c) falling out of the loft, and d) in the house alone getting into things a four year old shouldn't. K3 helped in the loft for a while, dragging bales to her dad so he could stack them; and when she was tired of that she went down to help DS2 unload the wagon .

We got through the entire first wagon, and about halfway through the second wagon, when one of the chains on the elevator jumped the sprocket up at the top.  DS1 and I managed to get it back on, but after about three more bales taking the ride up from the ground to the loft, the chain jumped off again.  DS1 and DS2 set to work trying to figure out why this was happening, and found that one side of the elevator had a good three inches of slack that the other side didn't have.  Since the tensioners were froze up (rusted into position), they doubted that one side had vibrated looser than the other.  After unhooking the PTO shaft from the tractor, and beginning to manually turn it by hand while watching on the bottom end as DS1 watched (and pulled) at the top end, DS2 was able to find a broken linkage in the chain on the looser side.

UGH.  Well, it was good while it lasted.  And, it will be useful again in the future, after DH and I repair it.  But for now, the boys and I just pulled it out of the way, moved the hay wagon right up under the loft door, and DS1 tossed the remainder of the bales into the loft as DS2 handed them to him.  Being nearly 6' 4" tall really saved our bacon that day.  We were able to get all the bales up into the loft and hay season 2023 at this little place here has officially come to an end. Phew!

Later this year, or over the winter, DH and I will work on getting the linkage replaced (and see if we can bust loose the tensioners that are rusted over).  We should be good to go again when it's time to put up next year's hay.