My barn was built in 1941, it does not have any provisions for loose hay loading into the barn loft. For years I have kicked around a pulley system, KM offered to help design a trestle in the loft, but I have a nice straight barn and really hate the thought of cutting into an end and causing a collapse or weakening the structure for use of probably only when I am the caretaker of it. So,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if I were to modify an ear corn elevator with 3' slanted slides, would the weight of the hay pitched into the elevator cause the paddles to push the hay up into the loft or do you think it will just sit there and run under the hay? Ideas, thoughts, suggestions are greatly anticipated and welcomed.

Sounds like a disaster to me unless you like raking loose hay under an elevator!

In my opinion, there are only 2 ways to handle loose hay in a barn. One is to drive it into the haymow and distribute it by hand. The other is with a hay fork on a pulley track pulled up and throughout the barn with a rope and a horse or several very strong kids. Of course, you can also set up hay stacks outside.

I've always wondered about putting a hay loader up to the loft of the barn, jacked up a bit so that the wheels are just off the ground, then put a pulley belt on one wheel and turn the wheel off a motor. I believe one person could fork hay into the pick up and the loader would then push hay up to the loft where a second person could spread and stack the hay. Has anyone tried this?

the way you want to do it is to use a elevator without a chain in it set it up to the barn set the baler in front of it so the shoot lines up no twine in the baler no tenshion and disconect the needles a john deere baler works the best and pitch the hay into the baler comes out the back and the baler plunger pushes the hay up the eleavator and into the barn and it is realy nice to feed that way it is precut

Jerry I have a parts loader and have looked at it thinking about narrowing it and running it off of an engine. Googling "loose hay elevator" brings this up,

So, it must have happened, wonder if it wasn't popular or came near the end of the loose hay era. As Nora stated, "there are only 2 ways to handle loose hay in a barn". I want to doubt that statement. I have looked at a conveyor belt system and thought of the V shaped sides making a trough. Hammy (then it sold so that option is gone).

So, with an ear corn elevator and sides shaped into a V, if it doesn't work, bolting a couple of modified hay rake teeth to every third paddle, just wondering out loud and using all of you for a sounding board and for your ideas.

Several years ago I sent you some pictures how you could roll the hay up with slings. The door would have to about 5 high by 10 feet at the floor of the hay mow. Never seen that done, but I pulled a lot of slings both ways with a track. Set up right; you could move it the length of your barn, then reset the the ropes in the hayloft and add a second layer at least.

I like the beaverslide.

Seems to me the conveyor idea you have, Jonathan, would work best with shorter hay, rather than longer. But I'm thinking it wouldn't cost a great deal of time or money to try it out. If you don't like it, you will take the modification off, and still have the conveyor plus some sheets of plywood to use for something.

Jerry from MN, that is a neat idea and will keep it in the back of my mind. Neighbors know I am nuts, but baling hay without twine, they might send a padded wagon for me!!!!
Don, yes, still have those pictures, but like with KM, so much infrastructure would have to be changed and added. Then cutting that size doorway out of the front of the barn. I don't want to weaken an existing strong barn if there is another option. With an elevator the thought is, with one of the son in laws loading the wagon, if I can get the hay on wagons, at my leisure (because the elevator could be set up under a leanto) I can unload wagons on my own at my own pace.

T Payne, actually for the sides am thinking metal (horizontally from a pole barn) to reduce weight and friction.

Great ideas, keep them coming as they do make me look at this project from different angles/perspectives.

i learned that trick from the amish in our area

Seems to me a cor elevator slightly modified with some teeth (think old side delivery rake teeth) pieces welded onto the paddles would do the trick. Not sure of clearance issues as I don't have one handy to look at. That would solve your problem about it running under the hay.

Note: I totally ganked that idea from the picture above ;)

Tom

And that was supposed to read "corn" elevator....

Tom, I deciphered the cor into corn, but the "ganked" has me flumoxed!!!!!

And yes, many of the corn elevators have a "belly pan" that if I add "teeth" to the paddles, I'll have to remove or cut that belly pan open to eliminate problems.

I have seen loose hay blown into a loft with what appeared to be a modified silage blower but I wasn't close enough to see exactly but it was definitely a blower of some sort

"Ganked" : Word in my vocabulary of unknown origin for stole.... or something along those lines.

I remember my father in law, who grew up in here (E. Ky) in the 40's and 50's telling me about laying boards between the tier rails in the 'baccer barn to make a loft and blowing fodder up their. I will have to research further.

Tom

I had talked about blowing loose hay into a barn with one of my older neighbors. He remembered farmers doing that here at one time, but he claimed there was a fear of fire. There was a believe that combustion was more likely from blowing hay in and it was stopped. From what I gathered, the blowing caused the dust in the hay to become more combustible and could be ignited by static.

How about a square bale elevator? It might work with small forks of hay; my question is if it would drop loose hay at the top or try to bring it back down.

Don, you have hit on the concern I have about putting anything protruding from the paddle of a ear corn elevator. I will assume it is a world of angles that carries the hay up but releases it upon the flip at the end of the conveyor. So wondered about putting the modified hay rake teeth on backwards. Don't know, ideas anyone?

You can take two ear elevaters, mount them face to face like the canvass on a binder that elevates the stalks to the knotter. One chain on top and one on the bottom would take hay up. To do it right, use conveyer belting instead of chain.
You could use the blower off a seperater and just blow your hay also.