Looking for advice on hauling hay

[NFoster]

Hello all I'm looking for advice on hauling hay I have a 98 12v dually with a little work done to it pulls good and strong. i have a 40ft gooseneck dual tandem axles I just want to know how much I can haul in a load without being overloaded and having problems. I was thing like 400 bales at 50lbs each is going to put me at 20k. Is that going to be about right for number of bales and weight for the trailer. Kind of new at hauling hay been wrenching on vehicles for a while and looking at getting into something different for a while. Any and all advice will be very helpful.





Thanks Nathan

 

[jkalchik]

<grin> First of all, cash up front... ...

By 50 lb. bales, it sounds like you're talking about small square bales. You really want to confirm that weight. I haven't seen many small squares that weigh more, some people do bale smaller.

Check your tires, axles, and trailer weight plate to start figuring your gross capacity.

 

[RBeard]

Nathan, You can haul up to your GCWR legally. That determines how much/many bales you can haul. Check your owners manual for GCWR



Truck+trailer+load=not over GCWR=OK

 

[LBARTLETT]

NFoster, what kind of hay are you hauling, I bring small squares of alfalfa from where I used to live in Kansas back to Texas. I have a tandem dual 20' with a 5' dovetail w/pop-up for 25' total. 5 high I get 230 bales, 6 high I get 270 bales. The alfalfa weighs 65# so with 270 I have about 17,500#'s of hay with the total rig pushing 29,000#. With 230 bales hay is about 15,000#'s and the rig weighs approx. 26,500#.



With prairie hay or costal you'll weigh less of course as most of it weighs 45-55#'s. I've found I cannot make money hauling hay plus the hassle of selling it. I just sell enough to a few good neighbors/customers to pay for the fuel on what I feed plus I get to see friends and grandchildren in Kansas. I pay $7/bale and sell for $12/bale while the feed stores where I live charge $13 or $14 a bale.



PM me where you live in Texas if you want to. You're going to be 33k plus give or take counting your truck & trailer with 400 bales. If you get much over that you're going to really be hard on your truck. You might want to start with around 300 and see how you get along. I went from the 270 bale loads to the 230 because it's easier on my and my truck.



Good Luck

 

[JCasper]

Dang, where are you getting these light bales.



All the junk we haul around here is 100-110 per bale.

 

[LBARTLETT]

2 wire/string bales in Kansas & oklahoma, you guys have the 3 string bales like Calif. don't you? I'm too old for those anymore

 

[RVTRKN]

I'll assume you have no warranty on the truck, so you can haul the weight allowed per axle rating to include your truck axle ratings. Per the law you can ignore the Dodge GCVWR ratings as long as you stay within the axle ratings which are on the drivers door or frame. These ratings are the true value allowed by law. You must also follow the axle ratings per the trailer individual ratings



Estimated not actual (for example)



front/steering axle #4000

Rear/drive axle #6000

___________________________



trailer axle #8000

X 2 axles per trailer= #16000

___________________________



Total legal load= #26000



Now you must have the proper license & registration for hauling that much weight and you can pull that all day long with the CTD. The transmission now is a different story, unless you have the 5spd. A very important step not to forget, is have it weighed per axle by a certified CAT scale before you go through the scales. :-laf



OBTW Dont forget the Goose neck pin weight will add to both the front and rear axles and to keep that in mind when you precalculate the load, so you don't have to go through the scale several times causing you to reload. Once you have the setup correct you will always know how many #50 bales you can load, and where to place them on the trailer to even the load per axle.

Hope this helps.

 

[LBARTLETT]

really excellent post answer RVTRKN, explained it in the way it really needed answered

 

[GAmes]

Your 40 ft trailer weight rating plus the weight rating of your CTD will almost certainly be more than 26,001 pounds which will also require you to have a CDL. Don't forget the USDOT number, commercial insurance and IFTA. At a buck or two profit per bale I don't see any real income here.

 

[MMeier]

Your 40 ft trailer weight rating plus the weight rating of your CTD will almost certainly be more than 26,001 pounds which will also require you to have a CDL. Don't forget the USDOT number, commercial insurance and IFTA. At a buck or two profit per bale I don't see any real income here.

That is provided he plans on running legit in the first place.

 

[USMCBay]

Hello all I'm looking for advice on hauling hay...



Thanks Nathan

:-laf:-lafDon't SMOKE:-laf:-laf



Seriously though - if DOT pulls you over those tickets can add up really fast at $200+ each. From Fire Extinguishers, Stickers, DOT Inspections, to strap positions and distances, INSURANCE... it's not hard at all. And they can be zero tolerance on you with the things you honestly don't know.



They won't look at you as a "good ole boy" just trying to make some $$ - they look at you like you are screwing all of the other guys who are doing it to the letter of the law...



Just something to consider.

 

[JCasper]

2 wire/string bales in Kansas & oklahoma, you guys have the 3 string bales like Calif. don't you? I'm too old for those anymore

Yup, the last stuff I hauled for my Fatehr-in-laws hay burners were 3 string 110Lb bales.



Luckily they are all tractor loaded.

 

[kcv67]

When we make cow chow here we try to keep the bales at 100#. Some times they creep up to 120#. They are the 16"x18" two stringers set up for the two wide stack.





Casey

 

[HBarlow]

Hello all I'm looking for advice on hauling hay I have a 98 12v dually with a little work done to it pulls good and strong. i have a 40ft gooseneck dual tandem axles I just want to know how much I can haul in a load without being overloaded and having problems. I was thing like 400 bales at 50lbs each is going to put me at 20k. Is that going to be about right for number of bales and weight for the trailer. Kind of new at hauling hay been wrenching on vehicles for a while and looking at getting into something different for a while. Any and all advice will be very helpful.


Thanks Nathan

The best advice I can offer is, 1) realize that what you are contemplating doing is commercial hauling subject to state and federal DOT regulations and the laws of each state you travel through and, 2) visit your local Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent office and pick up a copy of your state's commercial motor vehicle laws handbooks and read it BEFORE you begin. The fines you will likely encounter will change your entire outlook on the idea.

 

[SRadke]

Out west here anybody commercial is handling their bales mechanically. This requires a much tighter heavier bale. 80-100 lb 16"x18" bales (2 string) and 110-150 lb 16"x24" bales (3 string). The small time guys that do things by hand run 45-65 lbs with 2 string bales.

-Scott

 

[LBARTLETT]

more QH's per mile around Gainesville Texas than anywhere in the world, lots around Dallas and where I live too, hay is traded per bale rather than per ton, the 55# to 70# bales bring the producer much more money than the per ton amount they get from cattle producers, the lighter bales allow many more bales per load than the heavier bales plus the women (who control the $$$$$) like the lighter bales although the are paying up to $465 per ton retail when you do the math, lots of people down here go to the feed store weekely and buy 3 or 4 bales, very different than what I was used to when I lived in Kansas, just info. is all this is, the fellow I get my hay from all of his 2nd and 5th cuttings end up down here for horse hay, 1st cutting is too tough and 3rd and 4th there is the risk of blister beetles, he harvests those cuttings totally different because it ends up in a different market, everyone have a great day and this has been an interesting thread

 

[Mhannink]

yeah here in the central valley in cali its all 100 to 150 lb bales 3 string and at the feed store level its all handeled by hand. we do as many as 64 on a 12ft by 8ft flatbed thats heavy. the funny thing is ya'll over there have little 50lbers well we have some sudan grass bales that are PACKED think 150 to 200 lbs in a very small cube. they put them in shipping containers and send them to asia

 

[LBARTLETT]

it's all in the market isn't it, I about died to hear what they were getting down here for alfalfa until I got here but they just can't riase any due to too much rain, I mainly just feed what I haul but I do sell a little to my friends and save thema a couple of bucks, there was a guy in Kansas who had a little machine that made a hay bale about 1/2 the size of a loaf of bread and then wrapped it in plastic and sold it to pet store chains to people to feed their pet rabbits, etc. , shipped all over the US, talk about making a killling!!!! my hay guy sold a load that went with a bunch of diary heifers that went to Japan by ship so they had something to eat on the trip. everyone have a great day.

 

[cksh8me]

Depending on where you live you can get by some DOT regs by buying the hay yourself and reselling it. Now you aren't hauling for hire you are hauling your own stuff.



I've never heard of 50 bales even 2 stringers, but your math will put you over your gvw with your trailer and truck.



Ok good advice for hauling hay. Get a good hay apron. Good hay hooks, Positive attitude.



I don't know about everybody handling their bales mechanically in the west. Craig Carver out of Winnemucca, Nevada hauls a truck load or a load and a half a day by himself. Short hauls maybe travels a 100 miles all day. I'm not talking about a goose stuck on a pickup either he's hauling on a truck and trailer. Not too bad for a guy 60 plus years old.



If he gets a flat tire he doesn't just change the tire he fixes it and puts it back on and runs with it.

 

[LBARTLETT]

there are some tough old birds out there, went to a farm one time and this guys wife was loading a semi of small squares by herself!! It's a wonder someone wasn't killed in that divorce, she was in her 40's, he in his 60's, anyway, I run farm tags in Tx. but I still need to get my Class A for the weight (need to get that done). I unload everything in my barn and feed most of what I haul but I try to sell enough marked up hay to pay for the fuel on what I keep and feed, this has been a very interesting thread although to haul comercially in my opinion there is no money in it, my guy has been selling hay for years and says I am the first pickup/trailer to ever get a 2nd load (many returning semi's). Most people it only takes one load to figure out you aren't going to get rich hauling the amount of hay you can get on a tandem dual gooseneck, at 55 yr. s old the 55lb to 70lb bales fit me fine as I go 8 high in the barn, any heavier than that I'd be hiring it done however it's hard to find someone that will work that hard anymore! everyone have a great day