Square bale feeder attachment for flat-bed vehicles

Abstract

A preferred embodiment of a bed assembly for flat bed trucks has a square bale retriever at the rear of the flat bed that includes a pair of lift arms adapted to grasp a bale by its opposite ends and lift it up off the ground and onto a transverse feeder located at the front of the bed. Once deposited on the feeder, a pusher engages one end of the bale and pushes the bale along the feeder to progressively advance successive flakes of the bale into a discharging position off the remote end of the feeder. The bale can thus be progressively distributed one flake at a time, the frequency of flake discharge being controlled by the operator in the cab of the truck. Alternative embodiments for pushers for engaging and advancing the bale toward the discharge point are disclosed. The feeder may be utilized separate from the bed assembly and includes a ramp that causes the bale to move up an incline during feeding operations.

Description

RELATED APPLICATION [0001] This application is a division of co-pending application Ser. No. 10 / 862,680 filed Jun. 7, 2004, which is a division of Ser. No. 10 / 225,816 filed Aug. 21, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,820.TECHNICAL FIELD [0002] The present invention relates to agricultural equipment and, more particularly, to apparatus for handling and feeding bales of hay to livestock, especially large square bales that comprise a series of rectangular flakes of compacted crop materials. BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY [0003] Prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,325 owned by the assignee of the present invention is directed to a self-loading bed assembly for flat-bed trucks to adapt the truck to pick-up, transport, and then feed or off-load one or more big round bales. The actuating mechanism for the bale lifting arms of the device is located underneath the bed, and the lift arms are designed to slip down into recesses in the bed when the arms are in a stored position so that the arms are substantially flus...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0006] In one embodiment of the invention, a square bale feeding bed assembly has a transverse feeder at the front end of the bed within the reach of the bale lift arms. Thus, the lift arms that swing down from the back end of the bed to retrieve a bale can be used to lift a square bale from the ground and deposit it on the feeder for transport to the feeding site. At the feeding site, the feeder is periodically engaged to advance the square bale endwise toward one side of the bed, at which point the individual flakes of the bale successively fall off the feeder and onto the ground. Discharge of the flakes is aided by the use of a discharge station on the feeder that is at the receiving end of a conveyor for the bale and by a special separator associated with that station that underlies each flake as it is presented to the station and engages the bottom of the flake and projects it outwardly off the feeder for gravitation to the ground. Feeding is also aided by the fact that the feeder incorporates a ramp that is normally raised into an upwardly inclined operating position for feeding purposes such that the bale is advanced slightly up hill as it moves toward the discharge end of the feeder. This arrangement is particularly beneficial in preventing more than one flake from feeding at a time.

Problems solved by technology

However, it is economically unsound for many small farmers and ranchers to obtain single-purpose equipment devoted exclusively to handling and feeding large square bales.

Feeding from a truck that can also be used for many other purposes obviously has economic advantages for the small farmer and rancher, but it is difficult for one person to do the job effectively.

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