Moving yards and yards of material, a hay wagon?

I've got a 39hp Kubota, it's rated to pull about 5000 pounds.

I've always got lots of stuff (yards and yards of it), to move around the farm, the farm is about 2000' from south to north, so every trip takes some time.

I'm thinking about getting a small hay wagon like the picture below. (1 or 2 ton capacity). My thought is it ought to be fairly easy to unload it by using the FEL to back scrape. (I know how to be careful back scraping  )

But I'm open to other low budget approaches   If I was rich I'd get a dump trailer, but alas...

It sounds like you have a good plan.  I would shop the used market as well.

Speaking of the used market, sometimes it isn’t all that clear.  They was an old hay wagon sitting beside a shed in our area for years.  Finally, someone stopped by and asked.  After a few days of haggling, it was got cheap.

John F Dean wrote:Speaking of the used market, sometimes it isn’t all that clear.  They was an old hay wagon sitting beside a shed in our area for years.  Finally, someone stopped by and asked.  After a few days of haggling, it was got cheap.

Yeah, I've posted a wanted ad on our local community website, there might just be a used wagon or set of running gear in a field somewhere :)

It looks like there are sides that you can slide in, and that would be very important, so if you do get one 2nd hand, I'd try to get one with side rails.  Pulling it across bumpy land will dislodge any load you're pulling.  I would think you could even cover the sides with some sort of fabric or tarp, so that stuff doesn't slip through.

Honestly, I don't think that will work very well. I have a somewhat larger tractor (70hp Deere), but the reach of the loader onto/over a trailer (or anything else) is quite limited. I've hauled wood chips on a flatbed trailer before, and I ended up parking the tractor at the end and shoveling the chips into the bucket. Not something I would care to do on a regular basis.

What you really want is a good barge box, ideally with a metal box. If you watch local auctions and Craigslist you might get lucky and get a deal on one. They can go really high though, at least around here. A flare box might work too, depending on what you're hauling, but they are much more limited in terms of the weight that they can carry (they're designed for grain, and the back end usually only has a small hatch for unloading).

I ended up getting an old dump trailer from a friend, needed new tires and the hoist had to be rebuilt. I ended up going Amish and putting steel wheels on, because the size of the wheels was such that rubber was major $$$, and I don't need it to go far or fast. Between the wheels, new lug bots and nuts, and the cylinder and adapters for the hoses, I think it ended up being just over $1k.

When dealing with bulk materials, a "stone boat" or sledge is very useful. Especially if you have a tractor with a front end loader.

It's just a low platform on a couple of skids or runners. Because it's very low, it's easy on the back when you're doing hand work.

Best thing: if you can load it with a front end loader, you can also unload it by attaching your FEL to a short chain and lifting it up while backing up. Easy peasy.

The very first few things that come to mind are surface conditions and grades, particularly down hill slopes. Then would be roughness of the terrain. Your understanding of what you can pull and control with your rig has a lot to do with how long you may continue to live. Have you seen any results of what happens when a load starts pushing a rig down a grade? There's not a lot you can do once the wheels start losing traction.

My tractor is smaller - a compact Kubota B2620.  One thing to consider is that you can't back a four wheel trailer where an axle swivels like you pictured.  I think I'd look for something in the utility or dump trailer type of idea.  If they don't already have sides, many utility trailers are set up to be able to have detachable sides.  The lower end ones will often have a 3500 lb axle, so it should be reasonable.

I hope that helps a bit.  Good luck.

Repeat after me....Dump Truck.....after all the pencil & paper doodling, calculator tormenting, what if and maybes the answer is a non re-invention of the wheel.  40 years ago I was in the same boat, from hay running gear, to MANUAL hydraulic cylinder to tip/trip  bed, all accompanied by much steel cutting, welding,, and on and on, I had a revelation the answer sits in any "gramp got out of cows when dad got an off farm job"  farm yard. The old chevy, international, ford one tons sit behind the barns and ultimately are let go for a song, and comments to the effect that their glad somebody will get some use out of it.    I still have the $600  1980 1 ton 4x4, and have used it for any every haul job on the farm.  Drive around and keep your eyes open

Scott Leonard wrote:Repeat after me....Dump Truck.....after all the pencil & paper doodling, calculator tormenting, what if and maybes the answer is a non re-invention of the wheel.  40 years ago I was in the same boat, from hay running gear, to MANUAL hydraulic cylinder to tip/trip  bed, all accompanied by much steel cutting, welding,, and on and on, I had a revelation the answer sits in any "gramp got out of cows when dad got an off farm job"  farm yard. The old chevy, international, ford one tons sit behind the barns and ultimately are let go for a song, and comments to the effect that their glad somebody will get some use out of it.    I still have the $600  1980 1 ton 4x4, and have used it for any every haul job on the farm.  Drive around and keep your eyes open

I remember Dad had a Fargo from the late 1940s that still saw occasional use when he quit farming around 1980.  It had a gravel box on it, so was heavier than necessary for moving grain, but my memory of it was primarily with a water tank on it for dealing with the sprayer.