Round hay bale carrier

[burninbriar]

Some of you may remember some of my questions concerning this project, like the one about torsional strength of tubing. Well, I finally finished it.
I knew with my health the way it is that it would take a long time and a thread following the progress would be tough to do so I decided to weight until I finished it to post. Unfortunately though, I missed a lot of pictures doing it like this since I wasn't thinking of the thread when I would go out to work on it.

These are some pictures of getting some of the larger pieces welded up square and some close ups of the slide pieces.
These will make more sence in the pictures yet to come.

[burninbriar]

These pictures are the running gear going together. The first picture is the rope horn I was welding on when my foot control died on me, you might remember that post.

[burninbriar]

I designed it so there would be no cotter pins or anything like that to loose. I also went with rope blocks instead of a winch, the rope blocks were a lot of work, 50 pieces to each one. Unfortunately this was one thing I didn't get any pictures of while I was making it.

[burninbriar]

I hooked it up to the lawn mower to drag it down to the bottom to try it out. I will get some pictures of it hooked up to the horses later, I still need to get them out of the camera.

[burninbriar]

You might remember the thread when I repaired the double trees for my neighbor, The first pic shows them in use.
The second pic is one of the rope blocks, not a good shot of it but you can see how many pieces are in it, at least some of them.
The other two are the horses toting the thing around.

[Jim-TX]

Nice work Pete! Great design on that latch with the 2 ears.

[burninbriar]

Nice work Pete! Great design on that latch with the 2 ears.

Thanks for the compliment. Here is a closer picture of the latch. In addition to the spring loaded ears I also put a through pin option for additional safety for when he hits the road with it.
The one aspect of the design that I take pride in is the spring loaded counter balance for the unit so it does not come down on anyone's head.

[Jim-TX]

The one aspect of the design that I take pride in is the spring loaded counter balance for the unit so it does not come down on anyone's head.

Oh okay. I now see what the springs are there for. Nice touch.

[Craig in Denver]

BB:
I'll start by saying, 'Sorry about the health issues. Age sucks'.

Spent my career at a desk. Metal fabrication fascinates me. These are the best examples I've seen for months. Thanks fer the pics.

[Flyingpig]

Im actually surprised that your spears are long enough to lift the bale. Some of those bales are pretty loose and soft in the middle.