Agricultural vehicle for transporting and feeding hay

An agricultural vehicle for transporting and feeding round bales of hay consisting of a vehicle frame having wheels, which are retractable for setting the vehicle on the ground, a trailer hitch for towing the vehicle, a plurality of inverted U shaped frame members for supporting opposing jaws which are attached at the top of the inverted U shaped frame member. The opposing jaws engage bales of hay between them. Once the bales are lifted off the ground they can be transported to storage and stacked by raising the jaws, or the hay may be fed to cattle. The vehicle frame is surrounded by feeder bars which allow cattle to access the hay contained in the vehicle, by sticking their necks between the bars.

BACKGROUND 
In the past farmers would form bales of hay into cubes which could be 
picked up and stacked by hand or by machines designed to handle the cubes. 
The bales could then be transported for storage or delivered to cattle for 
feed. 
Today it is common practice for farmers to roll hay into large bales which 
are too big for a man to handle and the old machines designed for the 
cubic bales are useless for handling the round bales. 
There is a need for a machine that will pick up a large round bale of hay 
for transport to storage that can double as a feeder. 
There are many new machines on the market to move the round bales. Most of 
the new machines use a forklift type device to spear and lift round bales 
of hay. There are several other types of round bale movers but each lacks 
the features of the present invention which make it a superior hay mover. 
None of the other machines found double as a hay feeder. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has an inverted U shaped frame which supports at 
least one pair of opposing jaws for grasping and lifting round bales of 
hay. The jaws are supported at the top of the U shaped frame and have 
hydraulic cylinders above the bale of hay which operate the jaws so as not 
to interfere with the bale. The hay mover doubles as a hay feeder which is 
a feature no other hay mover of this type has. The invention also has a 
means of raising the bales of hay for stacking in storage.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to an agricultural vehicle for transporting, stacking 
and feeding bales of hay. It is designed to pick up bales of hay in the 
field and transport them to storage or to cattle for feeding or to a 
storage area. If the bales are taken to storage the bales may need to be 
stacked, and the invention, in one embodiment, is capable of stacking or 
unstacking the bales. A front cross section view of the invention is shown 
in FIG. 1 with a round bale of hay 2. 
The invention consists of a frame having a longitudinal main frame member 
3, and a lateral main frame member 4. 
The rear of the longitudinal frame member is preferably angled as shown at 
5, in FIG. 3, to urge the bails of hay between the the longitudinal frame 
members when backing the vehicle to pick up bales of hay. 
The invention has an inverted U shaped frame member shown generally at 11, 
in FIG. 1. The U shape frame member has a side frame member 12, an 
inclined frame member 13, and a top frame member 14. On the underside of 
top frame member 14 are plates 15 for pivotally attaching jaws 21. Each 
jaw is made up of an inclined portion 22, a side portion 23, and a foot 
portion 24. The jaws are for engaging a bale of hay 2. The side portions 
of the jaws 23 engage the sides of the bales of hay. The foot portion 24 
gets under the bale and digs into the bale to help hold it more securely. 
The inclined portion 22 of the jaw 21 pivoted on the top of the U shaped 
frame member as it is causes the foot portion 24 of the jaw to swing 
upward as the jaws move together to grasp the bale, thus lifting the bale 
off the ground. This is helpful in dislodging bails which may be frozen to 
the ground. 
The pivot points of the jaws are important. They should be approximately 
one half the distance from the side of the inverted U shaped frame member 
12 to the center of the top of the inverted U shaped frame member 14. When 
the angle of attachment between the jaws inclined portion 22 and side 
portion 23 is as shown in FIG. 1, and the pivot points 15 are as shown the 
foot portion of the jaw 24 arcs upward as the jaws are closed which helps 
lift the bale. 
When the jaws are fully extended the jaws foot portion 24 is nested just 
above the longitudinal main frame 3, and the side portion 23 of the jaw is 
alongside the side frame member 12. This will be helpful in the cattle 
feeding function in that the jaws will not interfere with the cattle's 
access to the hay. 
The jaws 21 are moved by connecting the two jaws to one another by means of 
a hydraulic cylinder 27 with arms 28. The connection should be at the 
joint of the inclined portion 22 and the side portion 23. Plate 29 is 
placed on the jaw at that point for pivotally connecting the jaws 21 to 
the hydraulic arms 28. The connection at this point gives the jaws 21 
sufficient leverage for lifting the hay and also places the hydraulic arms 
28 above the bale of hay so it will not interfere with the bale 2. 
When the hydraulic arms 28 draw the jaws 21 together the jaws will 
automatically center the bale 2 between the jaws and apply an even 
pressure to both sides of the bail, no matter what size bale of hay is to 
be transported. 
Another advantage of this design is that there is no lateral pressure on 
the sides of the frame 11 so that it does not have to be reenforced to 
stand the pressure and can therefore be made of lighter weight material, 
which is advantageous in that it costs less and weighs less. 
The hydraulic lines 26 are placed on top of the top frame member 14 to stay 
out of the way of the bales and the working parts of the machine. The 
hydraulic lines 26 are then easily connected to the hydraulic cylinders 27 
since they are near the top portion 14. 
One advantage of this machine is that it doubles as a feeder. To accomplish 
this feeder bar support posts 31 are attached at the front and rear of the 
longitudinal main frame member 3. A longitudinal feeder bar 32 is attached 
to the feeder bar support posts and to the outside of the side frame 
member 12, several feet above the longitudinal frame member 3. Feeder bars 
33 are angled downward longitudinally and angled inward from the 
longitudinal feeder bar 32 to the inside of the longitudinal main frame 3. 
A front feeder support bar 35 extends between the front feeder bar posts 
31 and feeder bars extend between the front feeder bar and the lateral 
frame member 4. A gate 34 with feeder bars 33 is attached at the back of 
the vehicle. Thus the feeder bars 33 go around the entire vehicle. Cattle 
can be fed hay by transporting the hay to the cattle and extending the 
jaws to release the hay. The cattle can stick their necks through the 
feeder bars 33 to get to the hay but can not step on, scatter or otherwise 
waste the hay. 
The longitudinal frame members 3 are preferably about 7 feet apart. Since 
the average cows neck is about 3.4 feet long, the average cow may 
therefore reach the hay in the middle of the hay feeder. 
The feeder bars 33 are preferably angled longitudinally to make the cattle 
turn their heads to get in and out of the feeder. When they have to turn 
their heads to escape they must drop the hay in their mouths first 
preventing the hay from being scattered. 
The vehicle has axles 42 attached to the longitudinal main frame member 3 
on each side of the vehicle and wheels 41 attached to the axles. The 
wheels are preferably raised and lowered relative to the longitudinal main 
frame member 3, hydraulically by hydraulic cylinders 43 so that the frame 
may rest on the ground or on its legs when the vehicle is used as a 
feeder. The cattle can't easily move the feeder when in this mode. 
The wheels are also raised when a bale of hay is to be grasped by the jaws 
to get the foot of the jaw closer to the bottom of the bail of hay. The 
wheels are then lowered to transport the vehicle so that no part of the 
vehicle or any part of the bales of hay makes contact with the ground. 
There is also a trailer hitch 50 attached to the front of the vehicle for 
towing the vehicle with a tractor or a pickup truck. 
Preferably there are hydraulic take off connections between the tractor or 
truck and the vehicle. 
It is also preferable to have legs 44 at each corner of the frame for the 
feeder function of the vehicle. The legs can be extended, the wheels 
raised and the trailer hitch released to have the feeder stand on its own. 
Preferably the jaws 21 are attached to the top of the U shaped frame member 
14 by a universal joint 25 so that the jaws may swing longitudinally, thus 
raising the foot of the jaws for stacking bales of hay. 
To raise the jaw, hydraulic cylinders 51 are attached between the side of 
the U shaped frame member 12 and the lift support post 52. 
Other features are a tarp which is fitted over the top of the vehicle to 
protect the hay from rain and a fodder attachment, held between the jaws, 
for hauling and feeding fodder.