When done improperly, this can lead to injury or death due to overturn or crushing. People have had severe bodily injury caused by friction from balers moving belts. Heat can build up due to friction created by contact of the hay or forage material with the baler and belts. Farmers report that this friction has caused bales to ignite. Always carry a 10 pound dry chemical fire extinguisher on the tractor.
Many people use front-end loaders to move and stack large round bales.
Always use great caution when hauling large round bales or any heavy load on a front-end loader so that you can avoid side overturns and being crushed from a bale rolling down upon the tractor. The point marked X is the normal center of gravity with a front-end loader. When the load is raised, the shift in center of gravity increases the chance of overturning. The point marked O is the center of gravity for the round bale. Side overturns result from the change in the tractor s center of gravity due to the additional weight of the bale.