A retention mechanism for retaining an agricultural machine in engagement with a fork assembly. The mechanism may be provided on the fork assembly, agricultural machine or split between them. The retention mechanism may be actuated by a foot associated with either the fork assembly or the agricultural machine. The retention mechanism may employ pivoting latches or a clamping mechanism that clamps upon the forks or tines.

A sled assembly for the transport of a one or more round bales across a ground surface being soft. Said sled configured to slide on top of said ground surface. Said hitch assembly having said lowered configuration and said raised configuration. Said hitch assembly configured to selectively attach to said vehicle and to enable said sled assembly to be dragged behind said vehicle. Said sled comprising said side rail assemblies and said cross beams. Said hitch assembly fixed to a first end of said sled. Said sled assembly further comprising a one or more wheel assemblies.

A round hay bale unrolling device attaches to a flatbed vehicle presenting a foldable arm attaching to a square hitch receiver of the vehicle supported by the flatbed of the truck allowing the vehicle operator to turn right into the bale to drive an angular spike into the center of the bale, drive forward to despool the round bale and to turn left to disengage the bale in the event of an emergency or at the time the bale has been laid into flat hay. This device is designed to be used by a firefighting vehicle to despool inflamed hay bales without exposing the user to the heat and flames of the hay bale or for use by farmers to unroll the hay bale for feeding without exiting the vehicle in poor weather.

A round hay bale unrolling device attaches to a flatbed vehicle presenting a foldable arm attaching to a square hitch receiver of the vehicle supported by the flatbed of the truck allowing the vehicle operator to turn right into the bale to drive an angular spike into the center of the bale, drive forward to despool the round bale and to turn left to disengage the bale in the event of an emergency or at the time the bale has been laid into flat hay. This device is designed to be used by a firefighting vehicle to despool inflamed hay bales without exposing the user to the heat and flames of the hay bale or for use by farmers to unroll the hay bale for feeding without exiting the vehicle in poor weather.

The present invention is a high reach lifting big bale fork attachment for attachment to a wheel loader, a large front end loader for an agricultural tractor, a large construction loader, a large forklift or other big bale handling equipment. The high reach lifting big bale fork attachment has a rear coupler slide assembly slidingly connected to a sliding mast assembly having two spaced mast I-beams each beam having a straight rear rail and an arced front rail. When attached to a wheel loader or bale handling equipment, the invention provides improved elevation and offset capabilities to the wheel loader or other bale handling equipment in lifting, moving, tilting, and depositing or retrieving one or more vertically stacked bales onto or from a place of deposit such as the ground, hay barn or shed, or a preexisting bale stack in an agricultural setting. When equipped with the invention, the bale handling equipment can place or retrieve bales higher and further forward and over higher obstacles.

A method of loading bales into a bale processing chamber of a bale processor. The bale processing chamber is mounted on a chamber frame mounted on wheels for travel on a ground surface in a forward operating travel direction. A bale fork is pivotally mounted on the chamber frame such that in a lowered position the bale fork is oriented substantially horizontally and rests on the ground surface. The chamber frame is moved rearward such that the bale fork slides under a bale resting on the ground surface with a bale axis oriented substantially horizontally in a first direction substantially perpendicular to the operating travel direction. The bale fork and the bale supported thereon are raised above the ground surface. The bale fork is turned such that the bale axis turns to a second direction substantially parallel to the operating travel direction while maintaining the bale rearward of the bale processing chamber. The bale fork is raised to a raised position where the bale falls into the bale processing chamber with the bale axis oriented in the second direction.

A grasping mechanism for an agricultural bale wagon has a fixed grasping arm and a movable grasping arm. The movable grasping arm is translatable toward and away from the fixed grasping arm. The movable grasping arm can be rotated to define varying angular relationships between the fixed grasping arm and the movable grasping arm. Rotation and translation of the movable grasping arm are effected by an actuator. A resilient bumper between the fixed grasping arm and movable grasping arm is adjustable automatically to span the adjusted width between the fixed grasping arm and movable grasping arm.

A bale processor apparatus has a bale processing chamber mounted on a chamber frame on wheels for travel in a travel direction. A lift arm frame is pivotally attached to a rear end of the chamber frame about a lift pivot axis, and a lift actuator pivots the lift arm frame from a lowered position to a raised position. A bale turning assembly is pivotally attached to the lift arm frame and bale fork tines are attached to the bale turning assembly. A turning actuator pivots the bale turning assembly from a standard position, where the bale fork tines extend rearward from bale processing chamber to a turned position, where the bale fork tines are rearward of the bale processing chamber and perpendicular to the travel direction. A shear bar cuts twine on rectangular bales as they fall into the chamber but does not affect cylindrical bales.

A bale handling apparatus is operable to receive bales from a square baler and create cubic stacks of bales for discharge from the bale handling apparatus. The bale handing apparatus includes an elevator provided with a lateral shuttle mechanism that creates rows of three laterally aligned bales, and a stacking mechanism that receives accumulated rows of bales from the elevator to create a vertical module of bales. The stacking mechanism includes a pusher plate that pushes the bale modules toward a wrapping apparatus that wraps an accumulated cubic stack of bales with wrapping material to establish integrity to the cubic stack. The cubic stacks are retained on a discharge floor extending rearwardly from the wrapping mechanism until a predetermined number of cubic stacks can be discharged at a desired location for subsequent pick-up and storage.

A bale spear device has a first upper plate having an aperture, a second upper plate having an aperture, an upper cross tube for connecting the first upper plate and the second upper plate together in a spaced apart arrangement, a first lower plate connected to the upper cross tube, a second lower plate connected to the upper cross tube, a lower cross tube for connecting the first lower plate and the second lower plate together in a spaced apart relationship, a socket extending out of the upper cross tube, a spear having a tip end and a socket end with the tip end for insertion into the aperture of the second upper plate and the socket end for insertion into the aperture of the first upper plate, and a locking device for locking the socket end of the spear in the aperture of the first upper plate.