Hay Elevators

If your business concerns livestock, cattle, sheep, and horses, then investing in a good hay elevator might be a smart idea if you still have not bought one yet. Remember that the more animals you have, the more hay you will need. Even if you have access to a large tract of land where your animals can graze on, in the winter months, it is still going to be more cost-effective to buy bales of hay to feed the animals than to let them graze during these times.

The Need for Hay

This is where hay elevators come in. Storing bales of hay might be easy, but transporting them to your storage area can be difficult. Lest you think a bale of hay weighs nothing, try lifting a bale with one hand. It should weigh around 60 pounds, if it is real hay for grazing. Any lighter, and you are being cheated out of a real bale of hay. There are a few styles of hay elevators, but all are basically the same. Most of these elevators are powered by combustion engines, although there might be a few out there running on electricity. These are loud machines, which, fortunately for you, will be working in your storage area, and nowhere near your bedrooms.

Differences in Hay Elevators

The main differences between hay elevators are the materials used in the construction, which will determine if it is sturdy enough to withstand transporting bales and bales of hay. Some of these structures use round tubing, while others proudly declare square tubing as the framework used. It all depends on the construction of the framework and the thickness of the tubes, but in general, square tubing is sturdier than round tubing.

Another difference in these elevators is the portability of the model. Of course you will first have to load your bales of hay onto a truck, travel to your storage area, unload the hay and then arrange them in some space-conserving manner. This means that all along the process of transporting hay, your elevator will be right beside you, from loading, unloading, to storage. And some hay elevators are not only portable, but also actually detachable – you can add or remove pieces as your stored hay piles up.

And that leads us to the third difference, adjustability of the hay elevator. Bales of hay take up space – and the more hay you store, the more you have to adjust the elevator's height or reach. The ability to detach a part of the elevator is a useful innovation, and really makes the work easier. Some hay elevators are quite adjustable while others are not.

Should You Buy a Hay Elevator?

You might be able to hire a couple more workers and do the same work that a hay elevator does, but that is added cost. With a hay elevator, it can become a one-man job, and you could be just the man to do it. It may be expensive but if you think about it long-term, you will be able to save more than if you hired people to do the job.