Posted 2008-02-27 7:13 PM (#78144) Subject: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 285
When we purchased our used lq trailer last year, we had the dealer put a hay rack on it. The rack is in the middle of the trailer. Only place to install it since it had two air conditoners on it. We have never used it yet and just wondering what is a good guideline for how much hay we should be able to put on it. We have some friends that have put 42 bales on theirs before, but I am sceptical about putting that much on.
Posted 2008-02-27 7:39 PM (#78145 - in reply to #78144) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 296 Location: Tennessee
All depends on your trailer's GVWR and your truck's pin weight capacity, less the weights of your trailer loaded without the hay. Whichever one you hit first is the limit of hay. Assuming your rack can hold it. Got any pictures of your rig?
Posted 2008-02-28 11:35 AM (#78202 - in reply to #78144) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 1205 Location: Arkansas
What do the bales weigh, and how well is the hay rack attached to the trailer, by this I mean the support of the trailer itself under the hay rack weight. I have hauled my 35 gal water tank and 14 bales of timothy and felt like that was plenty weight wise, on the roof...had no issues, BTW. I was about to go on a trip, so went to town and filled LP, fuels, etc, and had the mules on there so swung by the dump (they have scales, free!) and weighed it all to make sure numbers were ok, and to satisfy curiosity.
Posted 2008-02-28 12:33 PM (#78216 - in reply to #78144) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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I have attached pictures in my first post. We are getting seventy pound bales of hay in NE on our way out west. We are thinking we can haul 14 bales to be on the safe side. We will be fully loaded with four horses and headed to the mountains near Dubois,WY. It is only braced on the corners of the hay rack. Should we beef it up under the sides? Hubby is a welder so he could do this to be on the safe side.
Posted 2008-02-28 12:59 PM (#78217 - in reply to #78144) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 3802 Location: Rocky Mount N.C.
That's 980 pounds added to the roof, along with what's already up there. That's the weight of a horse....On the roof. I would be afraid something below would start to buckle of bow a little.
How much weight does the trailer manufacturer say you can "safely" store, haul, put up there, on the roof area hay rack? The black mat, weight of the rack and the two A/C units, the need to be figured into the equation.
Posted 2008-02-28 1:32 PM (#78224 - in reply to #78216) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 296 Location: Tennessee
Well, just eyeballing it (sorta like guessing how many pennies are in the jar), I'm going to guess that the rack is about 8x8 ft with six legs along each side supporting it. That'll be about 500 lbs extra along each wall. Should be OK on that Featherlite, they're built pretty well. Probalby over your divider wall, too, so you get extra strength from that. Can't see the framework of the rack very well, but if it's the same size as the legs I'd say that it should support 1000 lbs of hay over a 64 sf area with no sweat. I wouldn't mess with more supports unless it looked like the frame began to sag or something. I'd also guess your pin weight will increase by about 500-600 lbs.
These are just WAGs, though. If it were mine I would put the hay on there and take it for a test drive to some nearby scales and see how it handles.
Posted 2008-02-28 4:58 PM (#78247 - in reply to #78235) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 296 Location: Tennessee
To do it right you should weigh your truck & trailer. Take it to a CAT scale and weigh the rig, then do some math. My guess is that your trailer has room for the load, but you may go over something on your truck, either the truck's gross weight limit or the combined limit. There's just not enough info here to know, though.
Posted 2008-02-28 11:43 PM (#78282 - in reply to #78144) Subject: RE: How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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Posts: 3853 Location: Vermont
Originally written by classygirl98 on 2008-02-27 8:13 PM
When we purchased our used lq trailer last year, we had the dealer put a hay rack on it. The rack is in the middle of the trailer. Only place to install it since it had two air conditoners on it. We have never used it yet and just wondering what is a good guideline for how much hay we should be able to put on it. We have some friends that have put 42 bales on theirs before, but I am sceptical about putting that much on.
When the dealer installed it...he should have stated what weight the roof will support...
How Much Hay on a Hay Rack
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