Hay Bale Grapple for Compact Loaders

Why a bale spike costs you silage

Once the seal on a silage or haylage bale is broken, the bale spoils from the hole outwards and usually has to be fed within days instead of keeping in the stack until spring.

Forklift tines run under a wrapped bale tend to chew the underside of the wrap, and a spike welded onto a bucket is no better.

Dry hay is a different case, with no seal to break and a low moisture content to start with. A spike or a hook under the twine around the bale usually does it no harm.

A hay grapple holds the bale by grip instead of piercing it. A wrapped bale can be moved and go back into the stack with the wrap intact, and the MultiOne attachment below is the one we fit.

The MultiOne hay bale grapple attachment

MultiOne’s hay bale grapple is built for round bales up to 160cm in diameter. This covers the four-foot and five-foot bales that round balers in this country usually produce.

Two hydraulically operated clamp arms close on the bale, with cylinder pressure supplied by the loader’s auxiliary hydraulic circuit.

The grip carefully spreads across a wide section of the bale’s width so the wrap isn’t cut or bruised where the arms sit.

The arms also centre the load automatically as they close, so a bale picked up off-centre ends up square to the loader before it’s lifted.

Centring takes most of the side-to-side swing out of the trip to the stack.

Stacking with the telescopic boom

A fixed-arm loader has to creep forward into the row below to place a bale on the second or third row, but the MultiOne’s telescopic boom extends to put bales to the top of the stack from where the machine sits.

The grapple mounts on the same quick-hitch as every other MultiOne attachment.

It’s removable without tools once the stack is done and a bucket or forks go on in its place.

The hay bale grapple fits the MultiOne range we stock from the 2 Series to the 11 Series, plus the electric EZ models.

Matching the series to the bale weight

Lift capability climbs with machine weight through the MultiOne series, and the bale you handle decides where in the range you need to be.

A dry hay bale is light for its size, so a mid-range loader will usually stack hay comfortably.

A wrapped silage or haylage bale of the same diameter carries far more moisture and can weigh twice as much or more.

The extra weight puts real demand on the hydraulics and pushes you further up the series before the loader will lift one to the top row with any margin.

Tell us whether it’s hay or wrapped forage and we’ll match the loader to the weight rather than sell you a small loader that stalls with a wet bale at full reach.

Sherpa 100 with manure forks and clamp for low barns

A MultiOne needs room to swing its boom, and an old stone byre or a stable block with a low lintel doesn’t always give it that room.

The Sherpa 100 has no boom at all, and the Small and Eco models measure 760mm across.

The machine works right up against the back wall of a barn and turns in a passage that a tractor can’t enter.

Lift height is lower as a result, which is why our team takes the time to understand your requirements before suggesting the correct machine for the task.

Feeding out with the manure forks and clamp

Indoors, its job is feeding out and bedding down, and Sherpa builds a set of hydraulic manure forks with a clamp for the 100 series.

The clamp holds loose hay or straw on the tines in transit and releases it when the operator tips the forks downward at the pen.

The electric Eco for closed sheds

The electric Eco model runs on a 4.2hp motor with no exhaust.

It can work inside a closed shed with stock in it without filling the building with fumes or noise.

Where whole bales only need stacking once and loose feed needs moving daily, we’d pair a Sherpa 100 for the indoor work with a MultiOne on hire for the stack.

The rest of the farm year on the same loader

With the grapple off the quick-hitch and a bucket on, the same MultiOne mucks out and shifts hardcore, and pallet forks take feed and fertiliser off the delivery lorry.

An auger for fence posts and a sweeper for the yard cover the rest of the utility work on the same quick-hitch.

A flail head keeps the paddock margins down through the summer, and a trencher lays a water pipe out to a trough.

On soft ground, the loader’s weight and footprint do less damage than a tractor, so it keeps working through the wet weeks when a tractor would cut ruts.

The chippers and stump grinders we supply to farms alongside a loader are listed under groundcare for agriculture.

The Sherpa 100 for tighter access areas

The Sherpa does the same attachment swap at a smaller scale, in the buildings the MultiOne can’t get into.

With the manure forks off and the bucket with grab on, it mucks out a calf pen or a stable and carries bedding down a feed passage.

Pallet forks lift feed bags and mineral tubs off a pallet in the store, and the same bucket loads sand for the arena or gravel for a gateway.

It’s light enough to tow on a small trailer behind the pickup and won’t cut up the ground on the way in.

Why buy the loader and grapple from ILH

We’re a specialist arboricultural and groundcare machinery dealer.

MultiOne and Sherpa loaders are serviced and repaired in our Cumbernauld workshop, warranty work included.

The person you speak to about a grapple has that workshop behind them and knows which series to put you on for the bales you handle.

Every new MultiOne we sell carries a 3-year warranty backed by our own workshop rather than a distributor, and genuine MultiOne parts come through us.

The same people who sell you the machine answer the phone when the hydraulics need looking at two winters later.

How it works with ILH Groundcare

1. Call us on 0141 775 9288 or use the contact form, and tell us what your baler produces, whether the bales are wrapped, and what your buildings are like.
2. We recommend the loader series and attachment for that bale weight and that access, and tell you plainly if a Sherpa 100 or a different attachment would suit you better.
3. Book a demo at our Cumbernauld workshop or on your own yard, or take the loader and grapple on hire first to try it through a delivery week.
4. Delivery across Scotland with the grapple already on the machine.
5. Servicing and warranty work stay with us in Cumbernauld for as long as you run the machine.

Hire or buy your hay handling machine

Bale handling is seasonal, so hiring a MultiOne with the grapple for the delivery week and the first weeks of feeding out can make more sense than owning one if the loader would otherwise sit idle.

Every loader in our compact loader hire fleet goes out serviced and checked so it’s dependable for the whole hire, and we’ll send the grapple with a bucket and forks on the same trailer if the hire covers more than bales.

The case for buying rests on everything the loader does once the bales are stacked.

The same quick-hitch takes the bucket, the forks and the sweeper, so the machine you’d hire for bales in winter is the one you’d want for muck, feed deliveries, fencing, and small scale excavation.

If you need to clean equipment after use, the high pressure cleaning attachment is perfect for the job.

Once the loader is doing yard work every week, buying usually works out cheaper over a couple of winters, and we’ll give you a straight comparison of hire and purchase costs for the series you’re looking at.

FAQs on handling hay bales

Will the MultiOne grapple handle wrapped silage bales?

It’s built for that job, and the only thing that changes with a wrapped bale is the weight, which sets the MultiOne series you need.

Can a Sherpa 100 lift a full round bale?

Not a whole round bale. A Sherpa 100 is the indoor feeding-out machine and stacking whole bales is the MultiOne’s job, and where a yard needs both, we’d recommend one of each.

How do I lift a bale of hay safely with a compact loader?

Pick the bale up square to the loader, keep the boom retracted and the load low while travelling, and only raise or extend once stopped at the stack. On rough terrain, slow down before the load starts to swing.

Do I need a bale accumulator grapple?

Only if you make small square bales behind a baler and want to lift 8 or 10 at a time off the field. If your forage arrives as round bales, a single bale grapple on a compact loader is the right tool and an accumulator would sit unused.

Can I hire the loader and the grapple together?

Yes, we hire compact loaders across Scotland with the hay bale grapple and any other attachments the job needs on the same delivery.

Get the grapple fitted before the first load of bales

Get in touch on 0141 775 9288 or email contact@ilhgroundcare.com with the bale size, the buildings you work in, and your regular operations.

We’ll match the series to the bale and the shed, fit the grapple, and deliver it anywhere in Scotland ready to work.

If you’d rather see it lift a wrapped bale first, book a demo with our team.

We’re family-run, and the people who sell you the grapple are the same ones who service it, stock the parts and pick up the phone mid-season.