I'm new to the forum here... I've actually been lurking on and off for over a year, but I'm just now starting to post a little. Anyhow, I thought I'd like to just explain to everyone why I love these trucks sooooo much. Not only are they fun, but these machines are true work horses...

We have 6 work dodges that work as tractors for us all summer pulling Freeman self-propelled balers on the farm. I can attest to you all that these trucks are every bit as tough as a John Deere tractor. They operate on rough ground, pulling heavy machinery, in super hot temperatures all summer long without a breakdown to date (wish I could say the same for the balers).

We've outfitted all of them with flatbeds made here locally and made custom 5th wheel hitches for these freeman balers that weigh about 11000 pounds i believe. They are road worthy too at normal drivng speeds no problem!!!

Anyway, I just can't say enough about these trucks.... haven't had better luck with any other brand!

Now for some pics

 

Very impressive!!!! I like to see everyday working trucks.

I see a Toyota in the group photo, is that the truck you use to go to get lunch.

Jeff

 

maybe the toyota used to go get some cheap labor hands..

 

Wow thats pretty cool! Its pretty rare around here to see someone using something besides a tractor to pull stuff around in a field. Ive always wondered if anyone used Dodge CTD's to do that kinda stuff...nice to know they can handle it!!

 

Thats Cool!! good looking hay too...where you at????

 

That is very good looking hay , and really cool pictures! But i gotta ask , why trucks over tractors? you could buy some nice used 2wd cab tractors cheaper than one of those trucks i would think? I suppose the truck would be more comfotable though.

 

Who makes thoes balers and what powers them? Very cool job and pictures!!!

 

We use the pickups over tractors because we do custom work all over the state and this let's us drive down the road 55mph between fields. It's is probably a little more expensive than some alternatives, but this lets us use the tractors as pickups the rest of the year too!!!

Those balers are Freeman 370's... they are self propeled with their own little dielsel... It's a duetz diesel out of Germany I believe. They're aircooled and one of the most industructable motors i've ever seen. The baler is completely self contained and then we made some in cab controllers to run things like engine rpm, bale weight, count strokes and so on....

I live in Washington state... that is a crop of Timothy grass Hay that we export exclusively to Japan... apparently they feed it to race horses or something!

 

So what do you use for mowing and raking, or is that done by the time you guys hit the field? That could be one of the coolest things I think I've seen in a long time. I would love to get my hands on one of them, what size bales is that making, and how much do they weigh?

 

Very nice pictures!

 

For swathing in our own fields we use 2 John Deere 4995 Windrowers with 995 Rotary mower decks. It's what you have to use in Timothy, it grows to be about 4-5 Ft. tall and we can swath it about 10 mph. Sickle machines only can maintain about 2mph... they're amazing themselves.

The baler make a 3 tie bale... the bales wiegh anywhere from about 100-160 lbs depending on if it's Timothy or Alfalfa and mositure and pressure and stuff...

Thanks for the questions guys... it's fun to talk about our back woods operation!!!

 

why the hood up?

 

yes, why the hood up?

 

yeah, why?

 

?additional cooling?