Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Can a Ford F150 haul a Round Bale of Hay?

Like the title says...I am selling my 2004 F250 and plan to buy a new (or newer) F150 crew cab pickup. My F250 handles a round bale of hay in the bed with no problem.

I haven't had a half-ton pickup for a long time and wonder how strong the rear springs and axles are, and whether it would handle such a load on a limited basis (I plan to haul 4 to 6 bales a year, about 35 miles each) without damaging the truck.

Thanks for any advice.

I have seen some 1300 lb round bales, but most weigh under 1000. A f150 should handle one without a problem.

Yes, piece of cake.

Depends on how big the bale is. I think the smaller bales are about400lbs,but they up to 1200 lbs. 1/2 t should handle them if they fit in the bed though. Spring wise, you could always put the rubber donuts on the springs as helpers if it squats too much.
A 3'x 3'x8' bales weighs right at 800lbs if grass hay. So if you know the dimensions of the round bale, you could figure the weight pretty close using the volume.

I've had 1500lbs of steel in the bed of my 2004 F150, no problem. The newer ones I think are rated for more than that.

I'm a city boy with a Nissan Frontier but I hunt where they roll bales of bermuda hay. I don't think I'd put one in the bed of a 150 and take it on the road. I'm guessing you'd reach takeoff about the time you hit 55. Got any friends with a a car hauler?

The last Ford I had broke a spring with less than 600 pounds in it. The Toyota I replaced it with has gone over the scales with 1700 pounds of stone dust and never whimpered. Yes, the Toyotas will carry 650 and 800 pound round bales, too.

Depends on the bale. A lot of the smaller ones are around 800ish, and can be wrapped when even smaller. According to the manual, the vermeer 706C that my brother bought is supposed to make a 3000 lb bale. It also depends on the half ton truck. The more popular sizes probably run (or used to) from 850-1500. The smaller ones will be fine. The 1500's will be pushing it, but they'll lose some water weight after they sit for a while, and a lot of guys don't pack them out all the way.

I see some ranchers but mainly horse people going down the road with a round bail in the back of their F-150's . I wouldn't do it in my new platinum model, as it has that little bitty short bed. But then I have an old 1 Ton at the Ranch for just that purpose.
I suppose you could have some of those air bag supports installed on it, though.

Sho nuff Tex, WHB, stick to standard 4'X5' round bales and you wont have any trouble, place a 'push pallet' in the front floor of your bed, if you unload with a bale spike on a tractor front end loader you wont crush the bed or break your back glass.

There are two bed options on the F-150. 5.5' and 6.5'. Air bags from Air Lift should run you less than $250 and install in about an hour. I had them on my 2012 F-150 and liked them alot.

i've had almost 4000# of tile in the bed of my 1/2 ton dodge.

Hauled many a pallet of sod, approx 1600 pounds, in the bed of my 2005 GMC 1/2 ton.

Ya, buts thats part of your cultural heritage



....but anyways, sorta related, we have a 90's Saturn station wagon with 300,000 miles on it. One of them cars you run 'till it dies because it sure ain't worth anything. Original springs/shocks. We use it as our pickup truck and to haul the dogs on outings, back seat permanently folded flat, tarp laid down in back. Mostly sits unused from one week to the next.

Over the break I used it to haul 900-1,000 lbs of brick, three trips of 900-1,000 lbs each, to a place thirty miles away.

Now of course 900lbs of brick doesn't take all that much room, I technically coulda fit all 3,000lbs or so in in one trip. I stacked it in each time such that all the weight was centered between the front and back wheels, mostly over the folded down back seat rather than all in the very back.

I was surprised to note that the suspension actually wasn't bottomed out all the way, didn't handle all that bad at speed on the innerstate either.

Sure glad I didn't have to make any emergency stops tho...

...or change a flat neither.

Birdwatcher

I see it every day here.

Depending on the baler(pressure setting) and moisture content of the hay an average full-size bale will weigh around 1200lbs.

We have some that might weigh 800-900 pounds and some that are twice that weight.


I'd be mostly worried about damaging the box on the pickup.


I've seen some guys haul (heavy)round bales with 1/2 ton pickups and it's always a little funny. Sometimes real funny.

The ass end is dragging and the front tires look like they are about to leave the ground.

The new pickups are probably a lot stouter than older stuff though.

I hauled a single 4x6 round bale, only because I couldn't fit two on. Hauled 50 small square bales in a 89 f150 with a 4 speed straight 6 cylinder. The truck easily handled the weight.

The most common bales in my area are 5x6' with 4x6's being pretty popular because they'll fit on a semi. 4x5's are way back in third place. I have a 4x5 baler and make bales approaching 1000 lbs. In fact, the last time some of mine were weighed I think a representative bale was 970 lbs. My cousin's baler is a 5x6 and his bales are so heavy that I sometimes have a hard time moving them with my 90hp tractor. I'm not trying to brag it up, but the weights I've seen on this thread aren't representative of what I've seen around here. I'd guess my cousin's bales are averaging at least 1200 lbs.

I think there's a good chance it will get a little squirrely using a 1/2 ton truck. I'd probably do it no more than you've got to move. Much more than that and I'd want a 3/4 ton.

Holy balls, how the [bleep] can a question about a bale of hay go on for so long.

I generally don't click on threads that have ZERO interest to me for that very reason.