On 12/5/12 1:09 AM, harry wrote:

Interesting story.
How do they load a big bale of hay weighing half a ton or more?
Why would hay be left outdoors anyway?

With something as simple as this:
http://tinyurl.com/bx3zy6m
There are many loaders made for tractors, skid loaders and pickups.
It isn't at all unusual for hay to be left outside. The bales might
rot a bit on the outside but the interior is usually fine.
We used to put what we could in the barn and stack the rest just
outside the cow lot. This was in the days of the 60-80 pound
rectangular bales. We loaded, unloaded, and stacked by hand.
Ranchers in the Nebraska Sandhills used to make hay stacks with
loose hay. A single haystack he http://tinyurl.com/ajxoece
A bunch of pictures here http://tinyurl.com/cqap8tf of various sized
bales, hay equipment etc.