Bale wagon

Claim 2

A bale wagon comprising in combination: a chassis; tier forming means mounted on said chassis adapted to receive bales and to assemble said bales into tiers such that each tier includes a plurality of layers; a load rack mounted on said chassis and adapted to support a stack comprised of a plurality of tiers disposed in side-byside relationship, said load rack being furthEr adapted to deposit the entire stack on the ground; means for transferring individual tiers formed on said tier forming means to said load rack; means cooperative with said load rack for retrieving stacks from the ground; means for selectively moving each individual tier of said stack from said load rack to said tier forming means; and means on the wagon and associated with said tier forming means for unloading a complete tier from the tier forming means one bale at a time.

Claim 3

The bale wagon as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tier forming means includes first and second transfer tables arranged in tandem.

Claim 4

A bale wagon, comprising in combination: a chassis; a stack carrying load rack pivotally mounted about a transverse axis on said chassis and adapted to pivot from a generally normal horizontal transport position to a generally vertical position for depositing or retrieving a stack; a transfer table pivotally mounted transversely the front end of said load rack and movable thereabout from a first generally horizontal position to a second generally vertical position relative to said load rack, said transfer table being adapted to receive bales in said first position and assemble them into tiers having a plurality of layers and to move to said second position for depositing said tiers on said load rack, said transfer table being further cooperative to coact with said load rack for retrieving stacks; means for moving individual tiers of the stack from said load rack to said transfer table; means cooperative with said transfer table for separating a layer from said tier; and conveying means associated with said transfer table for conveying the bales of said separated layer therefrom one bale at a time.

Claim 5

A bale wagon, comprising in combination: a chassis; a stack carrying load rack pivotally mounted about a transverse axis on said chassis and adapted to pivot from a generally normal horizontal transport position to a generally vertical position for depositing or retrieving a stack; a transfer table pivotally mounted transversely the front end of said load rack and movable thereabout from a first generally horizontal position to a second generally vertical position relative to said load rack, said transfer table being adapted to receive bales in said first position and assemble them into tiers having a plurality of layers and to move to said second position for depositing said tiers on said load rack, said transfer table being further cooperative to coact with said load rack for retrieving stacks; means for moving individual tiers of the stack from said load rack to said transfer table; means cooperative with said transfer table for separating a layer from said tier; and conveying means associated with said transfer table for conveying the bales of said separated layer therefrom one bale at a time.

Claim 6

A bale wagon comprising in combination: a chassis; tier forming means mounted on said chassis adapted to receive bales and to assemble said bales into tiers such that each tier includes a plurality of layers, said tier forming means including first and second transfer tables arranged in tandem; a load rack mounted on said chassis and adapted to support a stack comprised of a plurality of tiers disposed in side-by-side relationship, said load rack being further adapted to deposit the entire stack on the ground; means for transferring individual tiers formed on said tier forming means to said load rack; means cooperative with said load rack for retrieving stacks from the ground; means for selectively moving each individual tier of said stack from said load rack to said tier forming means; and means associated with said tier forming means for unloading individual bales of the stack one bale at a time, said unloading means comprising bale engaging means adapted to engage a portion of a tier and separate that portion from a second portion of the same tier, and a cross conveyor for conveying said second tier portion from the bale wagon.

Claim 7

A bale wagon comprising in combination: a chassis; tier forming means mounted on said chassis adapted to receive bales and to assemble said bales into tiers such that each tier includes a plurality of layers, said tier forming means including first and second transfer tables arranged in tandem; a load rack mounted on said chassis and adapted to support a stack comprised of a plurality of tiers disposed in side-by-side relationship, said load rack being further adapted to deposit the entire stack on the ground; means for transferring individual tiers formed on said tier forming means to said load rack; means cooperative with said load rack for retrieving stacks from the ground; means for selectively moving each individual tier of said stack from said load rack to said tier forming means; and means associated with said tier forming means for unloading individual bales of the stack one bale at a time, said unloading means comprising bale engaging means adapted to engage a portion of a tier and separate that portion from a second portion of the same tier, and a cross conveyor for conveying said second tier portion from the bale wagon.