Bale wagon

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Having thus described our invention, what we claim is: 1.
A bale wagon adapted for loading and unloading bales of hay or the like, comprising in combination: a load rack for supporting a stack of bales, said stack being comprised by side-by-side tiers; a generally upright transfer table normally disposed in a first position spaced forwardly of said load rack and movable between said first position and a second position in which said transfer table is disposed adjacent a front end of said load rack for delivering said tiers in succession to said load rack during loading and for receiving said tiers in succession from said load rack during unloading; a carriage means disposed below said transfer table and adjacent said front end of said load rack; a bale receiving table fixed to said carriage means; a mechanical drive for moving said carriage means and thereby said receiving table up and down relative to said transfer table for delivering bales thereto to load bales and for receiving bales therefrom to unload bales, said mechanical drive comprising: a drive shaft, a drive disc fixed to said drive shaft, and a crank pivotally connected at one end to a peripheral point of said disc and pivotally connected at the other end to said carriage means, whereby the selective rotation of said drive shaft cycles said carriage means and thereby said receiving table up and down; bale retaining means disposed on said transfer table and being operative to transfer bales from said receiving table to said transfer table to form said tier of bales thereon during loading when said transfer table is at its first position and to transfer bales from said transfer table to said receiving table during unloading when said transfer table is at its first position, said retaining means further being operative to transfer a tier to the front end of said load rack from said transfer table upon the movement of said transfer table to said second position during loading and to transfer a like tier from the front end of said load rack to said transfer table upon the movement of said transfer table to said second position during unloading; and conveying means disposed adjacent said receiving table for carrying bales received thereon from said wagon