Hay elevator
{{One source|date=May 2007}}
A hay elevator is an elevator that hauls bales of hay or straw up to a hayloft, the section of a barn used for hay storage. Hay elevators are either ramped conveyor belts{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=558l93ERNU4C&q=most+commonly+used+powered+conveyors&pg=PA35|title=Conveyors: Application, Selection, and Integration|last=McGuire|first=Patrick M.|date=2009-08-05|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9781439803905|pages=35|language=en}} that bales rest on, or a mechanized pair of chains that holds bales taut between them.
The term hay elevator also includes machinery involved in the stacking and storage of bales. A typical hay elevator includes an open skeletal frame, with a chain that has dull 3-inch spikes every few feet along the chain to grab bales and drag them along. Prior to rural electrification, barns were equipped with a vertical pulley and a horizontal track along which a bale of hay was guided manually.