Hay Spears

[EddieWalker]

We're making that transition from square bales to round bales. Before every trying it, I thought I could pick up a round bale with my grapple. I could, but then it would start to squish together, then fall apart on me. By the time I got it from the trailer to the hay ring, it was a mess with more on the ground then in my grapple.

Having never owner a hay spear before, is there something that I need to look for in buying one? How many spears are needed? Is there a problem with any of the different models? Do you get anything out of paying more for one?

I have a quick attachment for my loader, so anything that can fit on that will work.

Thank you,
Eddie

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

At minimum you need 2 prongs. If you only have one the bale will rotate around it, not a huge deal but sometimes it can be an issue when trying to stack them.

Personally, I like double 36" spears mounted about 32" apart horizontally. Easily picks up anything from a 4x4 round to a 8' long big square bale or can also pick up 2 of the 4x4 round at the same time if you want and don't mind the sag/rotate that comes with picking up 2. Grabbing 2 bales when running across the field to the wagon saves a bunch of time.

Make sure what you buy has removable spears so that if (when?) you bend one it is easily replaced compared to weld-in spears.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

I don't have to much to add other to make sure you get spears that are heavy enough for what you are picking up.

 

[Wagtail]

G'day Eddie... that grapple sure made a mess of the round. I wonder how you got the netting off of it.

Anyway, this is what I've got. The spears are replaceable and you'll notice that the spear assembly is detachable via the 'silvery' horizontal slides. That's because it came with forks that I can swap to... bloody heavy things but 'proper tool for the proper job', eh? I've seen a few bent spikes due to people thinking, "The spikes can handle that, why bother changing them out" = replacing a bent spike.

 

[TomSeller]

Multiple spears as mentioned is needed so the bale does not rotate with the center of gravity down if you are stacking. Stacking you want the CG as high as possible to get an additional layer. The spears don't need to be all that long, longer ones take more room to back away from the bale stack before you can turn and exit.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

got a front qa and back 3pt one from titan for my dad last year. working good for 4x5 bales. He used them tonight, the neighbor came and round baled 39 for him, and he got them all put away already. I just wish now I had gotten the front one that also takes pallet forks, as he doesn't have those.

 

[WM75Guy]

Hi Eddie,

We quit feeding round bales. We had 2 incidents of colic last year. Each horse has their own turnout. The bale sat there too long and we were worried the colic was caused by the round bale being moldy. Since we are down to 2 horses it's easy to feed square bales now and cost less. You have more mouths to feed so this may not be an issue with you.

My bale spear is a Land Pride BS20 SSQA. It has two long spears. This is from the Land Pride site:

"Single spear units take less force to push the spear into the bale and bales of all sizes won’t shift positions as easily while pushing the spear into the bale. Single spears are ideal for lifting smaller lighter bales. Double spear units have twice the lifting capacity. The two spears spaced apart also miss the soft inner core of a bale and probe the harder outer area allowing the spears to lift a heavier bale."

BS & BSE 10/20 Series Bale Spears | Land Pride

I also bought the round bale feeders for horses from TSC. They were OK but started rusting around the welds. One of the uprights got knocked loose changing out a bale. They do keep the hay from being contaminated by the horses when they do their business. Just make sure you clean all the old hay out when you put in a new bale. With a grapple that's not a problem.

You need to post some new pics of the baby.

 

[westcliffe01]

I bought a TSC 3pt round bale spear for $250. Then I bought a quick attach plate for about $120. Cropped the 3 pt spear to suit the height of the quick attach plate, added some welding and I had a quick attach bale spear for a lot less that the commercially made ones.

I personally prefer just a single spear. The TSC one comes with the main spear and 2 stubby ones in an attempt to prevent the bale from rotating. In my opinion, all the small spikes do is damage the bale if the terrain make the bale want to swing around. I am currently thinking of cutting them off.

Also, you have to line up the spear pretty well to get the right amount of penetration. If the round bales are wrapped tight as they should be, they will resist if you are slightly off and trying to force it with the loader is just going to damage the bale. Sometimes you may have to angle the spear slightly down to counteract the natural tendency of the bale to want to roll over on its back when being poked.

Not to worry, it doesnt take long to figure out. Just remember, a bigger hammer is not the answer... I personally likes the cheap TSC 3 point bale spear because the spear is bolted to a heavy bushing, which is welded to a heavy tubular frame. I see a lot of bale spears (especially the loader ones) with the spear welded to the attachment plate. I set mine up so that the bushing was just above the top of the quick attach plate.

 

[boggen]

it has been to long ago since cows were here on the farm. i do remember issues of large round bales and winter, and the bales sticking to frozen ground. along with wet rainy days and bales being in mud a little bit. the bottoms (setting on ground) there was some issues, along with trying to get forks / bale spears to grab a hold of the bale without pushing it around.

pallet forks like bale spears seemed to push the bales all over the place. if there was a TNT (top and tilt) setup for the bale spear it would of most likely been easier for the 3pt hitch, and angling the spears correctly. vs ruts to coming in on the ball not perfectly. and causing one side to nail and dig or slide across the dirt, vs the other side to high or poking the bale and pushing it, vs sliding into the bale or down around the bottom of the bale.

never had FEL (front end loader) bale spears around here so do not know much about them.

 

[boggen]

i do remember being to small and not enough strength to handle the feeding ring for cattle. and a lot of heave hoe'ing from dad and others that moved the feeder ring, so they could get the bale put in place and then the ring back down over the bale. you might consider some sort of FEL (front end loader) boom pole or chain / hook coming off of FEL. so you can grab ahold of the feeder ring. and lift it up / move it. more so in winter and frozen into ground, or so much excess hay and manure trapped up around the bottom. that you can not dig the feeder ring up... (pry bar not work doing to no real hard ground to pry against (all mushy))