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Hay spear - 3 prong or 2 prong?

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Need to get a hay spear for my 148 loader. Most common are the one large prong with two smaller prongs, but have seen the two large prong style advertised, and you can use them to move pallets also. Anyone have any pros or cons?
 
I've got a two spear one that folds. Never used it for pallets but thanks for the tip! In your place, I'd get the two prong. Never know when tou get an out of round bale or a big square that needs the extra stability. My motivator was that it folded and takes up less room (and not easily tripped over).

Dave
 
They both have pros and cons. If you have tight bales, the one with the big center prong is preferred. That way with the bale stabbed and lifted, you can pretty easily get the string or net wrap off the bale. If you have loose sloppy bales (or older hay), these do not lift the bales as well, pieces of the bale cal fall off the bottom, I have even had a bale so old that it fell off my hay spear. Then, the two spear that cradles under the bale is preferred. BUT.....getting netwrap or string off a lifted bale in one of those is not very easy. I have and use both but try to use per the lesser of two evils. hth
 
I have a single long spear for the front end loader and a pallet fork type for the 3 ph. The spear works better for stacking I think.
 
I like the two prong for their versatility. As railhead says they allow greater flexibility with rounds and are good if you end up handling large squares. And if you have smaller (lighter) rounds you can carry two bales as long as your loader and tractor are up to it.
 
Either will work fine, I have a 3 prong, and my neighbor has the 2 prong. I used his tractor a couple of weeks ago, and I liked the 2 prong better than mine. Seemed to be easier to see what was going on and the bale seemed to be sitting more solid on the loader with the 2 prong. He had me stab the 2 prong into the bales about a foot from the bottom, rather than slide underneath the bale, and it worked really good.
 
Have had and used both.....extensively. For stacking/retrieving from 3-high stack, center/single works better. Otherwise, I prefer the 2-fork/underneath. JMO.......
 
The two prong that I am referring to is the two long spears that stick into the bale, not the two arm type that would cradle the bale underneath it.
thanks for all the replys so far.
 
I have a single with 2 small prongs for stability. Works for round and square bales, but what I don't like is the large spear is so thick that if the bale is tight at all I have to have a tree or post behind the bale to stick it good. Neighbor has a 2 spear unit and really likes it. His spears are probably less than half the diameter of my large one.

YMMV,

Kirk
 
I have the JD one on my 260 loader with one HUGE center spear and the two smaller spears below. I don't like it very much because the spears are too big. If the bales are tight and made of fine grass, it won't spear them well and I have to try multiple times to get a good stab. Sometimes I have to go from the other side of the bale. My neighbor has a shop built loader spear with 2 smaller diameter spears and he never has a problem stabbing. It works fine for most hay though, I just wish it worked fine for all hay.

If I had to do it over I would have had by neighborhood fabricator make me one. He quoted me $200 materials and labor, and I found this JD one at the local dealer for $175. The frustration has offset the $25 savings long ago.

Just my 2 cents.
 
I've used both and the 2 at the bottom is better hands down.

I stack round bales in the barn flat side down 3 bales high.

I also built it 48" wide so if i need to load hay on a trailer i am not pushing the bale next to it.

You need to measure the width of your loader arms and be sure if you buy one that it will fit.
I wound up useing 4" square tubeing since my bottom loader frame arms was 3 3/4" wide. I used 1/2 plate for the arm pin sides.
 
You know,I love to read the posts on here,but when you ask a question like this you will get one who cusses this one and one who will cuss that one.Pick the one you like the looks of best and go with it.Let me cuss one...the pallet fork type will tear up sod and break twine or plastic! There you go,just one more fool answer.Good luck whatever you do.
 
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We have both types. 2 prong spear does all the work now probly because it fits the new loader but i wouldnt go back to a single big spear with 2 little ones.

Pros. You can lift hay from under neath on there side or on there flat or through the bale. Alot more stable bale wont rotate as easy when you lift it. Can be used as pallet forks. You should be able to buy the prongs with a load rating of around 800kg each which is what ours are have liftd 1400kg concret water troughs no worries.

Con. Not fun when you are in a hurry to load a pallet of seed at planting time and jab a prong through a bag of seed cause you wornt paying attention
 
The 3 prong is the best for moving hay. The two smaller prongs are to keep the bale from spinning. the 2 prong are cross per-pus both pallet and hay but will tear the heck out of a bale. Another option is to get the spear its self and build a bucket mount(and make sure you can bolt or pin the spear in) and the bucket will keep the bale from spinning. Its much cheaper than buying a new 3 or 2 prong hay spear and you don't need to change implements and all that, just remove the spear and you are to use the bucket and bolt or pin the spear in to move hay.
Alex
 
I like the two tapered spears that you stick the bale with. The ones you go under with are hard on the hay and bust the net. The single ones break on real heavy bales. A real good heat treated tapered spear is worth the investment. Straight spears are harder to get into the hay and pull out harder.
A good supplier of spears and sockets, Plus complete units if you want, is Tri-L. I have a pair of there heavy duty spears. They are rated at 2900 lbs. each. I have moved thousands of bales of hay and stalks with mine. Here is a link.

http://www.tri-l.com/
 
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