Bale spear help

[ChrisJD4320]

Hello Everybody! My 4320 is back in the shop for the 3rd time to get my leaking right front hub fixed. This time it ran about 3 hours and started leaking again. (Time to trade for Blue or Orange yet?)

Anyway, I have a need for a bale spear for my 400x. I have seen a bunch of different ones. Does anyone have a recommendation for the best type?

 

[civesnedfield]

Hello Everybody! My 4320 is back in the shop for the 3rd time to get my leaking right front hub fixed. This time it ran about 3 hours and started leaking again. (Time to trade for Blue or Orange yet?)

Anyway, I have a need for a bale spear for my 400x. I have seen a bunch of different ones. Does anyone have a recommendation for the best type?

Front or rear?

 

[civesnedfield]

Actually front or rear doesn't matter. Here is the place that I bought mine from. I just bought the spears then and made the tractor attachment myself. I have a 3PH model for the rear and a QA for the front. Their spears are excellent. Their prices are also very good. A QA model thru a local dealer was $800 I believe theirs is around $500.

Washburn Company and hayspear.com Hay bale spear- spike- mover- stacker & carrier & gate latch

 

[kennyd]

If you do not have the SkidSteer adapter on your FEL then you should get the Frontier one that will utilize the JD Quick-attach on your loader.

 

[texasjohn]

Front or Rear does matter a lot...

Depends on how your tractor is weighted and its size.

3ph can pick up more than FEL, but not as high.

If you get a rear bale handler, I recommend a Priefert fork (two spikes slide under the bale while on ground, then you pick it up.

If you get a front spike, one with a long center spike and two smaller ones lower down to keep the bale from turning is what you need. Also, you MUST have sufficient weight in the rear to counterbalance the front load.

My QA front bale spike was about $350 as I recall.

If you are going to be moving many bales, I recommend both a front and rear bale carrier... you have to make half as many trips and solve the balance problem at the same time if you pick the rear bale up first.

 

[civesnedfield]

Front or Rear does matter a lot...

Depends on how your tractor is weighted and its size.

3ph can pick up more than FEL, but not as high.

If you get a rear bale handler, I recommend a Priefert fork (two spikes slide under the bale while on ground, then you pick it up.

If you get a front spike, one with a long center spike and two smaller ones lower down to keep the bale from turning is what you need. Also, you MUST have sufficient weight in the rear to counterbalance the front load.

My QA front bale spike was about $350 as I recall.

If you are going to be moving many bales, I recommend both a front and rear bale carrier... you have to make half as many trips and solve the balance problem at the same time if you pick the rear bale up first.

The front or rear thing was in reference to the place where I got mine from. They sell both. I totally agree with the need for counterweight if using front spear only. I also agree with using both. That's exactly what I do. No need for counterweight and moving tme is cut in half. Just remember to load the rear spear first.

 

[ClemBert]

I took the easy but expensive way out. I paid $600 (out the door and delivered) for a JD bale spear attachment. It attaches to my JD 541 FEL. Takes about 30 seconds to take the bucket off then put the bale spear on with the quick connect/disconnect system my JD 541 FEL uses. I assume your's has the same type of setup.