Pallet forks modified for a bale spear.

[shade tree welder]

My wife and I got into the beef "business" earlier this year and figured round
bales would be the way to go. I have a New Holland TC 40DA with a 17LA
loader. After looking at the prices for bale spears I investigated making my
own. I have a full machine shop and welding capabilities. As I have more
projects than time I like to keep things simple.

I was looking at spears as they are medium to high carbon steel and heat
treated, I figured I would purchase the actual spears, my local implement
dealer had exactly what I wanted spears with weldable sockets.

Next I was going to build the back plate out of steel I had and was looking
at my pallet forks for ideas on how to build it so I could use the quick attach
feature on my FEL. When it dawned on my I could just modify the forks and
have it do double duty. I can pull the forks off and have the spears on in less than five minutes. The reverse is also fast.

 

[shade tree welder]

The steel is 2 x 4 x 1/4" rectanglar tubing, cut and beveled to fit and then
I drilled and bored the holes for the sockets on my mill. The whole project to
less than an hour to build.

 

[CowwFace]

Hey Shade_Tree,

That is pissa!

Could you even leave the forks on and haul the bales that way? Never heard anything bad about too much support?

Tractor on

 

[shade tree welder]

Could you even leave the forks on and haul the bales that way? Never heard anything bad about too much support?

The forks tend to tear up the ground, I moved them at first by just
using the forks to pick them up. Tears up the ground and the bales.

 

[jgrreed]

The forks tend to tear up the ground, I moved them at first by just
using the forks to pick them up. Tears up the ground and the bales.

A ROUND BALE ON PALLET FORKS ALONE IS A VERY, VERY, VERY BAD IDEA.

-Jer.

 

[Renze]

How do you take the spears off, undo the nuts on them and pound them out of their conical sockets ?

And i agree that a spear is much safer than pallet forks, especially on loaders without self levelling: It wont be the first time that someone gets killed by a bale tumbling over the fork frame, over the loader frame on top of the operator... On tractors with just a ROPS on top of the rear axle, there is nothing to stop it from falling on top of you.
My neighbour once had a pack of fenceposts coming over the loader, stopped by the cab frame. Luckily no injuries nor damage, just some scratched paint.

 

[Leejohn]

Nice job. But ???? how high they are, it's sure going to take away lifting power when tilting back.

 

[shade tree welder]

A ROUND BALE ON PALLET FORKS ALONE IS A VERY, VERY, VERY BAD IDEA.

Completely agree. When I moved the first eight bales I purchased, I was
extremely careful and kept them low to the ground. I was well aware of the
hazards. They are keep outside with sleeves on them for protection. And
are not stacked.

How do you take the spears off, undo the nuts on them and pound them out of their conical sockets?

Basically, I unscrew the nut to where it is even with then end of the spear to
protect the threads and use a dead blow hammer to knock them out. I do
not torque them too tight on installation as I only move one bale every other
week, all the bales are outside on the ground and no high lifting is required.

If I needed to lift high for some reason I would torque them down tighter.

Nice job. But ???? how high they are, it's sure going to take away lifting power when tilting back.

The bales that I purchased and had baled off my field are 5' dia and 4.5' wide
and weight in around 700-800 pound, I have no issue lifting them at all. The
17LA Loader I have is capable (IIRC) of 1700 pounds at the wrist pins.