sldva00
Silver Member
Went over to visit a cousin and noticed he needed a new hay spear for two reasons: 1. he bought a bigger tractor (Ford TW30) with Cat. 3 three point hitch and 2. his hay spear was cracked at bottom at the juncture between vertical and horizontal tubes. I also noticed that he sold his truck and the new truck (used) he replaced it with did not have a gooseneck hitch/ball.
Well, I don't know much about round bales, just that they weigh around 1000#. He doesn't know I'm making the hay spear, so I didn't want to tip him off by asking any questions about the round bale dimensions. I was also too eager to finish the project within a week that I forget about asking TBN for help with dimensions. I found that the pins for cat 3 are 38" apart and the top link is 27" high. So, I decided to put the spear at center of vertical post and place the stabilizers at the same distance from center of vertical. So, all spears are 13.5" from point at juncture of vertical and horizontal tubes. So the stabilizers are 27" apart. In hindsight, I think this is too far apart. I think I should have made them closer.
I also decided to include a 2" receiver just because and the gooseneck ball because he doesn't have the ball in his truck at moment. I hope the 2" receiver doesn't get in the way. I don't think it would, but since I've never dealt with round bales, I don't know. I think its a nice feature to be able to remove the spears and use the receiver or gooseneck as needed.
I bought the 49" spear and stabilizers from a Titan distributor through eBay for $99. I bought the 2" receiver and Cat. 3 pins at local JD dealer for around $45. The rest of the steel I already had. Used 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 3/16 square tube for frame. Used 3/8" steel for gussets and mounts for lift arms and top link. Used 3/16" steel to make a couple of fish plates to place along edge of hay spear sleeve. When I cut the hole for sleeve, I had to bore into the side wall of tube. So I added the plates for strength only because that is what I've seen people do here at TBN. I would never of thought of that before. I primed it and used Undercoating to cover it up. I've never used Undercoating before, so finish isn't consistent.
All in all, I am pleased with the way it turned out, but it could have been better. If I had to do it over again, I would use 2 1/2 x 3 rectangular tube instead of square for vertical post. I also would have made the plates for the lower pins 3 1/4" wide instead of 3. Lastly, I would have placed the stabilizers closer together than what they are.
Well, I don't know much about round bales, just that they weigh around 1000#. He doesn't know I'm making the hay spear, so I didn't want to tip him off by asking any questions about the round bale dimensions. I was also too eager to finish the project within a week that I forget about asking TBN for help with dimensions. I found that the pins for cat 3 are 38" apart and the top link is 27" high. So, I decided to put the spear at center of vertical post and place the stabilizers at the same distance from center of vertical. So, all spears are 13.5" from point at juncture of vertical and horizontal tubes. So the stabilizers are 27" apart. In hindsight, I think this is too far apart. I think I should have made them closer.
I also decided to include a 2" receiver just because and the gooseneck ball because he doesn't have the ball in his truck at moment. I hope the 2" receiver doesn't get in the way. I don't think it would, but since I've never dealt with round bales, I don't know. I think its a nice feature to be able to remove the spears and use the receiver or gooseneck as needed.
I bought the 49" spear and stabilizers from a Titan distributor through eBay for $99. I bought the 2" receiver and Cat. 3 pins at local JD dealer for around $45. The rest of the steel I already had. Used 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 3/16 square tube for frame. Used 3/8" steel for gussets and mounts for lift arms and top link. Used 3/16" steel to make a couple of fish plates to place along edge of hay spear sleeve. When I cut the hole for sleeve, I had to bore into the side wall of tube. So I added the plates for strength only because that is what I've seen people do here at TBN. I would never of thought of that before. I primed it and used Undercoating to cover it up. I've never used Undercoating before, so finish isn't consistent.
All in all, I am pleased with the way it turned out, but it could have been better. If I had to do it over again, I would use 2 1/2 x 3 rectangular tube instead of square for vertical post. I also would have made the plates for the lower pins 3 1/4" wide instead of 3. Lastly, I would have placed the stabilizers closer together than what they are.
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