Bale Spears

[Pony Doc]

For decades I have trucked small bales down from WY, unloading and re-stacking in the barn by hand or more recently with a grapple. Hay is harder to come by this year due to drought and we are buying 21 packs of small bales. My land Pride BS30 has 39 inch spears (functionally 33 inches) and these won't catch all the bales as the 21 packs are 49 inches thick. We will be putting up 700 to 900 bales for the year, breaking the 21 packs up to use the grapple is the court of last resort. Land Pride supposedly makes a CONUS 2 49 inch spear but they are ridiculously expensive and dealer can't get a set for months.
In other's experience what is the minimum spear length that will work?

 

[D2Cat]

I'm not familiar with what "21 packs" are. Please describe. Small squares are a very unusual item in these parts. I guess most of the field is rolled into big round bales, but some small bales are made for some customers, usually horse owners. They prefer the flakes to break off and feed.

The hay in a big round is the same hay and much less cost, and easier to load/ship. We set a big round on end and unroll it like a cinnamon roll and feed as needed. Last year 1500/1600# rounds of brome sold for $45 delivered.

 

[Pony Doc]

They are 7x3 small square bales banded together with usually 4 bands of twine. Large rounds don't work well for us, can't store as much hay in the covered barn as you can with small squares and we have 7 ponies, in addition to quarter horses. To prevent metabolic issues the ponies' hay has to be weighed. They would eat at a round bale until they were spheres with 4 legs and a head sticking out.

Oh and DOH! to answer my own question!! THE 21 pack measures 8 feet x 50 x 36 inches on the sides. You can use either a 39 or a 49 inch spear depending how you have them oriented for pick up. You can also use a pallet fork but the twine frequently isn't tight and strong enough to hold them together on the fork.

 

[Bearcatrp]

See the longer ones on CL all the time. Check your local CL or surrounding area. Maybe a machine shop can make you a set cheaper.