Bale Spear Sheared

Went to move round bales, the spear was about a foot and a half into the bale, went over a chunk of ice, the front tires dropped down, sheared the spear off right at the brace, 2" solid steel spear, snapped right off could not have cut it that straight... Anyone know if there is any way to fix this? I like that old one, the new one i was forced to buy has a crappy spike on it, not going to last long.... Help..

Grind a V all the way around it then weld it. The slide a piece of pipe that just fits over it and weld that pipe in place. Just a weld is not going to hold up but with a piece of pipe over where the break/weld is it should hold up a very long time

I snapped one two weeks ago when it was so cold. That one sheared back almost flush with the frame. It was long enough that I was going to just use it a little shorter,but I found another truck axle here that was the length of the old spear,so I put that in it. You might have to do something similar if you want it to hold. If it would break as it was,I wouldn't put much hope in welding it.

The one I have broke. It fits into a round bracket and is tightened by a big nut. Broke off near the nut, no chance of welding it. Bought a new spear only to go in the bracket. It's better quality, works fine, so far.

KEH

All depends how you weld it . I know if i welded it it would not break . as i have done so several times and they are still lifting bales. Eugene has broken both of his on a weekend when everything is closed till Monday , cows don't stop eating and need to be fed . Soooo fire up the welder do a little preheat and start welding . Then wrap it in that stuff that the EPA has a fit about and let it cool. And NO 6011 , 6013, 7014 and 7018 is not the rod of choice here. Use to use M G 600 but lots my sores and now use Royal 220 . Not cheap but works .

if you want a bale spear that will hold up till the cows come home use a 48 inch fork off of a fork lift

I like those penetrator spears better than our old homemade ones.

Use a genuine Kverneland buckrake tine .....danged hard to break!.....Sam

Pics of what you have would be the only way to give any really good advice. The best advice so far is to remove the broken piece and have a few inches shorter spear. But by what you've said there is a possibility that a weld would hold. To break that straight it is certainly hardened steel, but impossible to tell exactly what. If you weld it use 7018 on dc or 7018ac for an ac welder. I don't like to weld around something like that so I would grind it flat from the sides so the weld was vertical when the spear is installed. Leave about 1/4 inch of flat in the middle to weld against. I usually paint a line down the middle, fit the pieces together so the line transfers, then grind to the line. That way the pieces will match after it's ground. Start welding by tacking one side, then weld a good weld on the other side. Then grind out the tacked side enough to ensure 100% penetration. Then weld that side some, switching from side to side til done. No need to try to clamp it to something for straightness because it will pull back and forth as you weld it. Just lay it on something flat and start it as straight as you can, doing a final straitening after the first 2 welds. As you weld watch for pulling and weld the long side to pull it back straight. When done allow it to cool slowly. You can drape a blanket or leather over it to slow the cooling. Don't pour sand or anything like that on it tho. That will give you about as good a weld as you will get without gusseting of some sort. If you could gusset it for a few inches that would make a better than new repair and wouldn't likely interfear with the bales on that end. Good luck with what ever you choose. Just cuz I'm curious, did you look at the break to see if it was all new or was it cracked before. I'm suspicious that what you did would break a good spear.

I will try to get some pictures and post them, it was definitely a new clean break, Other than it was -5 degrees, with god only knows wind chill temp, but I was also picking up a soft core bale, which should have had enough flex to prevent it from shearing. I appreciate everyone's ideas and will see what I can do with this.

Was the spear originally welded on or bolted on? I have seen some that are bolted on and the reason is because it is a high carbon steel like spring steel. Unless it was originally welded, trying to weld it could be a waste of time and money. Even it was originally welded, the chances of it holding for any length of time are very slim. If you did attempt to weld it, you'd need some very expensive specialty rods, a weed burner torch, a tempil stick so you can preheat it to about 600/650 deg's and then you'd have to slow cool it and possibly even stress relieve it. Then it might need to be re-tempered. Would be a lot easier to make a new spear. I'd make a spear out of heavy wall 2" pipe, not drill stem, and for extra strength stitch weld some tapered gussets down the length of the spear. The tapered gussets would also help to keep the bale from turning if you didn't have short spikes to stop it from turning. I think 5/16" or 3/8" plate would work good for the gussets. Pictures would help if you could post some.

My brother would heat it up red hot for about 4 inches, after welding it and hammer the devil out of it

I bent a bale spear sat evening. Customer came after dark, wanted 2 rounds on his high dump trailer; I didn't want to start the diesel loader so used gas tractor with scissors and spear. Went to push the first bale that i had sat on his trailer with the second bale on the spear, must of caught the bale on bottom of trailer as it tilted instead of shoving the first bale and the spear curved. Wonder if the near zero temp made it bend more easily? Machine shop heated it and straightened it - wonder if it will be weak?

Wind chill doesent have anything to do with metal that ratng is for warm bloodied live people animals ect.

Not likely on the temp, yes on the weaker.

Spend the $50 for a new spear that was made for the job. They don't cost much, and if the thing breaks, take it back, tell them it's a POS, and you want your money back or a new one. Bet you that you get a new one.....

I use 2 truck axles welded together for my bale spears. only broke 2, welded back together, still holding for years. take a piece of heavy angle iron, lay the spears on there (point with torch down to about 1"). start welding 7018 rod while turning. it takes about an hour or so

Can't put a "new spear" on this one, it was welded into the post, it's one of the older, stronger ones. The new one I had to buy to try to get by has the replaceable spear, and it is already bending, new cheap junk. The old one was one that was manufactured, not home made, I think it was just a fluke due to the extreme cold. Looking to find a pipe to use as a sleeve after grinding a "v" and welding it solid, then put a 6" sleeve over it and weld that on, even if it's only for a backup when the new one breaks...

Pictures of sheared spear..