Finally found one

[Brad Buchanan]

After looking high and low for a 3 tine hay fork I finally found one.

Was taking my wife to a hospital for a treatment I had a few minutes to kill. I went into one of those 'tourist trap' shops in
Vermont and found this fork.

It has a slender hardwood handle and works great for turning my compost over. Paid $40.00 for it

Brad

 

[Billy NY]

Union offers that same style fork
Union Tools

 

[Unruh]

Out here in "small grain country", we would call that a bundle fork, used for pitching oat, wheat etc. bundles onto a "rack" and then transported to the threshing machine where the bundles were fed into the threshing machine using "the bundle fork". It was important for the bundles to be fed into the machine with the heads of grain first.
A hay fork, here, has four tines with rounded corners like your hay fork. If they are square, it's most likely a manure fork although there are some rather large straw forks with square corners on them.
 

[Bret4207]

Huh. Up here on the Canadian border in NY that's a hay fork. A bundle fork has 2 tines around here. anything with 4-6 tines tends to be a manure fork. Silage forks have a hole mess of tines and a D handle.

Must be differing locations have different names.
 

[Ted in NE-OH]

Interesting what some of think is an antique is still made new. OH well.
 

[hd6gtom]

hayfork
 

[Kippster]

Wow. You need to go to more farm auctions. The last 3 tine fork I bought I paid 8 bucks for at a farm auction. I could buy one every week at the local auction barn for 15
 

[Dick]

Lots of bundle forks around but to find a good bundle fork with a long slender handle is hard to find. Even hay fork handles are almost impossible to find. There are lots of fork handles out there but to find a handle that is long and slender is next to impossible. Is there someone out there that makes hay fork handles? Either for a three tine or four tine, makes no difference. Long and slender is what you need on a hay fork. You can buy hay forks new nowadays but you will notice that the tines are heavier and the handle is shorter and heavier. I doubt you could find a new hay fork with tines like Brad bought with the small diameter tines. You don't need anything heavy for handling bundles or loose hay so something lighter is what you want.
Most all farm stores carry fork handles but they are for manure forks as they are heavier for lifting fork fulls of manure, silage or yard debris.
During haymaking I always have a four tine hay fork handy, it's like Brads fork but with four light tines. I carry one on the tractor when raking and baling and it gets used daily. Handy in the barn too for feeding. If you find one, hang on to it because as far as I know, they don't make them anymore. If you need a handle I hope someone on here can help you out.
 

[retired farmer]

I bought one of those years ago after I got my ranch. Never could figure out what it was good for. Sure couldn't pitch any hay with it. Got a four tine and it worked a little better but not much. Finally found a five tine which worked like it was supposed to.
 

[Pale Rider]

My relatives in Manitoba call it a Manure fork and use them to clean stalls.

I was lucky enough to find an ancient one down by the creek with the remnants of a broken wooden handle which was simply thrown away and buried. I got a handle for it and value it all the more to place it back in service.
 

[Brad Buchanan]

Thanks for all the interesting comments on this subject.

While I wanted this fork for my compost pile I have used them for their intended purpose. This particular one has the tines that actually deeper than they are wide if that makes any sense.

I really looked for a new model of this fork and really didn't find any that had the slender tines and smaller diameter handle. I actually asked one of the fellows in town who has a store and him and his sons wear the straw hats. He said that he didn't know any place to buy new and the only place to get them was farm or estate auctions and they were going for $75.00 and up.

Again, thanks for the interest and I learned a lot!

Brad
 

[Brian G. NY]

I"ve always seen it as Brett has; except my Dad had a 2-tine hay fork as well as a 3-tiner.
I just discovered a 2 tiner out in the corner of my MIL"s woodshed; I will add it to my collection of "old stuff".
 

[howdy1960]

Here's an idea...ask the Amish what they would use it for
I was taught was used mostly for 'thrashing" straw in stalls by my great GrG'Pa(born late 1800s), while another one was used for loading hay onto haywagon.
 

[farmer boy]

Those are available at any farm store around here(TSC, Co-op, Home Hardware). Available for $22. I can't find a real good use for them. A 7 tine silage fork moves loose hay alot more effectively than that.
 

[Bret4207]

The modern ones have heavy, clunky heads and lousy handles. The whole fork is heavy. Best fork I ever used was all wood. Light as a feather and strong. I have no clue whatever became of it.