Safety warning

[msb]

Its been a couple or three weeks now and I should have reported it before now. A friend was pulling out of a field with a tractor and loader.Trees along the road blocked the tractor driver's vision for what might be coming down the road. The loader was equipped with a bale spear and was about 4 feet off the ground. A car goes whizzing by the field opening. The bale spear caught the car and sliced through the front door post.I have been told, it then took the head off the adult male passenger.The spear then broke off. The car's driver was unhurt , but had to be treated for hysteria.
The take home message for me is to carry my loader bucket above any car's height if I encounter a similar situation.

 

[Anonymous-0]

...... That's gotta suck so bad. Oh man, I can't even begin to begin a response!! Oh my goodness, forget bale spears for me EVER, i'm going to stick with a grapple.

 

[R2D2]

Must have been a cheap job on the spear if it broke off.

 

[Sam#3]

I get a queasy feeling in my gut when I see a pickup driving in town with the spear extended off the rear.

 

[noncompos]

I"m not that familiar with the equipment, but remember the higher you carry it the higher your center of gravity is and the easier to tip over, especially when on uneven ground like when pulling up onto a road...or if there"s room to turn around, and traffic permits, you might consider backing out to where you can see...

 

[Bob]

And the grapple would do LESS damage if a moron in a car crashed into it????????

 

[Eric SEI]

If the loader is empty being high shouldn't effect balance too much. When I've got to go out on the road with the bale spike empty I rotate it down with the loader high. It doesn't stick out much beyond the front of the tractor that way. Gas company cleared the edge of our field for a gas main, before that it was difficult to see past the trees. The road rightaway there is the same width as the pavement, I was always concerned about hitting someone, but never did.