They said hay harpoon, I don't think so

[rustcollector]

They sold this today as a hay harpoon, I think they are wrong. Doesn't open up wide enough where that seems logical. The ends are shaped like bark spuds.

Patent date is May 1, ????. I looked through all of May 1, 1900 and either missed it or it's not there.


Anybody know what it is and the patent date for sure? Each square on my floor is a foot, so that tells you about how big it is.

[rusty]

I suppose they could be Ice Tongs (648,886), tho they don't match well....

[rustcollector]

I suppose they could be Ice Tongs (648,886), tho they don't match well....

I stopped at that one too, looked for a bit and decided not. Ice tongs are always curved to reach around the block of ice. These have straight arms. It must not be 1900, I'll have to see what other years May 1st would have been a patent date.

[rusty]

1834,1845,1847,1849,1855,1860,1866,1877,1883,1888,1894,1900,1906,1917,1923,1928,1934,1945,1951,1956,1962,1973,1979,1984,1990,2001,

(sorry)

[Bill Houghton]

I never knew that people had to harpoon hay in the wild.  Shades of Moby Dick!

[Papaw]

Can't let it get away!

[rustcollector]

I never knew that people had to harpoon hay in the wild.  Shades of Moby Dick!

Actually, I have 3 or 4 types of hay harpoons. Truthfully they are hay spears, just depends on where you are (like soda or pop).

I'd picture them but it's a long dark wet walk to the barn to get them...lol

[rudeawakening55]

  I have one just like this one, & would say it's a hay harpoon.

[rustcollector]

  I have one just like this one, & would say it's a hay harpoon.

Can you read the date on yours?

1834,1845,1847,1849,1855,1860,1866,1877,1883,1888,1894,1900,1906,1917,1923,1928,1934,1945,1951,1956,1962,1973,1979,1984,1990,2001,

(sorry)

I'm liking '88 or '06 for my next run through on them. Not gonna happen tonight though. You helped me not have to figure that all out.

[rudeawakening55]

  I've never cleaned it up.
               Orin Lamport

[rustcollector]

If, and that's a big if, you can believe a ebay seller, he sold one and said he took it out of the barn himself. So I guess it may be just what they said. I can see where there is not a lot of them around though. I can't see where it would work very well.

[Billman49]

Too short for a hay spear (or harpoon) - they need to be able to get to the centre of a hack rick, and with the handle are 8 to 10 feet long... this tool would only be able to penetrate a couple of feet...

What is the action, how does it open, and to what size??? Is the ring for a handle (at right angled to the axis??)

[Lewill2]

But it might work on picking up single bales, spear one open up the jaws and lift away.

[rusty]

Another type of device, somewhat similar, and without sharp pointed ends, are barrel tongs, used for rolling and lifting small casks....

(Can not find anything that looks like this one however)

[mvwcnews]

But it might work on picking up single bales, spear one open up the jaws and lift away.

To be clear, the action on this thing is it spears straight down, and then spreads its wings as you pull up, rather than grapple around the outside of a bunch.
How well this works depends on what you're using for hay.  Slick grasses or straw would not stick together well enough to spear in the middle and have a wad pull loose from the hay mow.  Tangly stuff like alfalfa or clover would stick together -- in fact you'd might have to use your hay knife to "slice" and define edges for your wad.