# Stinger Hay Bale Stacker GOOD or BAD?



## makinghayCO (Jan 30, 2012)

Hi. 
I am looking for opinions on the Stinger Bale Stacker. Good and bad. i want to hear about it all. We currently have a Haying Mantis. and it is just too high maintenance for our operation. Please give me some honest opinions, Thanks


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## makinghayCO (Jan 30, 2012)

Would also like to know how many bales an hour these machines can put up in the stack.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

They look pretty cool. I examined one pretty close at the Colorado farm show last week. I didn't talk to anyone about it. Any idea on the costs anyone?


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

this is directly from their website

The Stinger Stacker 6500 is the fastest self-propelled stacking unit you can buy. It simply can't be beat! Although conditions will vary with every operation, customers can expect to average 75-100 bales per hour with 4X4 bales. In ideal field conditions some customers have stacked well over 125 bales per hour and with 3X4 or 3X3 bales operators have reported stacking as many as 165 bales per hour.

Stinger Inc | Homepage, big bale stacker, bale wagons, cube line bale wrappers, biomass logistics, biomass transport, and baled biomass handling, crop residue harvest equipment


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## makinghayCO (Jan 30, 2012)

teslan - where aer you from? i looked at the one at the farm show too. it looked pretty nice. he priced that one to me at 197,000$. and thanks Toyes. i have done a bunch of research on the web. i would like to hear from some people who have ran them. seems like everyone can run a good sales pitch but everything has its down falls.


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

Watch the video and look at the guy bouncing around in the cab while driving over the field. Try to keep that up all day long!

The unload times are pretty slow, you need to basically cycle the machine twice each load. Twelve 3x4 bales @ 1400# plus the weight of the machine is a lot to ask from a single axle unit no matter the manufacturer. Plus you load the bales across the wheel tracks of a center pivot.

Of all the comparable machines, I am very pleased with our Freeman 5300. I can average 64-72 bales/hr all day long and both the machine and the operator can live to tell about it. You can haul 10 bales but mostly I haul 8 due to the weight factor. The lack of the tie tier mechanism on our older unit is my only complaint.

The Milstak on a new NH wagon is decent, but the load cycle time is rather slow and the weight issue is also present.

The ProStak trailed units are pricey and you need a very good tractor to make the most of the system which pushes the cost way up.


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## makinghayCO (Jan 30, 2012)

Do you have any pictures of your freeman 5300? i dont know much about the freeman stackers. so any info would be great. I think the video with the guy bouncing in the cab is to show how tough the machine is. I dont think i would run that hard all day long. You wouldn't be able to walk!


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

makinghayCo, I'm from just south of Greeley. I wouldn't have thought it would be $197k. Yikes!.


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## makinghayCO (Jan 30, 2012)

ya. a new machine is pricey. but everything from the ground up is build in mind for stacking hay. so it looks to be a pretty tough machine. but its still alot of $$$$


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## Hank- in or (Feb 12, 2009)

The problem with the Freeman is that you cannot buy a new one. Allied who owns Freeman has not built a 5300 for several years now and last time I talked to them they said they are trying to come out with a new model. Personally I have little faith in this actually happening. I have a 5300 as well and I don't know what I will buy when it is replacement time. Freeman 5300 Roadsider


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## haystax (Jul 24, 2010)

Hank has it right - who knows what Freeman is going to do, I'm looking forward to talking to them in Tulare next week. Last year they said they were working on a small bale/big bale combo stacker - don't know how they are going to pull that off or why they want to dedicate their resources that direction when they have a proven system that could easily go back into production.

Anything new is up against the Tier$ engine reqs and that can be a killer for a small manufacturer.

Used units pop up from time to time, but Freeman is mostly a West Coast phenonenom


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## JoshA (Apr 16, 2008)

Haven't used any of the stackers, but I personally don't like the looks of a Stinger all that much, and certainly not for those prices. A ProAg 16k bale runner would be my choice, behind a small semi. Think if Freeman and ProAg combined there units, put a 16k on a Freeman Roadsider, would be quite the picker!


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## anokes (Jul 30, 2008)

We have a 2003 4400 stinger that is for sale for 95000. It has approx. 5500 hrs. We had 3 other stingers helping us this fall. I think with 4x4 bales a stinger is pretty hard to beat. For 3x4 or smaller they work very well, but it think someone will someday make something that works much better. We have thought about a pull type, would really like to try a Heath Superchaser QM but I haven't found one in the US.


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

I wonder why the Superchaser only requires an 85 hp tractor, but the Proag 16k requires 180 hp. They seem to be similar things. My neighbor has had a Proag for the last few years and it seems to pick up hay pretty quick.


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## LeadFarmer (May 10, 2011)

We have not had any experience driving a Stinger ourselves, but some custom hay guys used one on our ground last season.

The verdict: Don't bring that P.O.S. back into our fields, we will pick the hay up ourselves. Granted, they had a relatively green driver (one year experience), but this thing tore the heck out of our fields. It left huge ruts everywhere it went. And where the moron went straight across one of my new hay fields, I now have a nice big speed bump for the next three years, across the entire field. HUGE, HEAVY machine. This thing will track the hell out of your fields.

STAY AWAY.


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## Alfalfaspain (May 13, 2011)

That's what we use in Spain. No self-propelled, everything pull type...


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