Breckenridge, Texas sophomore Zane Herrington and his dad Mike have been attending their county AG show since Zane was in the third grade. "There have never been hydraulics at the show. There's always a deer stand, and a BBQ pit. I wanted to do something different," says Zane.
Zane's dad Mike has a friend who lives down the road with a hydraulic bale spike on his truck. "We went over for a visit to check out the bale spike. I saw the Pierce sticker and called. That's when we talked to Michael and purchased the DIY bale spike," Mike remembers.
"We worked on it every day for three weeks after school and on the weekends. When school was out we worked on it over Christmas," Zane said. "The hardest part of the DIY bale spike had to be the steel plate. I was very confident. I was the first hydraulics at the show I just knew I would win." They ended up crafting the steel plate themselves and finished the project just in time for the county show.
Mike recounts that when it was time for his bale spike to be judged Zane was in the middle of his judging for floral design. Jeannine, Zane's mom adds that he also won grand champion in floral design at the county show.
"When Zane walked up he shook the judges hand and immediately launched into how he built his project. I think the judge was impressed by how much he knew," Mike says proudly.
How much he knew combined with his project was enough to win Grand Champion overall at the Stephens county show and place blue ribbon group at the Fort Worth show.
As for next year Zane and his dad Mike are already in talks with Michael about the DIY Dump Kit.
Is the PIERCE bale spike right for you? Click below to download the hay hauling comparison guide. The guide compares tractor, bale buggy, bale bed, arm bed, and bale spear in terms of cost, capacity, installation and more: