We report on measurements of isothermal irreversible magnetization loops (M (H)) of Ni-doped BaFe 2− x Ni x As 2 single crystals with x= 0.1 and 0.14 in magnetic fields up to 14 T. For both samples in fields H|| c-axis and H|| ab-plane, the critical current density calculated from the M (H) curves exceeds 10 6 A cm− 2 at low temperatures, suggesting strong intrinsic pinning in our crystals. In a broad temperature range of 2–17 K in both field orientations, a nearly optimally doped single crystal displays a second magnetization peak (fish-tail effect). For H|| c-axis, curves of the normalized pinning force, f p, as a function of reduced field, h, measured at different temperatures obey the scaling relation f p∝ h p (1− h) q with peak position h max≈ 0.33 for the BaFe 1.86 Ni 0.14 As 2 crystal and h max≈ 0.4 for the BaFe 1.9 Ni 0.1 As 2 sample, indicating a single normal point pinning mechanism. In striking contrast, in the H|| ab-plane orientation, the scaling of f p (h) curves is absent.