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Difference between revisions of "Balers"
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[[Category:Packaging Installations]]{{Knoppen}} | [[Category:Packaging Installations]]{{Knoppen}} | ||
[[Image:Vermeer605BalerJuly2004.JPG|right|thumb|A round baler]] | [[Image:Vermeer605BalerJuly2004.JPG|right|thumb|A round baler]] | ||
A ''' | A '''Baler<ref name="baler">Wikipedia, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baler Baler]" (accessed Sep 2, 2013)</ref>''' is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop (such as hay, cotton, straw, or silage) into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. Several different types of balers are commonly used, each producing a different type of bales – rectangular or cylindrical, of various sizes, bound with twine, strapping, netting, or wire. | ||
Industrial balers are also used in material recycling facilities, primarily for baling metal, plastic, or paper for transport. | Industrial balers are also used in material recycling facilities, primarily for baling metal, plastic, or paper for transport. | ||
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A recent (August 2009) innovation in hay storage has been the development of the silage or haylage bale, which is a high-moisture bale wrapped in plastic film. These are baled much wetter than hay bales, and are usually smaller than hay bales because the greater moisture content makes them heavier and harder to handle. These bales begin to ferment almost immediately, and the metal bale spear stabbed into the core becomes very warm to the touch from the fermentation process. | A recent (August 2009) innovation in hay storage has been the development of the silage or haylage bale, which is a high-moisture bale wrapped in plastic film. These are baled much wetter than hay bales, and are usually smaller than hay bales because the greater moisture content makes them heavier and harder to handle. These bales begin to ferment almost immediately, and the metal bale spear stabbed into the core becomes very warm to the touch from the fermentation process. | ||
Silage or haylage bales may be wrapped by placing them on a rotating bale spear mounted on the rear of a tractor. As the bale spins, a layer of plastic cling film is applied to the exterior of the bale. This roll of plastic is mounted in a sliding shuttle on a steel arm and can move parallel to the bale axis, so the operator does not need to hold up the heavy roll of plastic. The plastic layer extends over the ends of the bale to form a ring of plastic approximately | Silage or haylage bales may be wrapped by placing them on a rotating bale spear mounted on the rear of a tractor. As the bale spins, a layer of plastic cling film is applied to the exterior of the bale. This roll of plastic is mounted in a sliding shuttle on a steel arm and can move parallel to the bale axis, so the operator does not need to hold up the heavy roll of plastic. The plastic layer extends over the ends of the bale to form a ring of plastic approximately 12in wide on the ends, with hay exposed in the center. | ||
To stretch the cling-wrap plastic tightly over the bale, the tension is actively adjusted with a knob on the end of the roll, which squeezes the ends of the roll in the shuttle. In this example wrapping video, the operator is attempting to use high tension to get a flat, smooth seal on the right end. However, the tension increases too much and the plastic tears off. The operator recovers by quickly loosening the tension and allows the plastic to feed out halfway around the bale before reapplying the tension to the sheeting. | To stretch the cling-wrap plastic tightly over the bale, the tension is actively adjusted with a knob on the end of the roll, which squeezes the ends of the roll in the shuttle. In this example wrapping video, the operator is attempting to use high tension to get a flat, smooth seal on the right end. However, the tension increases too much and the plastic tears off. The operator recovers by quickly loosening the tension and allows the plastic to feed out halfway around the bale before reapplying the tension to the sheeting. | ||
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A flatbed wagon would pull up next to the barn underneath the end of the track, the spear lowered down to the wagon, and speared into a single bale. The pulley rope would be used to manually lift the bale up until it could enter the mow through the door, then moved along the track into the barn and finally released for manual stacking in tight rows across the floor of the loft. As the stack filled the loft, the bales would be lifted higher and higher with the pulleys until the hay was stacked all the way up to the peak. | A flatbed wagon would pull up next to the barn underneath the end of the track, the spear lowered down to the wagon, and speared into a single bale. The pulley rope would be used to manually lift the bale up until it could enter the mow through the door, then moved along the track into the barn and finally released for manual stacking in tight rows across the floor of the loft. As the stack filled the loft, the bales would be lifted higher and higher with the pulleys until the hay was stacked all the way up to the peak. | ||
When electricity arrived, the bale spear, pulley and track system were replaced by long motorized bale conveyors known as hay elevators. A typical elevator is an open skeletal frame, with a chain that has dull | When electricity arrived, the bale spear, pulley and track system were replaced by long motorized bale conveyors known as hay elevators. A typical elevator is an open skeletal frame, with a chain that has dull 3in. spikes every few feet along the chain to grab bales and drag them along. One elevator replaced the spear track and ran the entire length of the peak of the barn. A second elevator was either installed at a 30-degree slope on the side of the barn to lift bales up to the peak elevator, or used dual front-back chains surrounding the bale to lift bales straight up the side of the barn to the peak elevator. | ||
A bale wagon pulled up next to the lifting elevator, and a farm worker placed bales one at a time onto the angled track. Once bales arrived at the peak elevator, adjustable tipping gates along the length of the peak elevator were opened by pulling a cable from the floor of the hayloft, so that bales tipped off the elevator and dropped down to the floor in different areas of the loft. This permitted a single elevator to transport hay to one part of a loft and straw to another part. | A bale wagon pulled up next to the lifting elevator, and a farm worker placed bales one at a time onto the angled track. Once bales arrived at the peak elevator, adjustable tipping gates along the length of the peak elevator were opened by pulling a cable from the floor of the hayloft, so that bales tipped off the elevator and dropped down to the floor in different areas of the loft. This permitted a single elevator to transport hay to one part of a loft and straw to another part. | ||