Baler

A Baler is a farm implement that is used to compress the hay crop (which has been cut and raked) into bales and bind the bales with twine. There are several different types of balers that are commonly used.

The most frequently used type of baler produces cylindricaly shaped or 'round' bales. The hay is simply rolled up inside the baler using a number of rubberized belts. When the bale reaches a determined size the twine that binds the bale is wrapped around the outside. The back of the baler is opened up and the bale is discharged. These bales are 55-60 inches in diameter and about 60 inches in width. The bales weigh from 1100lb(500kg) to 1600lb(750kg).

Another type of baler in common use produces large rectangular bales. The bales are bound with a half dozen or so strings of twine. The bales generally weigh somewhat more than round bales.

A type of baler which is less common today produces small rectangular or 'square' bales. Each bale is about 15 in x 18 in x 38 in. The bales are wrapped with two strands of twine. The bales are light enough for a person to handle, about 45lb(20kg) to 60lb(25kg). To form the bale, the hay in the windrow is lifted by tines in the balers 'pickup'. The hay is then dragged or augered into a chamber that runs along the length of the baler. A combination plunger and knife moves back and forth in this chamber. The knife cuts off the hay at the spot where it enters the chamber from the pickup. The knife is positioned just ahead of the plunger. The plunger compresses the hay into the bales. A measuring device measures the amount of hay that is being compressed, and at the appropriate time it triggers the mechanism (the knotter) which wraps the twine around the bale and ties off the bale. This form of bale is no longer much used because of the costs involved in handling the bales.

The twine is merely spooled around round bales to bind them and is not knotted as is done with square bales.