HAY BALER? NO, A HAY PRESS

No one agreed who was responsible for picking up the block and returning it up front after it fell free from the bale upon emerging from the chute. It seems to be an additional duty assigned to someone who is already very busy.

I found out that a number of people hadn't realized the bale chute tapers to almost three quarter inch smaller at the outlet end and is adjustable. This, I explained, made it possible to tie the wire with plenty of working slack and then get tight as the finished bale expanded after leaving the machine. This adjustable outlet can also be used to vary the amount of straw or hay put into each bale before it is forced out the opening.

One spectator told of baling hogs' hair for a packing plant with almost the same process. He said cleaning up a broken bale of hogs' hair was no fun.

Everyone has a favorite size or shape of baling hook to use when handling the finished bales. I met a man who always had his hooks chrome plated. Chrome makes them stay very slick with no between season tarnish that can cause some resistance to penetrating a bale.

Did you know the type of pitch fork used to feed loose straw into the chamber is very important? The more and the stronger tines a fork has, the harder it goes into a pile of straw. It also slides off slower if at all. The right fork could be a major influence during a long day. A light weight, three tine fork is available. Others prefer a four tine tool and some buy a five tine fork, cutting out the two middle tines, thus leaving three again, with a wider spacing. Occasionally someone removes the outside tines from a four tine fork and makes a narrow two tine fork. The fork I use is whichever one I can borrow.

The biggest problem the first year with setting up the baling demonstration centered around belt problems. The belt kept bouncing vertically and moving the tractor. We tried two different tractors, both two cylinder green ones. We tried three different flat belts, ranging from new, down to the belt I own with no effect. We had the front to the right and the front to the left. It was pulled tight, it was run loose. There was no belt dressing around so we bought some honey from a nearby stand. The belt was run inside to outside and it ran straight, The belt couldn't be twisted because of the clockwise rotation of the hay press. I plan to reverse the drive linkage inside to allow for reverse rotation and twist the belt another year. Also, one has problems lining a belt if he listens to more than five advisers concurrently.