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Pine straw baler

#1

jekjr

jekjr

I am gathering materials to build another pine straw baler. I am going to build it horizontal rather than vertical. I am going to put an air cylinder on it to compact with rather than using a lever and manpower.


#2

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

jekjr said:
I am gathering materials to build another pine straw baler. I am going to build it horizontal rather than vertical. I am going to put an air cylinder on it to compact with rather than using a lever and manpower.
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Would like to see pics of your progress! :cool:


#3

D

DaveTN

Are you bailing up pine needles and wrapping them in a bale? How do you separate the pine cones and sticks out of the needles? Sounds like an interesting machine you're re-designing! Keep us informed. That might also work with a modification to it to bale up lawn grass but unless you had animals to feed it to, it wouldn't sell like the pine needles.


#4

jekjr

jekjr

DaveTN said:
Are you bailing up pine needles and wrapping them in a bale? How do you separate the pine cones and sticks out of the needles? Sounds like an interesting machine you're re-designing! Keep us informed. That might also work with a modification to it to bale up lawn grass but unless you had animals to feed it to, it wouldn't sell like the pine needles.
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Much of the straw we find is fairly clean. When feeding it into the baker we separate what is there. Course some goes in and is baled up with the straw.


#5

jekjr

jekjr

It is pictured on here in other places, but here is the baler I have been using. It is a vertical baler. It will only bale 6 to8 bales per hour. That includes me raking the straw with the tractor and rake pictured.image.jpg


#6

jekjr

jekjr

Ordered cylinder, valve, and brackets today. Then started construction on main compactor. This one is going to make a bale 10 1/2" by 12" and 24" long. I can't wait for my cylinder to come.


#7

reynoldston

reynoldston

So this is what you need the air cylinder for. What supply's the air?


#8

jekjr

jekjr

reynoldston said:
So this is what you need the air cylinder for. What supply's the air?
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I am going to sit an air compressor on the trailer with it. I will power it with my deep cycle battery and a 1500 watt power inverter if it will run it. If it won't last long enough I will get a small generator to run it.

I have run an electric chainsaw with the inverter for a pretty good while as well as other power tools. If need be I can also charge the battery with the truck while I am raking straw if need be.


#9

jekjr

jekjr

Here we are started on the bale chamber. LOL It will be considerably shorter after completion. Just screwed it together that long to get some referance points.image.jpg image.jpg


#10

jekjr

jekjr

Got plunger installed, cylinder installed, all air lines installed. Hooked up to air and everything seems to cycle properly. Got a threader needle made and got the bale stop made. Hope to get it mounted on wheels of some sort tomorrow and mount string box on on it and figure out how to attach the air compressor and then going to try power inverter and deep cycle battery to see how many bales I can bale before the battery voltage gets too low to run air compressor on power inverter. Will post more pictures soon if anybody is interested.


#11

jekjr

jekjr

Gotter going today. 1500 watt inverter will not start air compressor. Everything else worked incredibly. I baled 5 balers in a little while. That was all of the straw I had at the house to work on.

image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

This is my straw rake at work also. Took these a few days ago.
image.jpgimage.jpg


#12

M

mowerman05

I still can not believe people use that for mulch in your area. Here in Michigan you cant give it away, just hauled two dump trailers full to the landfill. Seems like a waste here in the north.


#13

D

DRH

and you have it set up for a nice working height, that makes a difference by the end of the day, much less fatigue.
DRH


#14

D

DRH

mowerman05 said:
I still can not believe people use that for mulch in your area. Here in Michigan you cant give it away, just hauled two dump trailers full to the landfill. Seems like a waste here in the north.
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I got lucky and have a neighbor who likes to till it into his garden. mine is marsh grass, not pine needles. Another neighbor uses my bales in his garden and also for covering up the flowers and plants and such for the winter months. if it weren't for those couple neighbors I would have to haul all my grass clippings to the landfill also.
DRH


#15

D

DRH

what do you use for a bale stop while you are compressing? I didn't notice that part in the pictures.
mine I can stuff 3 times with the grass , the 3rd filling then is enough for a large tight bale.
I was hoping your inverter trick would have worked. my compresser is 30 gallon tank and that is enough supply psi to make about 16 bales then I need to haul back to the garage to refill the compresser. working psi starts at 120 and uses it up til it finally hits about 60 psi. below that isn't enough oomph though.
DRH


#16

D

DRH

you've got a neat design too for the guide rails for the plunger.
Den


#17

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

mowerman05 said:
I still can not believe people use that for mulch in your area. Here in Michigan you cant give it away, just hauled two dump trailers full to the landfill. Seems like a waste here in the north.
Click to expand...

Yeah it would be useless over here, too.


#18

jekjr

jekjr

DRH said:
what do you use for a bale stop while you are compressing? I didn't notice that part in the pictures.
mine I can stuff 3 times with the grass , the 3rd filling then is enough for a large tight bale.
I was hoping your inverter trick would have worked. my compresser is 30 gallon tank and that is enough supply psi to make about 16 bales then I need to haul back to the garage to refill the compresser. working psi starts at 120 and uses it up til it finally hits about 60 psi. below that isn't enough oomph though.
DRH
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image.jpg

Look at the metal rod in the openings on top. It is the bale stop. You place it behind a bale as you push. It slides the length of the openings till it bottoms out. The openings are for the string to be tied through. The rod is horse shoe shape sort of and is long enough that it runs all the way through. When you finish tying you release pressure on the cylinder and move the stop back behind the next bale, make sure that the string is not twisted through the next bale and then start putting straw in and push again.


#19

jekjr

jekjr

mowerman05 said:
I still can not believe people use that for mulch in your area. Here in Michigan you cant give it away, just hauled two dump trailers full to the landfill. Seems like a waste here in the north.
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Those bales are worth $4 each. Some of the stores that sell compost, mulch, and so forth get them in on a 52' van load. Who ever supplies them brings one van loaded and then takes the empty back. What they sell is many times not the quality we can actually bale locally. As far as I know I am the only one locally who is baling it.

It is possible to get paid to get it out of one yard. Take it and bale it and then sell I to somebody else and get paid $2 or more a bale to put it back in beds for somebody else. Believe it or not.


#20

jekjr

jekjr

mowerman05 said:
I still can not believe people use that for mulch in your area. Here in Michigan you cant give it away, just hauled two dump trailers full to the landfill. Seems like a waste here in the north.
Click to expand...

Hey why don't you start a new trend up there? Put some in at a place or two for free and sho them and start promoting it.


#21

jekjr

jekjr

Put it to work today baled 50 bales without a hitch. Did an awesome job.


#22

T

tybilly

that is just flippin cool..how about a gas powered air compressor


#23

jekjr

jekjr

tybilly said:
that is just flippin cool..how about a gas powered air compressor
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Gas powered compressor would be great. It was just much cheaper for me to use the electric and a generator. I had generator already. Bought inexpensive compressor. Hopefully I will be able to move enough straw to buy a good one when this one dies.....


#24

jekjr

jekjr

Proof is on the pudding. Does a great job. Already paid for itself. Tomorrow it should be dry enough to bale again.

image.jpg


#25

lawn mower fanatic

lawn mower fanatic

jekjr said:
Proof is on the pudding. Does a great job. Already paid for itself. Tomorrow it should be dry enough to bale again.

View attachment 18390
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That's a lot! :cool:


#26

jekjr

jekjr

We are headed towards 200 bales now with no problems. Baled 20 more bales today. Got a total fo 50 bales out of one yard.


#27

D

DRH

are you using the millers knot then?


#28

jekjr

jekjr

DRH said:
are you using the millers knot then?
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Yes I am and it works great. I will never go back to tying the loops in the ends of the strings and using the knot like a truckers knot.


#29

jekjr

jekjr

It is supposed to be clear with the sun shining every day next week. I hope I can get a video of the baler working. Better yet I hope I can get some videos up of the entire operation at work.


#30

D

DRH

hmmm, was I wrong calling that a millers knot? when I looked it up on youtube, that millers knot was the one for tying up sacks.
does the kind you switched to , have a different name?


#31

jekjr

jekjr

PHP:
DRH said:
hmmm, was I wrong calling that a millers knot? when I looked it up on youtube, that millers knot was the one for tying up sacks.
does the kind you switched to , have a different name?
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The guy on U tube calls it a miller's knot. I like you thought it was different. All I know is that it is easy to tie and much faster for me any way. It is the video of the guy who builds straw houses showing how to re tie a straw bale.... Here is the link to the video.

http://youtu.be/0oQastyeNDY


#32

D

DRH

yup, that is the same page I had been looking at.
I will have to try to memorize it and practice on something with it.
thanks.


#33

jekjr

jekjr

DRH said:
yup, that is the same page I had been looking at.
I will have to try to memorize it and practice on something with it.
thanks.
Click to expand...
The way my baler is made I use two string rolls like a regular hay baler. I fold back the end that is attached to the roll of string and cut after it is tied. Works great for me.


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