by GJ Stoltz (Reg Eng Tech)

The process of baling has many compo­nents as we have seen over the past five months. It always helps if you can combine certain processes to work more time-efficient and cost-effective.

In this part of the series the focus will be on the attachments that can be added to the balers to ease operations on the farm.

The following extra attachments can be mounted on a square baler, or used with a square baler:

Wagon hitch:

This hitch permits the hitching of a wagon, or a trailer, to the rear of the baler. When using a trailer behind a baler, bales can be loaded directly from the baler onto the trailer.

The position of the hitch can be changed to the left or right, to allow the trailer to follow the baler properly. The distance of the trailer behind the baler can also be adjusted.

Bale chute:

An extended bale chute, supported by chains, can be mounted at the back of the baler. This chute also allows bales to be loaded from the baler directly onto a low-bed wagon.

Loading frame:

This frame is manufactured from steel tubes and mounted at the back of the baler onto the exit of the bale chamber. The bales are then pushed from the bale chamber through the loading frame onto the wagon or a trailer.

When mounting the loading frame to the baler, the following procedures must be followed

As seen in picture 3: Attach chain bolts (1) and mounting plates (2). Attach the loading frame to the mounting plates and secure with bolt (3) and spring pin (4). Attach upper chains (5) to bolt (1), cross the chains and pass them through eye bolt (6). When the load frame is adjusted to the desired height, the chain hooks must be hooked to the appropriate chain links. Secure the lower chains (7) to chain hooks (8), pass the chains through the eye bolts at (9) and adjust the chain tension by attaching the chain and hooks to the appropriate chain links.

Bale thrower:

This device is also called a bale ejector and is mounted at the end of the bale chamber. It consists of two sets of belts and rollers that grip the bale when it exits the bale chamber. The one belt grips the bale at the bottom and the other one at the top. The belts are hydraulically driven. As soon as the belts have a full grip on the bale, and the baler is running at a high speed, they eject the bale and throw it onto the trailer. A bale thrower can also swivel from side to side for a balanced load on the trailer.

Bale counter:

An automatic bale counter can be mounted on the bale chamber to provide an accurate count of the number of bales produced.

We thank the ARC Agricultural Engineering in South Africa who made the information on square balers available to the readers of ProAgri Zambia.

Next month we shall look at the transport and safety aspects of bales and balers as well as some maintenance advice.