Home-Built Bale Accumulator Going Into Commercial Production

Home-Built Bale Accumulator Going Into Commercial Production BALE HANDLING Bale Handling (31B) 23-1-28 With 7,000 bales to be cleared each year at Stephen Flaxman's 500-acre White House Farm in Sotherton, England, bale handling is an important job. To speed things up, Flaxman designed and built a bale accumulator that groups bales in pairs to avoid having to pick up bales one at a time. The accumulator attaches to the bale chamber, just behind the axles. The hitch keeps the accumulator tracking behind the baler and the accumulator is fitted with castor wheels on the rear to negotiate turns. It has a back-sloped floor so bales roll from front to rear, where they rest against a tailgate, as they are released from the baler. When the second bale is released, the driver hydraulically raises the tailgate so both bales roll out of the accumulator together. The rear end of the floor is covered with thick rubber to protect net wrapped bales from rocks. A hydraulic ram raises the front of the accumulator to ensure the second bale rolls back tightly against the first. Warning lights in the tractor cab show the tailgate is closed, the front of the floor is lowered and when the first bale is in the accumulator. Flaxman used the accumulator on 7,000 4 by 4-ft. up to 4 by 6-ft. bales last season. He says it saves half the time and half the fuel when compared with picking up bales out of the field one at a time and reduces soil compaction as well. He expects the accumulator to sell for about $3,800, including hitches designed for various baler makes. "We calculate that anyone loading 5,000 bales each year could pay for the machine in one season," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stephen Flaxman, White House Farm, Sotherton, Halesworth, Suffolk, England IP19 8NW (ph 011 44 1986 873123). Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer Magazine.

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