First Of Its Kind Mobile Straw Cuber

First of its kind mobile straw cuber HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Cubers/Compactors 10-3-11 British manufacturers have jumped out ahead of U.S. companies in the race to develop machines that make use of straw and other crop residue. Bernewode Designs Ltd., Aylesbury, England, recently introduced the world's first on-the-go straw cuber. Company representatives say British farmers need to find ways to use straw due to recent laws that ban straw burning ù the most common method of clearing fields. The new straw processor turns what could be a gigantic problem into a valuable asset. Other straw processors have been developed but the company says this is the first that does the job in the field. There's no need to handle the straw in any way prior to cubing. The mobile processor is powered by its own engine. A conventional pickup lifts the straw from the field behind the combine and feeds it to a chopper. Once chopped, the straw is blended with liquids and then fed to a cuber. The small 3/4-in. dia. cubes are formed under pressure, which generates heat so that as they come out of the cuber they're dropped into a special cooling hooper. From there, they're unloaded into trucks. Different liquids are blended with the straw depending on whether the cubes are intended to be used as fuel or livestock feed. The company says recently developed chemicals turn straw cubes into nutritious feed. The machine cubes 5 tons per hour. Once cubed, straw takes up just 1/7th the space of bales and the cubes can be moved with conventional augers. Cubes burn much more evenly than bales and have 70% of the energy potential of coal. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bernewode Designs Ltd., Menmarsh Road, Worminghall, Aylesbury, Bucks. HP 18 9UP England (ph 08447 8801).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.