“Made It Myself” Wheeled Bale Accumulator

“Made It Myself” Wheeled Bale Accumulator BALE HANDLING “It rides on wheels that go between the furrows on our flood-irrigated hay fields ” says Chris Kornkven Whitewater Colo about his home-built hay accumulator He built the accumulator from the scrap yard “right down to the tires” and spent only about $300 to build the machine Most commercial hay accumulators slide along the ground but Kornkven says he didn’t want to use them in his fields “Here in western Colorado we have a lot of furrow irrigation Sliding an accumulator along the ground would push dirt into the furrows and eventually cause them to plug up ” he says Kornkven used the wheels and hubs from a scrapped mini van and 2-in channel iron for the frame He used 3/4-in well pump rod to build the bale cage and rear gate “The back side of the cage is hinged to the frame I can raise the front end of the cage so bales slide back by gravity or I can lower the front end down to the frame and use the accumulator as a trailer ” says Kornkven A spring-loaded latch keeps the gate closed “Once there are 3 bales on the accumulator I pull on a rope from the tractor to open the latch The bales then push the gate open and slide out the rear Gravity then causes the gate to swing closed and it automatically latches itself shut for the next load ” To build the floor he cut lengths of 1-in pvc pipe in half and attached them to the accumulator’s 3 center rods with hose clamps so the bales will slide easier A wedge bolted to the baler’s bale pan starts to direct bales sideways as they exit the baler “As the bales continue to slide down the accumulator they hit lengths of 1/2-in rebar attached at angles to the rods The rebar guides the bales to the side and eventually they slide all the way to the back where they’re ready to be discharged ” Kornkven also welded together a heavy duty hitch for the baler “It’s built strong enough to pull a full-size hay wagon ” he notes Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Chris Kornkven 5462 Kannah Creek Rd Whitewater Colo 81527 ph 970 241-3371; ds_vet91@yahoo com

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