Homemade Mini Baler Fits Small Farm Needs
During a hay shortage caused by drought, Caleb Howerton of Springfield, Mo., decided to cut as much of his own hay as possible from his 6 acres. With a farm that small he couldn’t justify a full-size baler. So he built a mini hand baler to make use of the grass growing in his yard, and other areas around the farm not grazed by livestock.
Using scrap 2 by 4’s along with bolts, hinges and barrel latches, he built a slatted box measuring 18 in. sq. by 3 ft. long. The box has a 4-ft. tongue at the base to stand on for balance while the operator compresses the bales, using a hand-operated compressing arm. The compressing arm operates with bolts through holes in the 2 by 4’s, allowing a 16 by 16 by 2-in. plate to be levered down into the box on top of the cut grass.
When the grass is ready to bale, twine is laid inside the box and up over the sides. Hay is then added and pressed until the baler is full. Once full, the back twine ends are brought over the top and the bale is compressed while the twine is tied together. The bale is then removed through a hinged door on front.
Caleb hand cuts his hay with a scythe. His mini baler makes a 1/2 to 3/4-size bale, but he says a full-size model could be built the same way.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Caleb Howerton, 1008 E. Farm Rd. 54, Springfield, Mo. 65803.
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Homemade Mini Baler Fits Small Farm Needs BALERS During a hay shortage caused by drought Caleb Howerton of Springfield Mo decided to cut as much of his own hay as possible from his 6 acres With a farm that small he couldn’t justify a full-size baler So he built a mini hand baler to make use of the grass growing in his yard and other areas around the farm not grazed by livestock Using scrap 2 by 4’s along with bolts hinges and barrel latches he built a slatted box measuring 18 in sq by 3 ft long The box has a 4-ft tongue at the base to stand on for balance while the operator compresses the bales using a hand-operated compressing arm The compressing arm operates with bolts through holes in the 2 by 4’s allowing a 16 by 16 by 2-in plate to be levered down into the box on top of the cut grass When the grass is ready to bale twine is laid inside the box and up over the sides Hay is then added and pressed until the baler is full Once full the back twine ends are brought over the top and the bale is compressed while the twine is tied together The bale is then removed through a hinged door on front Caleb hand cuts his hay with a scythe His mini baler makes a 1/2 to 3/4-size bale but he says a full-size model could be built the same way Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Caleb Howerton 1008 E Farm Rd 54 Springfield Mo 65803
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