Amazing Mobile Dryer Treats 36 Big Square Bales Per Hour

An amazing new portable hay dryer called the Ag Maximizer produces higher quality hay. Developed by Chandler Gulbranson and his dad, Emil, after a very wet 2016, the dryer worked so well that they started Agri Green Enterprises to manufacture and market it.

  “We can dry 4 by 8-ft. square bales that are at 25 percent moisture down to 12 percent or lower in 15 min.,” says Gulbranson. “It preserves leafage, maximizes protein, and retains color.  It lets you harvest hay sooner so there’s less loss in the field.”

     Originally a multi-trailer unit, a new configuration is on a single trailer. “Just pull in and go to work,” says Ed Shaw, director of sales, Agri Green. “It’s completely self-contained.”

  A hydraulic pump on the unit’s 388 hp. Volvo engine pushes 78 bale spears into each of 6 big square bales on the trailer. The big engine mechanically powers the fan, driving 18,000 cu. ft. per min. through the spears and into the hay. As engine – warmed air is compressed by the fan, its temperature rises to about 100 degrees above the ambient air temperatures. After 15 to 20 min., the tubes are withdrawn and the bales unloaded from the trailer. As the bales cool, they continue to sweat out moisture.

“We can dry as many as 36 bales per hour depending on moisture levels,” says Gulbranson. “If it was stationary, we would have to haul the bales with their moisture to it. Setting it up in the field reduces handling, and you’re hauling dry hay to the shed or for transport.”

  In addition to their own, the Gulbransons have 4 units out to hay producers. Two customers use their mobile dryers for their own hay, while the other 2 dry their own and do custom drying for others.

   “There is a lot of interest from folks interested in doing custom drying,” says Gulbranson. “Those doing it are charging $300 an hour.”

 The Gulbransons are also getting a lot of interest internationally with one order pending specification approval in Spain.

 The Ag Maximizer has a 20-week delivery time and is priced at $350,000 (U.S.).

“The only operating cost is fuel,” notes Gulbranson. “The big engine burns around 17 gal. (66 L) of fuel per hour when drying bales.”