How is a round hay bale made?

Answer 1

With a round hay baler. The baler is powered by the tractor through the PTO, an electrical control box, and hydraulics, which enables the operator full control over the baler. The tractor moves along the swath of hay, and the revolving pick-up cylinder picks up the swath and moves it into the baler chamber. In the baler chamber, the chains or belts move like a constant pulley system (there is more than one: bottom, top, and the two sides) rolling the hay, as it enters the chamber, into a cylinder. The cylindrical hay bale grows until it cannot expand anymore inside the baler. The size limit sensors in the baler go through to the control box in the tractor, often through audio alert, and the operator either keeps going until he can judge when the bale is big enough and/or until he sees it is nice and tightly packed enough inside the baler to let stop and let it out. But, before he lets it out, he has to stop first and, with the control box, apply the strings or netting to the bale. There is no need to worry about tying, as the baler machine does it automatically. Once the bale has been entwined (literally), the tractor and baler powers down, stopping the movement of the belts and pick-up wheel in/on the baler, then the operator lifts the back end of the baler (with the control box in the tractor of course, not manually), and initiates the belts or chains to eject the bale out of the baler. The back door closes, the baler power ups again, and resumes creating another bale. This process repeats until the operator has to quit because of one of four things:

1) the baler gets plugged up (most commonly in the pick-up shaft)

2) it starts to rain

3) it gets too late in the evening and the hay starts to, what we call, "toughen up."

4) he finished baling up the hay field