Hi,
Summer was quite humid this year, and my shed isn't optimal for storing hay, so I lost quite a pile to mold. I can store bales much better, so I needed a press to make bales.
The box is about 0.5x0.5m, about 1.2m high, tapering to the bottom a little so that I can get the bales out more easily. Made of scrap laminated particle board, reenforced with boards and those metal packaging bands used for heavy stuff.
I pretty much cut everything willy nilly with the chainsaw, the other main tool was the drilling machine. It's not pretty, and entirely made of pallet wood and scraps I had laying around. The axles are 20mm steel - that's really on the flimsy side, the top axle bends impressivly under full load.
The actual press is set to the rear and not center, because it would be in the way when pulling the bale out. The lever and stamp/piston form an elbow joint, so that even I with my measly 56kg can create a lot of force - and, more important, it snapps into the closed position leaving my hands free to tie the knot.
I use only one string, fixed on one nail on one side, I step on it while pushing the first layer down to keep the string under tension and to center it. Then I tie the other end to the nail on the other side, with enough slack. After all hay is in and pressed I run the thread to the middle of the stamp and tie it.
A lever helps a lot to pull the bale out. They might not be the prettiest bales, but they need so much less space, about 1/3rd, and can be stacked so that they don't touch any cold walls or floor.
I would have put wheels on that contraption but it fits nicly on the wheelbarrow.
That's it:
Hay filled in, before pressing down. I need to do that several times - fill -press-open-fill-press..... until it gets really hard to pull the lever down.
Piston with the slot in the middle for the string
Ellbow joint in the locked down position:
Press in the "open" position, piston and lever fold out of the way for filling and for getting the bale out
Press on wheelbarrow.
Summer was quite humid this year, and my shed isn't optimal for storing hay, so I lost quite a pile to mold. I can store bales much better, so I needed a press to make bales.
The box is about 0.5x0.5m, about 1.2m high, tapering to the bottom a little so that I can get the bales out more easily. Made of scrap laminated particle board, reenforced with boards and those metal packaging bands used for heavy stuff.
I pretty much cut everything willy nilly with the chainsaw, the other main tool was the drilling machine. It's not pretty, and entirely made of pallet wood and scraps I had laying around. The axles are 20mm steel - that's really on the flimsy side, the top axle bends impressivly under full load.
The actual press is set to the rear and not center, because it would be in the way when pulling the bale out. The lever and stamp/piston form an elbow joint, so that even I with my measly 56kg can create a lot of force - and, more important, it snapps into the closed position leaving my hands free to tie the knot.
I use only one string, fixed on one nail on one side, I step on it while pushing the first layer down to keep the string under tension and to center it. Then I tie the other end to the nail on the other side, with enough slack. After all hay is in and pressed I run the thread to the middle of the stamp and tie it.
A lever helps a lot to pull the bale out. They might not be the prettiest bales, but they need so much less space, about 1/3rd, and can be stacked so that they don't touch any cold walls or floor.
I would have put wheels on that contraption but it fits nicly on the wheelbarrow.
That's it:
Hay filled in, before pressing down. I need to do that several times - fill -press-open-fill-press..... until it gets really hard to pull the lever down.
Piston with the slot in the middle for the string
Ellbow joint in the locked down position:
Press in the "open" position, piston and lever fold out of the way for filling and for getting the bale out
Press on wheelbarrow.
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