Baler Guide -- Baler Options Abound

Baler manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to design balers that won’t jam and that will maintain a high rate of productivity. Although operation of the baler by the operator is a factor, more balers are being designed to operate hands-free. Designers have added several types of anti-jamming devices, including pre-presses that push material down below the top shear blade. They have also designed saw-toothed and staged shear blades that cut material off more efficiently, and have installed bale release mechanisms and specially designed extrusion chambers that open up or relax when the baling pressure exceeds a certain force.

In the area of increased productivity, manufacturers have installed other options in balers to increase efficiency, such as auto tie systems, photo eyes, fluffers and side compression pre-presses.

HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY

At the feed intake stage, a fluffer can be added to ruffle the material before it enters the charge box. The purpose of the fluffer is to mix the material so that it settles more uniformly and without air pockets. A shredder can be included as well.

Several companies are now employing a photo-eye system that automatically detects how much material is in the charge box so that the proper amount of material will be baled and the bale will be the correct size.

Pre-presses have been added to push material down below the shear blade, and some even lock in place. One manufacturer has its ram on wheels because there is no shearing action.

Another type of pre-press has been developed to compress material from the side in the charge box in single-ram extrusion balers. The side compression ram enables the baler to have a larger hopper so that more material can be compressed per stroke. The manufacturer says this results in a combination of the benefits of the single-ram extrusion and the two-ram baler.

Finally, many balers now have automatic tying systems instead of manual ones. On single-ram extrusion balers, the auto tie system interjects fingers or needles through the extrusion chamber and then ties off the bale in front while setting the wire for the next bale in line.

In two-ram balers, the auto tie system simply positions the wire so that as the second ram moves the material, it can be tied off correctly. Two-ram balers are even offering special doors that can clamp a bale as it is being ejected so that more material can be added to it, giving the baler the ability to make oversized bales.

Other add-ons include cross-tie systems for single-ram extrusion balers so that material such as plastic bottles, which tend to expand and unbale, can be better held in place.

Finally, the processor should think about how material is going to be conveyed into the baler. There are numerous types of conveyors and methods, and it is important to discuss those options with the baler manufacturer before purchasing.

GETTING OUT OF A JAM

There are two common types of baler jams. The first occurs in the baling chamber when too much material is compressed and the ram cannot eject the bale. What manufacturers have done to address this is to add a release mechanism that retracts one of the walls of the chamber enough so that the bale can move forward.

The other type of jam occurs in the charge box when material gets caught between the ram plate and the stationary shear knife. There are two innovations that solve this problem. One is making the shear knife saw toothed or in stages, so the material hits parts of the blade at different times, effectively cutting the material. The other method involves a pre-press lid, sometimes called a tramper or stamper, that pushes the material down enough so that the ram can push through the chamber.

Many companies are now adding these push-down devices simply because it increases the efficiency of baling. A lot of energy is spent when material needs to be sheared off at the shear beam. If you can push that material down, you save money in electrical costs.

The pre-press in some balers can also be programmed so that when it receives a signal that the baler is jamming, the ram retracts and the stamper comes down and pushes the material below the shear beam. Onboard computers are doing a better job of automatically sensing when a jam is occurring, so they may instantaneously retract and re-cycle the ram without the operator even knowing it. Pre-presses are also important for safety reasons, say manufacturers, because they keep people out of the baler.

Although these devices are not new, they have received renewed attention lately because they are now being added to two-ram balers, whereas they were previously only common on one-ram systems.

Some companies employ a release mechanism that bows the middle of the extrusion sides outward so the bale can move forward. One company has recently developed an “H” style extrusion chamber that compresses the bale from the sides and the top, but when a stall condition is about to happen, the mechanism releases both sides and the top, enabling the bale to proceed. The benefit of this is that denser, more even bales can be made. The chamber is able to hold onto the material longer, and is able to bale very slippery grades of material.

However, some argue that the pre-press can cause uneven densities in the charge box, making the ramming force less effective and producing a bale that is actually less dense than one made without a pre-press.