no wastage & dust dust
Handling straw with
no wastage & dust dust
SHREDDING straw and blasting it into stock pens can result in high dust levels, excessive wastage and frightened livestock, insists Kent-based HR Engineering.
After three years development, the firm claims to have now perfected its Big Bale Bedder – a device built to significantly reduce straw usage when compared with shredding machines.
Mounted on a telehandler, tractor loader or three-point linkage, the unit employs a hydraulically operated push-off to distribute segments of large square bales into loose housing areas.
Weighing 700kg unladen, HR Engineering says the unit can be wielded by a tractor loader or telehandler with a lift capacity from 1.5t for handling Hesston bales over half a tonne.
The push-off is positioned inside a 2.4m (8ft) long chamber made up of bottom and side rails, together with a wedge-shaped plate at the front.
"The BBB machine separates and picks up bales from the stack using the wedge-shaped plate," explains Hugh Richards, manager of HR Engineering. "Crowding the unit enables the bale to fall back into the chamber where it is hydraulically clamped in place."
Straw distribution is carried out by lifting the unit into the loose housing area, where the push-off plate and its double acting ram extends, causing bale segments to drop off the front of the chamber.
Lateral pressure exerted on the bale by the side rails from a second double acting ram ensures segments fall out of the chamber evenly regardless of bale condition, claims Mr Richards.
And because straw is distributed as segments rather than as chopped or blown material, he believes a denser and longer-lasting straw carpet can be laid on the floor which is more absorbent.
"The chamber can be adjusted to accommodate any size of large square bale from 1m to 1.2m (3.3ft to 4ft) wide and up to 1.2m (4ft) high," he says. "Only one double acting service is required to operate the machine; a diverter valve gives priority to the clamping ram before the push-off cylinder."
And the price? The patented Big Bale Bedder costs under £4000. *
No wastage and dust?… the BBB machine distributes straw in segments using a hydraulically operated push-off inside a chamber.
Hugh Richards believes the Big Bale Bedder provides a dust-free and economical means of bedding loose housing areas.