Do-it-yourself hay press: description, device, diagram and recommendations. Press for walk-behind tractors - we make briquettes and rolls from hay Equipment for packing hay for small rodents

Foreword

To make it more convenient to store hay, special baling machines are used to collect it, which bind the cut grass and straw into briquettes and rolls. We will tell you how these presses work and which one is better to choose.

It takes a lot of effort to tie the hay into a compact bale, and the likelihood that the result will be satisfactory is extremely small. The fact is that the cut grass, even when dried, is very loose and is crushed into a dense lump quite hard. In large farms, to obtain briquettes or hay rolls, a stationary press or a mobile one clinging to a tractor, with a pick-up, is used. The latter has spring teeth that collect the cut grass that has dried right on the meadow, which is then sent to the auger (screw conveyor). Next, the hay enters a special chamber, the design of which depends on the type of press.

Tractor-attached mobile baler with pick-up

There are roll and bale types of pick-ups, and for walk-behind tractors, models of the first type are mainly suitable, since they need less power of the transmission shaft. On average, 350–500 revolutions per minute are sufficient for the operation of such devices, which is quite affordable when using single-axle heavy-duty traction equipment. In particular, the Neva TT-30 is capable of providing torque with a maximum frequency of 4000 rpm. However, it should be borne in mind that even for mini balers, only the heaviest walk-behind tractors are suitable, the power of which reaches 12–16 hp. with., since the smallest devices for linking hay have a mass of 350 kilograms or more.

Small hay balers are usually dismissed by owners of large farms, as their productivity is rather low. If a large baler for a large tractor is capable of producing more than 1000 bales for a full daylight hours, then the device for a walk-behind tractor ties from 6 to 10 bales per hour. That is, don't expect more than 100 bales of hay a day. However, there is a definite advantage to using mini pickers. First of all, these are the dimensions of the bale into which dried grass or straw is compressed.

Mini-picker for motoblock

As a rule, a bale or roll, which is tied up by a large machine, is itself rather big, from 1.5 meters in diameter or more. The length is also appropriate, as is the weight of the package, so you can only move such bales with a forklift. A mini baler used for a walk-behind tractor ties straw or hay into much more compact rolls, the diameter of which rarely exceeds 0.5 meters. The weight of such bales is about 15–20 kilograms, which makes it possible to carry them by one person without resorting to equipment. However, nothing prevents transporting finished dried briquettes on a platform cart.

First of all, it should be remembered that not a single press will be able to pick up the grass that is scattered across the field, it must be raked into a kind of ridges. A special mechanism, which is a rotating drum with spring teeth, catches the plant mass shaft while moving along it and feeds it to the conveyor, as mentioned earlier. Next is the feed drum with a pressure grate that crushes dry grass or straw. Further, the hay is either in the storage compartment, or directly in the cylindrical bale chamber.

Round picker operation

Rolls are located along the entire circumference, connected by a belt or chain rotation drive to the drive shaft. When the hay compacted by the grate gets inside the cylindrical chamber and rolls onto the moving conveyor, it begins to fall towards the center, due to which it is twisted into a roll. The thicker the roll becomes, the stronger it crushes the newly incoming plant mass tape and gradually compacts. Having reached a predetermined size, the roll begins to put pressure on the limiting bar, which turns on the linking mechanism if the press is fully automated, or gives a signal to the driver if it is a semi-automatic. Further, the rear wall of the chamber opens and the roll rolls out to the ground.

You should start with the fact that such baling machines are too bulky to move around the area behind the walk-behind tractor, but they can be used in a stationary position. To do this, it is enough to ensure the supply of hay directly to the receiver, and the single-axle traction device, the heaviest available, will be able to rotate the mechanism through the power take-off shaft (PTO). Hay can be tossed under the pick-up tines manually, or a short conveyor with sides can be installed along the width of the pick-up drum so that the plant mass does not crumble as it moves towards the spring tines. In general, the principle of operation of a bale press is similar to a roll press, but only at the stage when dry grass or straw enters the bunker.

Baling machine

After passing the accumulation chamber (also called the receiving chamber) and the feeding mechanism, the hay enters the rectangular compartment, which is gradually filled with loose plant mass. Further, a special molding piston crushes grass or straw into a dense briquette, which is tied with twine. Usually the dimensions of the bale correspond to the width of the chamber and the length measured by a special limiter, which is set in advance to the desired position. Continuing to move, the piston advances the finished briquette deep into the chamber, which pushes the previous briquette onto an inclined platform behind the baler, from where the tied plant mass falls to the ground. Twine is usually used 2, or 4 in pairs, for this an appropriate number of coils is installed in a special compartment.

Interestingly, the piston on the side of the storage chamber is equipped with a knife, the second blade is located on the edge of the chamber itself. The resulting semblance of scissors cuts off excess plant matter, so that the briquette is very neat. The main thing is to correctly adjust the knives, the distance between which should not be more than 0.5 millimeters. The blades are fixed with bolts that can be loosened, then a plate of the appropriate thickness is inserted between them and the knife plates are shifted as tightly as possible. The second thing that needs adjustment is the needles, they should not protrude more than 9 millimeters above the piston teeth, this distance is also calibrated with bolts.

So, we found out that only a mini round pick-up can be connected to a single-axle traction unit due to its small size and lower requirements for the number of revolutions of the transmission shaft. By the way, the front PTO is usually used, for this there are a fairly large number of attachments of various brands linking hay. However, if you equip the walk-behind tractor with a front adapter, which will turn single-axle equipment into one, it will be possible to connect a press to the rear transmission shaft.

Connecting the press to a single-drive mini-tractor

It should be noted that the use of the front pick-up is very convenient due to the two side disc rakes, which prevent the plant mass ridge from spreading to the sides when moving along it. There is another feature of such models - for the most part, control is exclusively manual, although there are devices with automatic start of winding with twine. For hay packaging, a roll of a special polyethylene mesh is used, which fits the finished bale at the last stage, during idle rotation, when the equipment has already stopped moving. With such a winding, the loss of dry plant mass is minimal.

Almost all models are protected from breakage of the most vulnerable components due to fuses - shear bolts, which are destroyed under too high loads and must be replaced after the problem is corrected.

The simplest and most budgetary option is the PPR-50 press produced in Ukraine, which is distinguished by an almost completely open roll rolling mechanism. In other words, the forming chamber does not have a casing around the circumference, which is why part of the plant mass is often thrown out through the rollers. Another drawback is the lack of side disc rakes, which causes the ridge of the plant mass to quickly fall apart. Grab pick-up tines usually can't handle large volumes of hay and need to be rationed pre-lay cut grass. To work with such a mini baler, a 10 hp walk-behind tractor is enough. with., the output is rolls weighing about 25-30 kilograms.

Press PPR-50 for rolling rolls

More convenient to use is the Italian mini picker for the powerful Mini R500 walk-behind tractor, the main chamber of which consists of two parts: a fixed front and a folding rear. Both are covered with a casing, with the exception of small area at the back where the open shafts are. This unit weighing 520 kg is fully automated. To work, it is enough to have a walk-behind tractor with a capacity of 11 liters. s., while the rear power take-off should produce 540 rpm. By the way, the connection with the rear shaft is not difficult, since the drawbar and its own drive shaft, which the press is equipped with, are quite long.

Another Italian pick-up, or rather, a whole line of the Caeb brand, may be of the greatest interest to owners of low-power walk-behind tractors. A number of models are connected to the front power take-off shaft in quality, which allows you not to pull the bale machine, but to push it, for which 7-8 liters are enough. With. and even less if high speed is not required. The pick-up of this brand, in particular, the Caeb MP550, has its own control in the form of a lever with one handle. The chamber is opened using another lever on the side of the walk-behind tractor, which is not very convenient, but the platform allows you to push the finished roll to the side. This press weighs about 280 kg and is able to move at a speed of about 4 km per hour.

If it is not difficult to transport hay to the house from one mowing land, then collecting food from several meadow patches is a more difficult goal, but it is necessary to somehow get out of the situation.

The need made me think about how to reduce the amount of hay transported. From a sheet of plywood (8-10 millimeters thick) I made a box 600 × 350 millimeters in size, 400 millimeters high. The bottom of the box is smaller than its internal dimensions, is not nailed and rests on the ledges of the lower slats. For packing, I wrap the box along with soft wire (0.5-1 mm) and cut it at the top. Across, I make twice as many turns, and wrap the ends of the scraps around the nails.

Hay baler box: 1 - bottom bar, 2 - side wall, 3 - nail, 4 - wire, 5 - bottom.

Packing hay bales for transportation: above - on a car, below - in the cradle of a side trailer of a motorcycle.

We put the perfectly dried hay in a box and trample down until we press the full one. Subsequently, we remove the ends of the wire from the nails, put them under our feet, tighten them with our hands and twist first the longitudinal and then the transverse trimmings. The volume of hay in a bale is reduced by 3-4 times. Now we raise the box, resting our knee on the bottom, or put it on a thin stump and squeeze out the briquette. Hay that is dry or wet can be sprinkled with a little salt.

It is incomparably more convenient to transport bales than a haystack or even a pile. Easier and find a place to store. Bales can be placed under a canopy, but not close to one another, but at intervals so that the food does not rot. Knowing how long one bale is enough for your animals and the weight of the bale, it is possible to more accurately calculate the required amount of hay for the winter period.

I mow, dry and bale the hay directly on the spot, transport the bales and stack them in the form of a rectangular stack, and cover with foil on top. In the late autumn period, I transfer all the briquettes to the greenhouse, and early in the spring, when there are already a few of them left, I remove them from there.

For pressing hay, I made a box, 3 walls of which and the bottom are tightly fixed, the fourth wall at the bottom is hinged, and at the top - on hooks.

At the bottom of the box I lay two pieces of wire crosswise, the ends of which I bring out on top along opposite walls. Perfectly dried hay is densely packed in a box and tamped, especially in the corners. I pull the opposite ends of the wire tightly and twist. Then I unlock the hooks, flip open the movable wall of the box and take out the finished hay cube. A bale weighing about 8 kilograms comes out. The size of the box can, of course, be different.

Question winter storage hay is relevant for farmers and individuals involved in livestock and poultry breeding. There are a few simple ways hay packages that do not require large expenditures. One of them is the press.

In the old manner, dried cut grass is collected in sheaves. They not only take up a lot of space, but also often deteriorate. Does not save hay and plastic cover. If the sheaf does not get wet from above, it begins to rot from the inside.

Much more convenient and practical, according to modern farmers, is to store hay in a compressed form. The mechanism for forming a briquette can be made independently, without resorting to high costs. Most often, a large part necessary materials is in storerooms or sheds.

There are three options that many users liked. Two of them are a metal or wooden case with a folding piston. The third is a press rammer powered by a walk-behind tractor.

The easiest to make (no welding needed) and easy to use, wooden hay baler. His work takes place in four stages. The hay laid in the box, throwing the press three times, is pressed. Then, without removing, they tie with twine.

Design features

The mechanism is a large box made of wood, which sits rigidly on a frame made of thick timber or metal profiles. The box does not have a roof, but there is a hinged door, such as a gate.

Do-it-yourself hay presses are easy to make. You will need planed, sanded and carefully polished boards. It is desirable to connect them metal corners with fixing bolts. Then you need to beat the box around the perimeter (upper and lower) with metal rails (preferably stainless steel). This will give the structure strength.

Gate device

When processing the box with slats, you need to remember about the opening for the wicket door. Therefore, experts recommend duplicating the fortification from the inside. On the upper perimeter it will be enough, since on the lower bottom it is rigidly fixed with an iron frame.

The easiest option for attaching a folding gate is ordinary folding or door hinges. And it should be tightly held during pressing by side metal slats. To do this, they need to be fixed so that they protrude beyond the side edge and end with large notches. The length of the protrusion depends on the steel or wooden valve, or rather, on the thickness of its side face. The valve can be made of timber, rod or rigid rail.

Main part

A hay press is made of metal or wood. A bar is attached to the back wall of the box several times the height of the box itself. Two parallel beams are fixed on it. The distance is calculated so that between them it is possible to mount a beam that will make half-turns around its axis. At the second end of the beam, the sole of the press is attached. It must freely perform the same half-turns.

The shape and area of ​​the sole are calculated by size cross section the structure itself. 5-8 mm are left for free movement of the piston.

On the back of the box, in a place convenient for work, a reel with synthetic twine or thick fishing line is mounted. On the other hand, two narrow, elongated holes are made on the wicket door. They are needed to bind the resulting briquette.

This device greatly facilitates the work of the farmer. The baler mechanizes the laborious and lengthy process of collecting dry grass from the fields. The smart unit not only collects, but also rolls the hay into tight rolls.

Buying a baler is not difficult. But the factory version is designed to work with a conventional tractor or its mini version. For small farms using only walk-behind tractors, it is not suitable.

You can assemble a similar device yourself. Special costs and forces are not required.

Such do-it-yourself hay presses are made quickly enough, they do an excellent job with the full cycle of hay assembly and packaging. They are able to collect dried rollers across the field, compress and twist dry grass into a roll.

There are several advantages. Such pickers are simple devices, and as a result, have convenient settings. Homemade hay presses do not crumble grass and do not deform bales. The dimensions of the assembled aggregates make it possible to create small briquettes, which can be carried and stacked by one person.

An insignificant fly in the ointment can only be recognized as a lower density of the briquette coming out of homemade press. Most often this happens due to the lack of a ligament device, which is not installed so as not to lose the power of the tractor.

Hay picker design

For assembly you will need:

• skeleton for mounting all nodes and main part attachments to the traction apparatus - forehead;
• running element with a rigid base for a press box. Equipped with two wheels for moving around the field;
• pick-up with which will collect hay rollers from the field;
• a cylindrical housing with a press on a cardan gear and a small gearbox. This part is made of rollers, a grid that presses the hay, a molding steel plate on a rigid spring (at the factory, instead of hydraulics).

It is worth noting here that the more powerful the walk-behind tractor, the more likely it is to achieve the desired speed of rotation of the rollers, the higher the performance of the assembled unit.

Assembly

A homemade hay press powered by a walk-behind tractor is mounted in several stages:

1. The undercarriage is assembled - the base on two pneumatic wheels.
2. The head and the pick-up with a conveyor belt are mounted on it.
3. The hay press and the box are mounted as a single independent element. At the bottom of the box, rollers and a grate for pressing hay are attached. On the spring, in the upper part of the box, a plate is fixed. It presses down already compressed grass before twisting into a roll.
4. Next comes the drive. To do this, you need to connect the cardan shaft and a two-speed gearbox, from which a chain drive goes to the rollers with the pick-up conveyor belt.
5. Gears with a diameter slightly larger than those on the rollers are mounted on the pick-up device (to increase the pick-up speed and pressing power).

If the quality of the resulting bales is not satisfactory, you can divide the work. First, collect dry grass with a walk-behind rake, then press it.