PO Box 126
Wongan Hills 6603
Western Australia
www.glenvar.com
Phone: +61 8 9672 1045
Fax: +61 8 9672 1023

PO Box 126
Wongan Hills 6603
Western Australia
www.glenvar.com
Phone: +61 8 9672 1045
Fax: +61 8 9672 1023

The Baler Project

The unique 'global-first' baler project started off as a small innovation that grew into something very large. At the start of harvest 2000 we were not sure of the success of the Freeman baler behind the Caterpillar harvester and thought producing three to four thousand 40-50kg bales would be a good result. By the end of the harvest 68,000 lupin bales and 31,000 wheat bales had been produced. About 5% of these had one or two broken strings and could not be collected and were burnt.

Considerable trailing and engineering was required to make sure the baler worked effectively and modifications included:

  • A tow hitch assembly to allow the baler to be in line with the back of the harvester. (Balers traditionally drag off-set to the tow tractor.)

  • The harvester chassis required strengthening as the current hitch assembly is only used for towing the comb trailer and more recently chaff carts.

  • A conveyor was purpose designed to collect material coming directly from the harvester cleaning system. The complete transfer section had to be designed to allow the articulation between the header and baler.

  • A back-up collection tray was constructed to fit under the conveyor to make sure of a 100% weed-seed retrieval and prevent any straw blockage.

  • An air-cooled Deutz engine was mounted on the baler to provide an independent power source, as the harvester horsepower is insufficient.

  • Purpose built air intakes were required to source cleaner air and this modification increased cleaning time from 4 hours to 12 hours.

  • Larger wheels were fitted to the baler to increase the clearance between the pick-up and the ground, allowing sufficient room for the conveyor to feed into the system.

  • Two video cameras were mounted to provide continuous feedback to the operator via a 6-inch screen monitor, which allowed the operator to identify any problems before causing damage.


The Baler Project

The unique 'global-first' baler project started off as a small innovation that grew into something very large. At the start of harvest 2000 we were not sure of the success of the Freeman baler behind the Caterpillar harvester and thought producing three to four thousand 40-50kg bales would be a good result. By the end of the harvest 68,000 lupin bales and 31,000 wheat bales had been produced. About 5% of these had one or two broken strings and could not be collected and were burnt.

Considerable trailing and engineering was required to make sure the baler worked effectively and modifications included:

  • A tow hitch assembly to allow the baler to be in line with the back of the harvester. (Balers traditionally drag off-set to the tow tractor.)

  • The harvester chassis required strengthening as the current hitch assembly is only used for towing the comb trailer and more recently chaff carts.

  • A conveyor was purpose designed to collect material coming directly from the harvester cleaning system. The complete transfer section had to be designed to allow the articulation between the header and baler.

  • A back-up collection tray was constructed to fit under the conveyor to make sure of a 100% weed-seed retrieval and prevent any straw blockage.

  • An air-cooled Deutz engine was mounted on the baler to provide an independent power source, as the harvester horsepower is insufficient.

  • Purpose built air intakes were required to source cleaner air and this modification increased cleaning time from 4 hours to 12 hours.

  • Larger wheels were fitted to the baler to increase the clearance between the pick-up and the ground, allowing sufficient room for the conveyor to feed into the system.

  • Two video cameras were mounted to provide continuous feedback to the operator via a 6-inch screen monitor, which allowed the operator to identify any problems before causing damage.

The equipment required for the lupin bale collection process included:

  • Two Freeman bale stacker wagons - These wagons would automatically pickup and stack the small bales in stacks of 40.

  • One Freeman Bale Unstacker - This would take the stacks of small bales and feed them out one at a time so that we could cut the strings.

  • 60ft long Conveyor belt. - This would take the bales away from the unstacker after the strings were cut.

  • One tub Grinder. - This was used to grind the lupin straw once it came off the conveyor belt.

The project was extremely successful however extremely labour intensive, which was pushing up the costs. As a result in 2001 the project has been expanded to tow a larger square baler behind the harvester.

The equipment required for the lupin bale collection process included:

  • Two Freeman bale stacker wagons - These wagons would automatically pickup and stack the small bales in stacks of 40.

  • One Freeman Bale Unstacker - This would take the stacks of small bales and feed them out one at a time so that we could cut the strings.

  • 60ft long Conveyor belt. - This would take the bales away from the unstacker after the strings were cut.

  • One tub Grinder. - This was used to grind the lupin straw once it came off the conveyor belt.

The project was extremely successful however extremely labour intensive, which was pushing up the costs. As a result in 2001 the project has been expanded to tow a larger square baler behind the harvester.
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