Bi-Directional Bale Unroller
Levi Mast's horse-drawn bale unroller works no matter how the bale was rolled up. The heavy-duty boom puts around 600 lbs. of pressure on the bale, and that makes a difference when rolling it out.
"With other unrollers, you have to have the bale loaded in the right direction to unroll, or you have to reload," says Mast. "On mine, the weight ensures that 9 out of 10 bales will unroll, even if the bale isn't in the 'right' direction. It may not lay a perfect continuous mat, but it still unrolls."
Originally built on steel wheels for an Amish customer, Mast knew it would take a beating carrying a 2,500-lb. bale across frozen ruts. He built it extra heavy-duty to handle the chore.
"I used 3/8-in., 6 by 8-in. tubing for the rear axle with a frame fabricated from 1/4-in. thick, 4 by 6-in. steel tubing," says Mast. "The axle and rear frame carry all the weight of the bale cantilevered to its rear."
Mast designed the unroller to allow one person to pick up the bale and unroll it. He used 2 single acting cylinders controlled from the operator's stand. One raises the arms up to a 4-ft. height. The other clamps the arms, with their 6-ft., 4-in. spread between spear tips, to the bale. As the arms close, they charge gas springs.
"I used a hydraulic hand pump with a selector valve to switch between the cylinders," says Mast. "Releasing the pressure on the lift cylinder lowers the bale for unrolling. When pressure on the clamping cylinder is released, the gas springs push the arms and spears away from the bale."
Other features include guides for the squeeze arms that prevent them from bouncing when loaded. A special scissor-action retainer between the clamping arms centers the bale during pick up.
"When you grab a bale that isn't quite centered, the retainer forces either the bale or the cart to slide, thereby centering the bale as the arms close," explains Mast. "The retainer keeps the bale centered during transit."
Mast points out that a small hydraulic power pack could be used to power the cylinders. They could also be hooked to the hydraulics of a small tractor if the unroller was used with it.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mast Enterprises, Coloma, Wis.
Bi-Directional Bale Unroller Levi Mast s horse-drawn bale unroller works no matter how the bale was rolled up The heavy-duty boom puts around 600 lbs of pressure on the bale and that makes a difference when rolling it out With other unrollers you have to have the bale loaded in the right direction to unroll or you have to reload says Mast On mine the weight ensures that 9 out of 10 bales will unroll even if the bale isn t in the right direction It may not lay a perfect continuous mat but it still unrolls Originally built on steel wheels for an Amish customer Mast knew it would take a beating carrying a 2 500-lb bale across frozen ruts He built it extra heavy-duty to handle the chore I used 3/8-in 6 by 8-in tubing for the rear axle with a frame fabricated from 1/4-in thick 4 by 6-in steel tubing says Mast The axle and rear frame carry all the weight of the bale cantilevered to its rear Mast designed the unroller to allow one person to pick up the bale and unroll it He used 2 single acting cylinders controlled from the operator s stand One raises the arms up to a 4-ft height The other clamps the arms with their 6-ft 4-in spread between spear tips to the bale As the arms close they charge gas springs I used a hydraulic hand pump with a selector valve to switch between the cylinders says Mast Releasing the pressure on the lift cylinder lowers the bale for unrolling When pressure on the clamping cylinder is released the gas springs push the arms and spears away from the bale Other features include guides for the squeeze arms that prevent them from bouncing when loaded A special scissor-action retainer between the clamping arms centers the bale during pick up When you grab a bale that isn t quite centered the retainer forces either the bale or the cart to slide thereby centering the bale as the arms close explains Mast The retainer keeps the bale centered during transit Mast points out that a small hydraulic power pack could be used to power the cylinders They could also be hooked to the hydraulics of a small tractor if the unroller was used with it Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mast Enterprises Coloma Wis
