Mobile Pinestraw Balers

Clark Dorman has designed a pine straw baler specifically for the pine straw laborer. It requires half the work and provides twice the output in a given time frame.

Pine Straw Industry Background:
To date the pine straw baling industry is dominated by hand labor. A team of workers first rakes the pine straw into piles. Pine straw is pushed into the open top of a hand powered baler with a pitchfork. When the chamber is approximately filled to the top, hand labor is used to pull down a lever which causes the pine straw to become compacted. However, this only compresses the pine straw to some degree. Usually the chamber has to be "topped off" several times with straw and compressive strokes have to be applied after each "top off" to result in one completely compacted mass of pine straw. The mass is then tied with twine or wire. The length-wise door is opened and the bale is removed by hand and placed aside. The door is then closed and the process begins again. This hand operated technique requires a considerable amount of time and effort.

Clark Dorman's Mobile Pine Straw Baler:
Consequently, it would be an advance to provide a mechanically powered pine straw baler rather than one of the classic hand powered ones. It should be light enough so that a single operator can maneuver it in a pine forest over tree roots, small bushes, and other obstacles. It should be small enough in size to where it will easily fit between pine trees that may be growing close to each other and to be maneuvered around obstacles like rocks or small trees that are too large to go over. It should compress the pine straw into a bale in a single compressive stroke, simplifying the loading operation. It should automatically eject the baled pine straw from the chamber once the baling process is complete to reduce the physical labor required by the worker. It should be mechanically simple to avoid jamming, which can be a common problem in pine straw baling because of pine cones, branches, vines, and other materials which are raked up along with the desirable straw.
Clark has taken these facts and used them to design a pine straw baler specifically for the pine straw laborer. It requires half the work and provides twice the output in a given time frame.

Self Propelled:
The baler has controls to make it go forward or in reverse, depending upon the required action. It is light enough to turn left or right using manpower due to the pivoting wheel located at the front of the baler. This makes it easy to maneuver in a pine forest over or around the roots, rocks, bushes, or trees that tend to serve as obstacles.

Hydraulic Compression:
A hydraulic compression arm is used to compress the pine straw into a standard size bale in a single compressive stroke. The arm is powered by a gasoline-engine-powered hydraulic pump which uses hydraulic fluid to extend the arm. This greatly reduces the amount of manpower needed to produce a single bale of straw. It also takes away the need for "topping off" the straw in order to get a standard size bale because of the arm's ability to compress the entire lengthened chamber's worth of straw. Also, after the bale has been compressed and tied off, the hydraulic arm pushes it out the end of the loading gate and then automatically retracts. All in all, the amount of manpower required has been reduced to less than half as before.

High Speed Trailer:
The mobile pine straw baler comes with a hitch attachment and can be hooked to the back of any vehicle and transported down the highway. The pivoting wheel at the front of the baler is detachable, thus allowing the two rear tires to roll down the road. There is a location on the baler where the pivoting wheel can be placed for highway transportation.