"Unroller" pulls round bales apart and conveys them into a conventional
small square baler.
“We raise 250 acres of hay each year and also do custom baling for others.
We sell most of our own hay to horse owners who prefer small square bales.
The problem is that we use round balers in the field because they’re so
much faster and require less labor. That’s why we came up with this
unroller,” says T. Whipple Simpson and his son, Henry, Cochran, Ga.
Last year Simpson used his invention to unroll 7,000 big round
bales, making a total of 140,000 small square bales with his stationary
baler.
“It lets us make small bales when we have more time. It’s
the perfect solution for any hay producer who wants to bring in the crop
fast but needs to supply his market for square bales,” he notes.
In addition to hay, Simpson also uses the unroller on straw bales.
He says he generally only has a 3 to 4 week window to harvest straw bales.
He says he generally has on a 3 to 4 week window to harvest straw so he
brings it in as fast as he can and then converts the round bales into small
bales later.
Simpson made his original unroller using all salvaged parts from
discarded equipment. It took several years to get the design right.
Power is provided by tractor hydraulics and the PTO.
The unroller consists of the three conveyor units that unroll
the bales and then fluff up the hay or straw before feeding it into the
baler.
“It takes only five or six minutes from the time we load on a
round bale until we’ve got the square bales on the truck. The great
things is that we can double the value of a big round bale by rebaling
it. And we can do the work when we have time,” notes Simpson.
A second person runs the hydraulic levers that control the unrolling operation. All functions are reversible or can be stopped instantly.
The third person does all the stacking of square bales onto trucks or trailers. Simpson built a conveyor to make this easy. It rolls back and forth on a telescopic extension so the bales so the bales simply fall off the conveyor at the feet of the operator on the truck or trailer.
Rig lets the Simpsons make round bales fast in the feild,
then later convert them into small bales when they have more time.
The small bales are preferred by the customers.
Simpson showed off the EZ Unroller for the first time at the Sunbelt
Show in Georgia this fall. He has already sold six units by word
of mouth. A single unrolling unit, which is powered by tractor hydraulics,
sells for $17,000. A double unit, with it’s own 50-hp. Engine and self-contained
hydraulics, sells for $40,000.
Contact: Farm Show: Followup, T. Whipple Simpson, Simpson Farms,
Rt. 2, Box 247-7, Cochran, Ga. 31014 (ph.
(478)934-7863).
Courtesy of Farm Show