Bucket-Mounted Round Bale Slicer

Bucket-Mounted Round Bale Slicer HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 20-5-18 "It lets me cut into big round bales, leaving the hay loose enough so I can grind it up in my older model tub grinder and then feed them as part of a total mixed ration," says Mark Wangsness, Miller, S. Dak., about his home-built bucket-mounted round bale slicer. It consists of a hydraulic-driven 7-ft. long chain saw mounted on a steel frame that bolts to the bucket. Wangsness made the chain saw from scratch by bolting individual sickle sections to a length of heavy-duty chain off a haystack mover. Sections are spaced 1 ft. apart. The chain rides on a 2-in. thick, 6-in. wide steel tubing. A hydraulic motor chain-drives a sprocket at one end of the bar that drives the cutter chain. To use the chain saw, Wangsness raises the grapple fork up out of the way, disconnects the hydraulic hoses from it, and hooks them up to the orbit motor. To cut a bale, he sets it on the ground on its side with one end facing the bucket, then lowers the chain saw into the bale. After he's about halfway through the bale, he uses another loader tractor to dump it into the tub grinder. "It lets me continue to use my old tub grinder instead of having to buy a newer, more expensive model," says Wangsness, who uses the patented saw with his Deere 4020 tractor and Farmhand loader. "I built it six years ago and have used it on over 1,000 bales per year on my cow-calf operation. It's big enough to handle 5 1/2 by 6-ft. bales. "I tried using an ordinary chain saw to cut bales but it didn't work. The sickle sections on my home-built saw slice through the bale like a hot knife in butter. I use the same two-way control lever that raises and lowers the grapple fork to operate the chain saw. As the chain rotates it pulls the bale toward the bucket so that the bucket's front edge holds the bale in place. If I want I can stick the chain saw through the center of the bale and use it like a spear to transport the bale before I cut it. My bale cutter could be used by anyone who wants loose hay, whether they need to grind it up or not. I spent less than $2,000 to build it." Wangsness used a length of 2-in. wide, 6-in. high steel tubing to build the bar. He cut off a short length of 6-in. dia. steel pipe and welded it to a steel bracket at the end of the bar. A threaded bolt inside the bar that's attached to the bracket is used to tighten the chain. The sickle sections are bolted onto steel cleats that were already on the chain. He's looking for a manufacturer. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Wangsness, HC64, Box 15, Miller, S. Dak. 57362 (ph 605 853-2583).

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