Sickle Knife Round Bale Cutter

Sickle Knife Round Bale Cutter HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Bale Handling (5) 14-5-8 Two rows of overlapping sickle sections mounted on a front-end loader solved the problem of cutting up round bales for Manitoba farmer Jacob Thiessen of Stuartbum who also uses his big bale knife as a single-spear bale carrier. Thiessen riveted two 3 1/2-ft. long rows of non-serrated sickle sections onto a 5-ft. long bar that mounts on the front-end loader of his Deere 2755 tractor. The base of the knife is welded to a frame built from 6 by 6 by 3/4-in. steel tubing that quick-taches to the bucket. "Even without any moving parts it cuts bales like a knife slicing through butter," says Thiessen. "The two rows of mower sections are on 11/2-in. centers and staggered to overlap. The sections are back to back, with the sharp edges inward and touching. To make the cut I push the bale knife down on one half of the bale, then drive to the other side of the bale and cut the remaining portion. I don't cut all the way through bales to avoid dulling the knife. It's a lot easier and safer to use than the chain saw I had been using. However, the knife should be about 6 in. longer so that I could cut the entire bale in one pass." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jacob Thiessen, Stuartburn, Man., Canada ROA 2B0 (ph 204 425-3084).

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