BALING SYSTEM FOR MAKING LABORATORY-SCALE HAY BALES

Research on the preservation of moist hay has long been an area of int ense interest; however, such research has often been hampered by the d ifficulty in controlling experimental conditions during field hay tria ls. The development of a laboratory-scale baling system that would all ow researchers to impose a baling treatment on a small quantity of for age would reduce the need for expensive field trials and, to a large d egree, minimize weather as a factor in hay experiments. A simple syste m that utilizes a hinged metal baling unit and a hydraulic press to ma ke 10.3- by 10.8- by 13.4-cm wire-tied hay bales over a wide range of densities (150 to 800 kg m-3) is described. The system was inexpensive to build, easy to use, and could easily be reproduced.