Harvesting System Design and Performance - Engineering and Science of Biomass Feedstock Production and Provision - page 102

Fig. 5.17 Effect of conditioning roll pressure on windrow characteristics. The windrow on the left
is unconditioned and difficult to pick up because stems are lying flat. The properly conditioned
windrow on the right stands up taller and is easier to bale. Adapted from [ 19 ]

Fig. 5.18 A large rectangular hay baler illustrating the windrow pickup, pre-compression chamber,
plunger, and bale chamber. Adapted from [ 21 ]

5.3.4.3 Hay Cubers

Hay cubers were developed to facilitate handling, transport, and storage operations
but could not be adopted because of their high energy costs. Field cubers consist of
a pickup, sprayers, feeding rolls, a chopper, and a cubing apparatus (Fig. 5.20a ).