Method and machine for tearing apart stacked crop material bales

Abstract

A machine for tearing apart stacked crop material bales has a pivotal load bed with stack clamping mechanisms arranged about the bed for retrieving a stack of crop material bales by placing the load bed in an upright retrieving position, moving the upright load bed alongside the stack, actuating the clamp mechanisms to engage and retain the bale stack against the load bed and then pivoting the load bed with the stack retained thereon from the upright position to a horizontal position. A fore-and-aft moveable rolling rack mounted transversely across the load bed will advance the entire stack longitudinally along the load bed from time to time to position a leading vertical transversely-extending tier of bales, in a succession of such vertical tiers which form the stack, onto a horizontal platform positioned along one end of the load bed. A pusher or feeder mechanism is disposed along the platform and moveable transversely between a lateral side of the platform and a shredding drum being rotatably mounted about a vertical axis and disposed laterally outwardly from an opposite side of the platform. Movement of the pusher mechanism toward the shredding drum causes endwise feeding of the leading vertically standing, transverse tier of bales into the shredding drum. A deflector shroud partially surrounding and covering the vertical shredding drum assists in guiding or directing the shredded, loose crop material to a desired feeding location alongside the machine.