Machine for forming cylindrical hay bales

Abstract

A machine for forming large round bales of hay and the like has a pickup mechanism that removes the crop from the field and delivers it rearwardly between a pair of compresser rolls, which deliver crop material in a mat to a baling zone between upper and lower endless conveyors. The upper conveyor includes a plurality of endless belts trained around a plurality of transverse rollers, one of which is disposed adjacent the rearward end of the lower conveyor and is mounted on a rear gate assembly that is swingable upward and rearwardly to permit discharge of the bale from the baling chamber. As the bale increases in size, its center of gravity moves rearwardly and after its initial stage of formation, it is partially supported on the roller adjacent the lower conveyor, said roller being disposed generally below the center of the bale when the bale reaches full size. An auxiliary roller is provided on the rear gate assembly immediately adjacent to said main bale support roller to help support the underside of the bale and thereby reduce the penetration of the roller into the periphery of the bale, the auxiliary supporting roller being vertically adjustable relative to the main support roller to selectively vary the amount of load carried by the main support roller and thereby selectively vary the rolling resistance caused by the penetration of the main support roller into the bale periphery.