Abstract:
A square bale processor having an elongated conveyor mounted on the frame and a mechanism for mounting the frame to a set of wheels in such a way that the back end of the conveyor may be positioned a predetermined distance above the ground or adjacent to the ground. A bale shredding roller which may be substantially cylindrical or may be in the shape of a truncated cone with flails symmetrically spaced about its circumference and along its length is rotatably mounted adjacent the front end of the conveyor. The axis of rotation of the shredding roller is positioned in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to the conveyor in the direction of the length of the processor. The roller axis at the back end of the roller is positioned below the front end of the conveyor. The bale shredding roller axis may be substantially horizontal or it may slope upward from the back end of the shredding roller to the front end of the roller. Further one or more feed rollers may be mounted transversely to the frame above the shredding roller for assisting to drive a bale onto the shredding roller. The roller may include auger fins or beater bars to grip into a bale.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to bale processors, and more particularly to square bale processors. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Crop materials, such as straw, hay or other forage are often baled in order to protect the material and make it easy to move and store at an appropriate location. When the material is to be used for feed or bedding, the bales must be transported to the location where they are required, broken apart and distributed in some desirable manner. 
     Over the years, a number of bale processors have been developed which are capable of loading and processing round bales. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 302,280 filed on Apr. 30, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,781 on Mar. 13, 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 303,263 filed on Apr. 30, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,553 on Aug. 29, 2000; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 312,570 filed on Apr. 30, 1999 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,950 on Mar. 20, 2001, which are incorporated herein by reference, describe a variety of such bale processors. These bale processors disintegrate bales and discharge the material either as bedding across an area, or as feed in the form of a windrow or into a feed bunk. 
     These and other similar bale processors are particularly adapted to process round bales and are capable of carrying one large bale to the location where the material is required. In order to process more then one bale, it is necessary for the bale processor to return to where the bales are stored or to have a second machine with a front end loader bring the bales to the processor. 
     A bale processor designed to carry more than one round bale at a time is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,191 which issued to Dwyer et al on Apr. 14, 1987. This particular bale processor includes an elongated conveyor pivotally mounted about its wheel axle such that the back end will pivot towards the ground enabling the conveyor to move a number of bales onto itself However, in this particular arrangement the shredding rollers are at one side of the processor and a further assembly is required to move the front bale laterally into the shredding rollers. The result is a cumbersome arrangement which is not particularly effective for the loading and processing square bails or for discharging the bale material as desired. 
     Therefore, there is a need for a processor which is capable of self loading, carrying a number of bales to where the bale material is needed and processing the bales effectively, particularly when the bales are of the large square variety. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention is directed to a bale processor comprising a frame having front and back ends, an elongated conveyor mounted on the frame and a mechanism for mounting the frame to a set of wheels. The wheel mechanism also functions to move the back end of the conveyor between positions a predetermined distance above the ground and adjacent to the ground. The bale processor further includes a bale shredding roller which has a front end and a back end and which is rotatably mounted adjacent the front end of the conveyor. The axis of rotation of the shredding roller is positioned in a plane which is substantially perpendicular to the conveyor in the direction of the length of the processor; the roller axis at the back end of the roller is positioned below the front end of the conveyor. The processor further includes a conveyor control to operate the conveyor in either direction. 
     In accordance with another aspect of this invention, the conveyor includes two or more chain conveyors mounted substantially parallel to one another along the length of the processor. All of the chain conveyors may be of equal length or some of the chain conveyors may be substantially shorter than others. 
     With regard to another aspect of the invention, one or more feed rollers may be mounted transversely to the frame above the shredding roller for assisting to drive a bale onto the shredding roller. The roller may include auger fins or beater bars to grip into a bale. 
     In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention the bale shredding roller may be substantially cylindrical or it may be in the shape of a truncated cone with flails symmetrically spaced about its circumference and along its length. The bale shredding roller axis may be substantially horizontal or it may slope upward from the back end of the shredding roller to the front end of the roller. Specifically, the bale shredding roller may comprise an axle, a cylindrical drum fixed to the axis, a plurality of circular plates spaced along the axle; and a number of flails rotatably mounted symmetrically between the plates along the length of the axle. The diameter of the circular plates may be substantially equal or the diameter of adjacent circular plates may be sequentially smaller from the front end towards the back end of the shredding roller. In addition, the bale shredding roller may further include a number of curvilinear fins fixed to the hub between the smallest circular plate and the back end of the shredding roller. 
     In accordance with a further aspect of this invention, the mechanism for mounting the frame on wheels which are rotatably fixed to an axle may comprise at least two support members spatially positioned between the frame and the wheel axle with one end of each support member being fixed to the axle and the other end of each support member being pivotally attached to the frame whereby the wheels may be pivoted about the frame attachment for lowering and raising the back end of the conveyor. The pivoting movement between the frame and the wheels may be controlled by hydraulic cylinders. 
    
    
     Other aspects and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the processor in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of one embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the embodiment in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a top view of the embodiment in FIG. 2 with hood cut away; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the embodiment in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a chain conveyor; 
     FIG. 7 is an isometric view of a shredding roller used in the embodiment in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 8 is a top view of the preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention with the hood cut away; 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of the front end of the processor in FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 is an isometric view of the front end of the processor in FIG. 8; and 
     FIG. 11 is a side view of the shredding roller in accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The bale processor  1  in accordance with the present invention as illustrated schematically in FIG. 1 generally comprises a frame  2  having a hitch section  3  for connection to a tractor or similar vehicle and a set of wheels  4  for moving the processor  1  about. One or more conveyor elements  6 , such as chain conveyors or belt conveyors, are supported on the frame  2  in the direction of the length of the processor  1  such that the front ends  7  of the conveyors elements  6  are positioned towards the front of the processor  1  and the back ends  8  of the conveyor elements are extended past the back end of the frame  2 . The processor  1  further includes a shredding roller  5  which is mounted inside the frame  2  at the front end of the processor  1  such that the axis of roller  5  near the conveyor elements  6  is below the front end  7  of the conveyor elements  6 . In addition, the axis of roller  5  is generally in a vertical plane which is in the direction of the length of the processor  1  and which is perpendicular to the substantially horizontal plane through the conveyor elements  6 . 
     In operation, the hitch section  3  is adapted to be connected to the tractor with the power for the processor  1  being provided by the power take-off and/or the hydraulics of the tractor. To load bales onto the processor  1 , the back ends  8  of the conveyor elements  6  are lowered to the ground level; this may be achieved by having the frame  2  pivot about the wheel axle or by having the wheel axle pivot up towards the frame  2 . The conveyors  6  are controlled such that the top surface of the conveyors  6  rotate from the back to the front of the processor  1  as the processor  1  is backed towards one or more bales that are laying on the ground. The back ends  8  of the conveyor elements  6  are forced under a bale and the bale is drawn onto the rotating surface of conveyors elements  6  towards the roller  5  at the front of the processor  1 . When the conveyor elements  6  are loaded with bales, the back end  8  of the conveyor elements  6  may be raised off of the ground. To process the bales, the shredding roller  5  is made to rotate, and the bales are driven towards the shredding roller  5  by the conveyors  6 . As the bale is shredded, it is discharged from the processor  1  through a discharge opening  9 . In FIG. 1, the discharge opening  9  is shown to be on the left side of the processor land the shredding roller  5  would be rotating in a clockwise direction as seen from the back of the processor. However, it is within the scope of the present invention for the roller to be rotating in the counter-clockwise direction and for the discharge opening to be on the right side of processor  1 . The bale processor  1  may be used to process any type of bale such as large or small square bales as well a round bales. 
     The detailed structure of one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 2,  3 ,  4  and  5  where the same components in the different figures have the same reference numbers. 
     The processor  10  in accordance with the present invention includes a frame  11  to which is attached the support structure  12  for the hitch  13  at the front end of the processor  10 . Left and right side rails  14  and  15  which are flared at the back end of the processor  10  to facilitate entry of a bale onto the processor, are welded to uprights  16 ,  17 ,  18  and  19  which themselves are fixed to frame  11  by means of cross beams  20 ,  21 . Side walls  22  and  23  are welded between the guard rails  14 ,  15  respectively and the frame  11  to enclose the front portion of the processor  10 . A front end wall  24 , an opposite partial transverse wall  25  and a shaped surface  26  at the bottom form an enclosure  29  to contain the shredding roller  28  which will be further described below. The enclosure  29  also has an opening  27  through which shredded crop material is discharged. 
     The processor  10  further includes a pair of wheels  30 ,  31  mounted on a axle  32 . The axle  32  is welded to a pair of uprights  33 ,  34  which are pivotally connected to the frame  11  such that with the hitch  13  connected to the tractor, the wheels  30 ,  31  may be pivoted in order to vertically displace the back end of the processor  10 . 
     The processor  10  also includes a conveyor  35  mounted along its length from the back end of the processor  10  to a location near the enclosure  29  over the transverse wall  25 . The conveyor  35  may take many forms such as chain or belt conveyors. In this particular embodiment a design having five chain conveyors  36 ,  37 ,  38 ,  39  and  40  is illustrated. An example of a chain conveyor  36 - 40  is illustrated in FIG.  6 . Each conveyor comprises a rectangular cross-section hollow rail  41  with two guides  63 ,  64  spatially fixed to the upper surface of the rail  41  to form a channel  65 . Sprockets  42 ,  43  are mounted at each end of the rail  41 . Sprocket  42  which is located at the front end of the rail  41  is mounted to rotate about an axle  44  which is connected to other corresponding conveyor sprockets  42 , as illustrated in FIG.  4 . Sprocket  43  is mounted at the back end of the rail  41  in order to be free wheeling. An endless conveyor chain  45  is positioned between the guides  63 ,  64  in the channel  65  of rail  41 , is wrapped around sprockets  42 , 43  and returns through the interior of hollow rail  41 . Conveyor chain teeth  46  for gripping the bales are mounted on the chain at appropriate intervals. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 4, this preferred embodiment includes  5  chain conveyors  36 - 40 . Conveyors  37  and  39  are made sufficiently long so that the end of the conveyors  37  and  39  will be at ground level when the back end of the processor  10  is lowered. This enables the processor to be backed-up to a bale and have the bale driven forward onto the conveyors  37  and  39 . In addition, conveyors may be made sufficiently long to be able to carry more than one large bale. Conveyors  36 ,  38  and  40  are somewhat shorter than conveyors  37  and  39 . The length of conveyors  36 ,  38  and  40  are in the order of the length of a large square bale, however they may be shorter or longer if desired. Conveyors  36 , 38  and  40  assist conveyors  37  and  39  to move the bale towards shredding roller  28  enclosure  29 . 
     In addition, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5, skids  47 ,  48  are mounted on the underside of the conveyor rails  37  and  39  respectively. These skids  47 ,  48  allow the conveyors  37  and  39  to drag on the ground when approaching a bale without damage to the chain  45  or teeth  46 . 
     A reversible hydraulic motor  49  is coupled to axle  44  which connects all of the conveyors  36 - 40  together such that they will all rotate in the same direction. In this particular embodiment, all sprockets  42  are of the same size such that the conveyors  36 - 40  move at the same speed, however, this need not be the case. 
     In order to control the height of the back-end of the processor  10 , one or more hydraulic cylinders  50  are connected between the wheel axle  32  and the conveyor rails  37 , 39 . In this particular embodiment, two hydraulic cylinders  50  are controlled from the tractor to pivot the wheels  30 ,  31  forward relative to the processor  10  as shown by arrow  51 . The processor  10  pivots at the hitch  13  which is connected to the tractor to allow the back-end of the processor  10 , namely the conveyors  37  and  39  to be lowered to the ground level. After the conveyors  37  and  39  load one or more bales on the processor, the wheels  30  and  31  are pivoted back such that the conveyors  37  and  39  become substantially horizontal again. However, the processor  10  may be operated to carry and process bales with the back-end of the processor  10  below or above the horizontal position. 
     To facilitate the movement of the baled crop material towards the shredding roller  28 , plates  52  may be installed between the conveyors  36 - 40  and between the conveyors  36  and  40  and their respective sidewalks  22  and  23 . This prevents the bales from getting caught up in the conveyor rails  41  and prevents loose crop material from falling through the processor  10  between the conveyors  36 - 40  particularly after the baling twine which holds the bales together has been cut. 
     The shredding roller  28  as shown in FIG. 7 comprises a hollow hub  55  fixed to an axle  56  which has a first end  57  adapted to fit into a bearing  58  located in the transverse wall  23 . The other end  59  of the axle  56  is adapted to pass through a bearing  60  located in the front wall  24  to be connected to the tractor power take-off for rotation. The axle  56  may be positioned substantially horizontal, however, it may also be made to slope upwards towards the front wall  24  from the transverse wall  25  to provide greater flair roller surface area to the bale as it progresses towards the front of processor  1 . The roller  28  further includes a number of circular plates  61  fixed to the hub  55  in a spaced relationship. The plates  61  are adapted to have shredding flails  62  (FIGS. 2 and 5) mounted between the plates  61  on bolts  63  so as to move freely to extend away from the plates  61  as the roller  28  is rotated rapidly. The flails  62  are equally spaced around the periphery of the plates  61 , in this case four flails 90° apart, and adjacent rows of flails are offset, in this case at 30°. This allows for maximum shredding efficiency while maintaining a balanced shredding roller  28 . 
     In this particular embodiment, the roller  28  is made to rotate in the clockwise direction as seen from the back of the processor  10 . Thus the shredded baled crop material will be discharged to the left of the processor  10  through the opening  27 . In order to control the discharge of the material, a discharge door  70  is mounted above the opening  27 . The outer edge of the discharge door  70  further includes a pliable skirt  71 . The discharge door  70  may be raised and lowered by a levered mechanism  72  which is biased with a spring  74  to facilitate its movement by an operator. Once positioned, it may be locked in place using a locking mechanism  73 . 
     In order to facilitate feeding the bales onto the shredding roller  28  as it is being moved forward by the conveyors  36 - 40 , one or more feed rollers  81 ,  82  are located in a hood  80 . Feed rollers  81 ,  82  may have protrusions such as auger fins  86  or rigid beater bars to grip the bales more efficiently. Hood  80  includes a pair of triangular shaped side walls  83 ,  84  which are held rigidly apart by transverse braces or a rectangular shaped cover  85 . The hood  80  is made to fit within the front end of the processor  10  above the shredding roller  28  . The front end of the hood  80  is pivotally mounted to the front end of the processor such that the back end of the hood may move up and down between the side walls  22 ,  23 . Stopper plates  86  are fixed to the both sides of the hood  80  to prevent it from falling onto the conveyors  36 - 40 ; a further stopper mechanism  87  prevents the hood from lifting above a certain point over the shredding roller  28 . 
     The feed rollers  81  and  82  are positioned transversely between the side walls  83 ,  84  and held in place in bearings mounted on the walls  83 ,  84 . The feed rollers  81 ,  82  may be powered by individual reversible hydraulic motors  88 ; however one hydraulic motor  88  may be used to drive one of the feed rollers  81 ,  82 , feed roller  82  in FIG. 2, which is then connected in tandem with the second feed roller  81  using a chain drive  89 . The feed rollers  81 ,  82  would therefore rotate in the same direction, generally in the clockwise direction as exemplified by arrows  90  in FIG.  5 . 
     To operate the bale processor  10  in accordance with the present invention, the operator would hitch the processor  10  to a tractor or other power source. The tractor power takeoff is connected to the shredding roller  28  while the tractor hydraulics is connected to the feeder motor  88 , the conveyor motor  49  and the hydraulic cylinders  50 . The processor  10  is backed up to a row of bales. The operator controls the hydraulic cylinders  50  to pivot the wheels  30 ,  31  towards the front thus lowering the back of the conveyors  37 ,  39  to the ground such that they rest on skids  47 ,  48 . Hydraulic motor  49  is started to cause the conveyors  36 - 40  to move from the back of the processor  10  towards the front; at the same time the processor  10  may be backed up further to assist the bale to mount onto the conveyors  37 ,  39 . Once one or more bales are loaded onto the processor  10 , the conveyor motor  49  is stopped and the hydraulic cylinders  50  are operated to raise the back end of the processor  10  to substantially a horizontal position. The processor  10  is then moved to the area where shredded crop material is desired. To process the bales, the discharge door is raised to the desired level for spreading the material as a bed or lowered to discharge the material into a feed bunk or as a windrow. The power take-off is engaged to rotate the shredding roller  28  and hydraulic motor  88  is started to rotate the feed rollers  81 ,  82 . Conveyor motor  49  is again started to drive the bales towards the shredding roller  28  while the feed rollers  81 ,  82  are driven up onto the bale to help drive it onto the shredding roller  28 . This process continues until the bales have been processed. It is to be noted that at any time, if required, the conveyors  36 - 40 , feed rollers  81 ,  82  or both may be reversed in direction to move the bale away from the shredding roller  28  to avoid plugging or for other purposes. 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 8,  9 ,  10  and  11  where the same components in the different figures have the same reference numbers and only the differences between the preferred embodiment and the previous embodiment will be described. 
     The processor  100  in accordance with the preferred embodiment includes a frame  101  to which is attached the support structure  102  for the hitch  103  at the front end of the processor  100 . Left and right side rails  104  and  105  are flared at the back end of the processor  100  to facilitate entry of a bale onto the processor. Side walls  106  and  107  are welded to the guard rails  104 ,  105  respectively and the frame  101  to enclose the front portion of the processor  100 . A front end wall  108 , an opposite partial transverse wall  109  and a shaped bottom surface  110  at the bottom form an enclosure  114  to contain the shredding roller  115  which will be further described below. The shaped surface  110  includes two flat surface  111  and  112  that slope downward from the side walls  106  and  107  respectively, and a curved conically shaped partial bottom  113  welded at its edge to surface  112  as well as end walls  108  and  109 . The space between the flat surface  111  and the partial bottom  113  forms an opening  116  in enclosure  114  to the left of the processor  100  through which shredded crop material is discharged. 
     The processor  100  further includes a pair of wheels  117 ,  118  mounted on a axle  119 . The axle  119  is pivotally connected to the frame  101  in the same manner as in FIG. 2 such that with the hitch  103  connected to the tractor, the wheels  117 ,  118  may be pivoted in order to vertically displace the back end of the processor  100 . 
     The processor  100  further includes a conveyor  120  mounted along its length from the back end of the processor  100  to a location near the enclosure  114  over the transverse wall  109 . The conveyor  120  may take many forms such as chain or belt conveyors. In this particular embodiment four chain conveyors  121 ,  122 ,  123  and  124  are shown. An example of a chain conveyor has been described with respect to FIG.  6 . 
     As illustrated in FIG. 8, this preferred embodiment includes  4  chain conveyors  121 - 124  of substantially equal length so that all of the conveyors can participate in the initial loading of a bale onto the processor  100  even if the bale is to one side of the processor  100  and in driving the bale onto the shredding roller  115 . Conveyors  121 - 124  are made sufficiently long so that the end of the conveyors  121 - 124  may be lowered down to ground level when the back end of the processor  100  is pivoted downwards. 
     A reversible hydraulic motor  125  is coupled to an axle  126  which is fixed to the front end sprocket of each of the conveyors  121 - 124  such that the conveyors will all rotate in the same direction preferably at the same speed, however, this need not be the case. 
     To facilitate the movement of the baled crop material towards the shredding roller  15 , plates  127  may be installed between the conveyors  121 - 124  and between the conveyors  121  and  124  and their respective sidewalks  106  and  107 . This prevents loose crop material from falling through the processor  100  between the conveyors  121 - 124  particularly after the baling twine which holds the bales together has been cut. 
     The shredding roller  115  as shown in FIG. 11 comprises a hollow hub  130  fixed to an axle  131 . The roller  115  further includes a number of circular plates  136  fixed to the hub  130  in a spaced relationship. In this particular embodiment, the diameters of the circular plates  136  are smaller as one goes from the front end to the back end of the roller  115  to produce a truncated cone shaped roller  115 . The smallest plate may be in the order of 65% of the diameter of the largest plate. In addition, curvilinear fins are fixed to the hub  130  between the smallest plate  136  and the back end of the hub  130  to initiate the shredding process of the bale as it. is driven over the roller  115  by the conveyors  121 - 124 . As in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7, shredding flails  137  are mounted between plates  136  on bolts  138  such that each may freely rotate 360° about the bolt  138  and extend away from the plates  136  as the roller  115  is rotated rapidly. In order to rotate freely, the flails  137  between the smaller diameter plates  136  are shorter than the flails  137  between the larger diameter plates  136 ; they may be in the order of 50% shorter. The flails  137  are equally spaced around the periphery of the plates  136  and adjacent rows of flails  137  are offset such that the roller  115  is maintained in rotational balance. 
     The axle  131  at the back end  132  of the roller  115  is adapted to fit into a bearing  133  located in the transverse wall  109 . The axle  131  at the front end  134  of the roller  115  is adapted to pass through a bearing  135  located in the front wall  108  to be connected to the tractor power take-off for rotation. When positioned within the processor  100 , the axle  131  is sloped upwards towards the front wall  108  from the transverse wall  109  to provide greater flair roller surface area to the bale as the bale progresses towards the front of processor  100 . This provides for maximum shredding efficiency, however, since the roller  115  is conically shaped, the axle may be substantially horizontal and still provide for effective shredding. 
     In this particular embodiment, the roller  115  is made to rotate in the clockwise direction as seen from the back of the processor  100 ; thus the shredded baled crop material will be discharged to the left of the processor  100  through the opening  116 . However, as with the embodiment in FIG. 2, the shredding roller  115  may be rotated in counter-clockwise direction for discharge on the right of the processor  100 . In order to control the discharge of the material, a discharge door  140  is mounted above the opening  116 . The discharge door  140  may be raised and lowered to discharge the bale material into a bed, windrow or feed bunk. 
     In order to facilitate feeding the bales onto the shredding roller  115  as it is being moved forward by the conveyors  121 - 124 , one or more feed rollers  142  is located in a hood  143  at the front end of the processor  100 . Feed roller  142  may have protrusions such as auger fins  144  or rigid beater bars to grip the bales more efficiently as it rotates. Hood  143  includes a pair of side walls  145 ,  146  which are held rigidly apart by transverse braces or a cover  147  which may partially cover the top and the front of the hood  143 . The hood  143  is fixed such as by welding to the front wall  108  and the side walls  104  and  105  of the processor  100 . 
     The feed roller  142  is positioned transversely between the side walls  145 ,  146  and held in place by bearings  148 ,  149  mounted on the walls  145 ,  146 . The feed roller  142  may be powered by a reversible hydraulic motor  150 . The feed roller  142  is controlled to rotate in the opposite direction to that of conveyor motor  125  such that both the conveyors  121 - 124  and feed roller  142  operate together to move the bale in one direction or the other. 
     The operation of the bale processor  100  is very similar to the operation of the bale processor  10  as described above. The operator hitches the processor  100  to a tractor or other power source . The tractor power takeoff is connected to the shredding roller  115  while the tractor hydraulics is connected to the feed motor  150 , the conveyor motor  125  and the hydraulic cylinders to lower and raise the back end of the processor  100 . The processor  100  is backed up to a one or more bales. The operator pivots the wheels  117 ,  118  towards the front thus lowering the back of the conveyors  121 - 124  to the ground. Hydraulic motor  125  is started to cause the top surface of the conveyors  121 - 124  to move from the back of the processor  100  towards the front; at the same time the processor  100  may continue to backup to assist the bale to mount onto the conveyors  121 - 124 . Once one or more bales are loaded onto the processor  100  the conveyor motor  125  is stopped and the processor  100  is raised to its substantially horizontal position. The processor  100  is then moved to the area where shredded crop material is desired. To process the bales, the discharge door  140  is raised to the desired level for spreading the material into a bed or lowered to discharge t he material into a wind row or feed bunk. The power take-off is engaged to rotate the shredding roller  115  and hydraulic motor  150  is started to rotate the feed roller  142 . Conveyor motor  125  is again started to drive the bales towards the shredding roller  115  while the feed roller  142  helps drive the bale onto the shredding roller  115 . This process continues until the bales have been processed. It is to be noted that at any time, if required, the conveyors  121 - 124 , feed roller  142  or both may be reversed in direction to move the bale away from the shredding rollers  115  to avoid plugging or for other purposes. 
     The tapered roller  115  a arrangement with the feed roller  142  is particularly advantageous with large square bales since the small end of the roller  115  commences the process of shredding the end of the bale over a small area which gets progressively larger as the bale is driven onto the shredding roller  115  to provide consistent processing. In addition, since large square bales are packed in layers or slabs along their length, these slabs tend to separate after the cord binding the bale together is severed. The feed roller  142  grips the top of the slabs and drives them onto the shredding roller  115 . 
     While the invention has been described according to what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it must be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Those ordinarily skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent structures and functions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims. Therefore, the invention as defined in the claims must be accorded the broadest possible interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.