Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1919-09-18

travel in circle. In buying press
of this type the purchaser should pay
especial attention to the power mech
anism, the material used for impor-
tant parts of the press, size of the
feed opening, plunger return device,
self-feeding attachment, and conve-
nience in tying the bales and in set
ting and moving the press.
The reversible lever type Of press
is sometimes called the half-circle
press, since the team travels half a
circle, turns around, and pulls the
lever to the other side, charge of hay
being pressed for each half circle. This
type is easily portable and is always
ready for work, since it is not neces-
sary to tale off the wheels or lower
them from the ground to the axle or
to stake the front end of the press.
1t has q smaller hour capacity than
the continuous-travel press and re-
quires well-trained team to operate
it to capacity.
Large Growers Use Power.
Large hay growers and shippers who
buy and bale large quantities Of hay
generally use power presses. These
are In common use in sections where
the usual practice is to bale hay from
the windrow or the cock, such as the
alfalfa and Johnson grass and prairie
hay sections Of the South. They are
sometimes used in preference to the
two-horse type on alfalfa and Johnson
grass hay farms, even, where the hay
acreage is comparatively small, say
from so to IS acres, for the reason that
they will bale hay about twice as fast
as it could be done with two-horse
press, thereby greatly lessening the
danger of injury to hay due to bad
weather.
AS power to drive hay presses, the
steam engine, portable or self-pro-
polling, has been almost entirely SUI
perseded by the gasoline or kerosene
engine. With gas engine there is no
need for an engine and water haul
er. A few owners employ an engineer
when doing custom baling with fast
working crew, because he keeps the en-
CINE going and saves expensive loss Of
time on the part of the press crew.
When the crew is hired by the ton the
men are not paid for time lost on ac-
count of breakdown, and in such
cases engineers are not often en-
ployed. Usually one of the press
crew looks after the engine when it re-
quires attention. On farms where
tractors are used, If the tractor is not
needed for other essential work when it
| is time to bale hay, the belt power
press should ordinarily be used, since
1t costs less than the motor press, and
since it would not be good business to
use motor press while tractor
| stands idle.
Thorough discussion is also given In
this government publication to the i'm.
| portant features Of power presses, the
difference between the light-duty and
heavy-duty presses, the longevity OF
| the press, as well as facts about the
economic operation of these presses.
The capacity Of the press depends, to
a large extent, upon the skill of the
crew operating it. The average power
press should bale from 20 to 80 tons
in 10-hour day. The capacity Of a
power press under average conditions
is about twice that Of a two-horse
press.
Economy of Buying Press.
The advisability of buying a hay
press depends upon the amount OF
hay to be baled yearly, the likelihood
of being able to obtain a crew when
needed and the rate charged by those
making business of doing custom bal
ing. Whether it will pay the grower
to own press depends upon whether
the total cost Of baling, including la
Dor, repairs, interest and depreciation,
is less than the rate charged by the
custom baler.
The practice of baling hay directly
from the windrow or cock originated
in the semiarid West, where the wealth
er does not often Interfere with hay
making. This method has also spread
to the alfalfa and Johnson grass land
areas of the South. where the wealth
er often is unfavorable. 1t is popu-
lar because it saves labor as com
pared with stacking or putting hay
into the barn. For instance, in Kansas
and Nebraska it requires about IL
man hours and 1 horse hour to put a
ton of hay into the stack with stack
er after it has been brought to the
stack with push rake. The cost of
labor for stacking alone. during 1918,
was about 60 cents ton. This work
is entirely eliminated when hay is
baled from the field, the saving of la
bor being much greater in sections
where it is customary to handle hay
by hand. Growers are able to extend
the hay-making season by baling part
of their hay from the windrow during
propitious weather and stacking or
holding the baling until the rush of
work is over.