Patent ID: 7080494

Claim:
A method for making a large square bale out of a plurality of small bales, utilizing a square baler having a processing chamber with a floor divided into a first portion which pivots about a substantially horizontal pivot axis and a second portion which is capable of being raised and lowered, and a plunger which moves reciprocally in and out of a tubular forming channel, the method comprising the steps of: feeding small bales into the processing chamber; positioning at least two small bales in side by side relation on the first portion of the floor of the processing chamber; pivoting the first portion of the floor from a substantially horizontal position to a substantially vertical position, thereby positioning the at least two small bales as a stack of small bales; elevating the second portion of the floor until the stack of small bales is aligned with the tubular forming channel and positioned in the path of a plunger; pushing the stack of small bales with the plunger into the tubular forming channel; repeating the above steps until the tubular forming chamber is substantially filled with stacks of small bales; banding the stacks of small bales to form one large square bale; and ejecting the large square bale from a remote end of the tubular forming channel.