Patent ID: 6843170

Claim:
In a round baler for bailing harvested crops and having a baling chamber surrounded by a two-part housing of which a front part is rigidly connected to a frame of the baler while a rear part is in the form of a pivotal tailgate, the improvement comprising an actuating mechanism having a plurality of belts and rollers disposed adjacent one another within the baling chamber for enabling baling chamber size to vary when pivoted, and a tensioning arm provided with guide rollers, a pivotal arm connected to the tensioning arm, wherein the tensioning arm is pivotally mounted on the frame of the baler, a hydraulic cylinder operatively engaging the pivotal arm and a first arm of a bell crank, wherein a fulcrum of the bell crank is pivotally mounted on a side wall of the baler's tailgate, and wherein a second arm of the bell crank is operatively engageable with a locking mechanism engageable with the frontal part of the housing and means for increasing a locking force on the locking mechanism as a bale in the baling chamber increases in size.