August 2, 2001

A Safety Wrap-up On Big Round Balers

With more than ample moisture across most of the state, there is a lot of hay to be baled. Most of that hay will be baled with big round balers.

"Although big round balers are tremendous time and labor savers, they do have a reputation of being involved in many severe injuries and fatalities," notes George Maher, safety specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. "Safe practices with these machines can reduce these injuries and fatalities significantly."

Maher notes that most injuries with big round balers happen at the intake end of the machine. "Often injuries occur when hay does not feed into the baler correctly and a plug-up happens," he says. The safe procedure for dealing with those plug-ups is:

1. Take the PTO out of gear
2. Shut off the tractor engine
3. Put the ignition key in your pocket
4. Dismount from the tractor and unplug the machine

Often injuries with big round balers result from entanglement with the PTO shaft, Maher notes. "This shaft need to be shielded just the same as the PTO shaft of any other implement. The tractor engine and PTO should be stopped every time before leaving the tractor seat. It takes only a fourth of a second, or less, for a PTO entanglement to happen," he says.

The baler’s belts also pose a significant hazard. "Many hands have been lost when workers try to correct a problem by reaching into the baler around the belts while it is still running. Every machine should be shut off and allowed to stop before any work is attempted," he says.

The rear gate of the baler is also the site of numerous injuries. "Never depend on hydraulics to hold up the rear gate of the baler," Maher says. "Always use a mechanical support such as a post or block to keep the part up. Hydraulic components do fail, resulting in injury or death."

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Source: George Maher, (701) 231-8288, gmaher@ndsuext.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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