Apparatus for loading flexible tubing with bales

摘要

Bales of hay or the like vegetable material are successively loaded on the frame of a wheeled vehicle and actuate a trip plate which causes a pusher plate to push the bale into the open ended portion of a long plastic flexible tube held folded on an arch-shaped upstanding holding device secured to the rear end of the vehicle. The bales loaded within the tube successively drop off the vehicle on the ground and react to the backward thrust exerted by the pusher plate on the next bale to cause forward movement of the vehicle. The vehicle carries its own power supply and is therefore entirely autonomous. The vehicle has a skid plate and the wheels can be raised so that the vehicle moves on the skid plate to thereby increase resistance to the vehicle forward movement thereby increasing the compaction of the bales within the tube. The holding device includes a plurality of tube retaining hook members which are carried by an arch-shaped frame for outward diverging linear movement so as to open the tube. The tube, which is preferably of the stretchable type, is stretched by the hook members in a uniform way all around the tube circumference with a minimum of friction on the individual hook members. The apparatus can handle bales and tubings of various diameters.