Tree baler

Last updated

A tree baler is a machine that wraps trees to allow for easier shipment and storage. Wrapped trees take up much less space and are less likely to be damaged during shipment. [1] The aim of the device is to replace work that previously required hand-tying individual trees, most often used at commercial nurseries. [2]

Tree balers use a funnel, through which the tree is forced, thereby compressing the branches tight to the trunk. The baler then wraps or ties the branches to maintain a compressed shape for shipment and storage. Simple machines are operated manually, usually requiring one person to push the tree through the funnel and another to wrap it. A mechanized baler does both operations and can bale over 100 trees per hour. [3]

According to the Berks-Mont News , the motorized christmas tree baler was invented in Pennsylvania in 1944. [4]

A manual baler may also keep the branches compressed by encasing the tree in a plastic netting, rather than wrapping them with twine. This type of baler is often used in retail sales of christmas trees to package the tree for transport by the customer. Manual balers do not compress trees as tightly as mechanized ones. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas tree</span> Tree that is decorated for Christmas

A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hay</span> Dried grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants used as animal fodder

Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. Pigs can eat hay, but do not digest it as efficiently as herbivores do.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw</span> Agricultural byproduct of cereal crops

Straw is an agricultural byproduct consisting of the dry stalks of cereal plants after the grain and chaff have been removed. It makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has a number of different uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and basket making.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut</span> Genus of plants

The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus Castanea, in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania</span> County in Pennsylvania, United States

Schuylkill County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the heart of Pennsylvania's Coal Region and is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 143,049. The county seat is Pottsville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax Explosion</span> 1917 maritime disaster in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship SS Mont-Blanc collided with the Norwegian vessel SS Imo in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Mont-Blanc, laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond district of Halifax. At least 1,782 people were killed, largely in Halifax and Dartmouth, by the blast, debris, fires, or collapsed buildings, and an estimated 9,000 others were injured. The blast was the largest human-made explosion at the time. It released the equivalent energy of roughly 2.9 kilotons of TNT (12 TJ).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silage</span> Fermented fodder preserved by acidification

Silage is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep, and other such ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ensilage, ensiling, or silaging. Silage is usually made from grass crops, including maize, sorghum, or other cereals, using the entire green plant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree planting</span> Process of transplanting tree seedlings

Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and less reliable distribution of tree seeds. Trees contribute to their environment over long periods of time by providing oxygen, improving air quality, climate amelioration, conserving water, preserving soil, and supporting wildlife. During the process of photosynthesis, trees take in carbon dioxide and produce the oxygen we breathe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattock</span> Adze-like hand tool for chopping, digging, and prying especially for planting in hard ground

A mattock is a hand tool used for digging, prying, and chopping. Similar to the pickaxe, it has a long handle and a stout head which combines either a vertical axe blade with a horizontal adze, or a pick and an adze. A cutter mattock is similar to a Pulaski used in fighting fires. It is also commonly known in North America as a "grub axe".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straw-bale construction</span> Building method that uses bales of straw

Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses bales of straw as structural elements, building insulation, or both. This construction method is commonly used in natural building or "brown" construction projects. Research has shown that straw-bale construction is a sustainable method for building, from the standpoint of both materials and energy needed for heating and cooling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mulch</span> Layer of material applied to the surface of soil

A mulch is a layer of material applied to the surface of soil. Reasons for applying mulch include conservation of soil moisture, improving fertility and health of the soil, reducing weed growth, and enhancing the visual appeal of the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warehouse</span> Building for storing goods and giving services

A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, towns, or villages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baler</span> Farm machine for creating hay bales

A baler or hay baler is a piece of farm machinery used to compress a cut and raked crop into compact bales that are easy to handle, transport, and store. Often, bales are configured to dry and preserve some intrinsic value of the plants bundled. Different types of balers are commonly used, each producing a different type of bale – rectangular or cylindrical, of various sizes, bound with twine, strapping, netting, or wire.

<i>Ulmus rubra</i> Species of tree

Ulmus rubra, the slippery elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America. Other common names include red elm, gray elm, soft elm, moose elm, and Indian elm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schuylkill Canal</span>

The Schuylkill Canal, or Schuylkill Navigation, was a system of interconnected canals and slack-water pools along the Schuylkill River in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, built as a commercial waterway in the early 19th-century. Chartered in 1815, the navigation opened in 1825, to provide transportation and water power.

<i>Ulmus pumila</i> Species of tree

Ulmus pumila, the Siberian elm, is a tree native to Asia. It is also known as the Asiatic elm and dwarf elm, but sometimes miscalled the 'Chinese elm'. U. pumila has been widely cultivated throughout Asia, North America, Argentina, and southern Europe, becoming naturalized in many places, notably across much of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas tree production</span> Production of Christmas trees

Christmas tree production occurs worldwide on Christmas tree farms, in artificial tree factories and from native strands of pine and fir trees. Christmas trees, pine and fir trees purposely grown for use as a Christmas tree, are grown on plantations in many western nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. In Australia, the industry is relatively new, and nations such as the United States, Germany and Canada are among world leaders in annual production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas tree cultivation</span> Cultivation of trees used as Christmas trees

Christmas tree cultivation is an agricultural, forestry, and horticultural occupation which involves growing pine, spruce, and fir trees specifically for use as Christmas trees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grafting</span> Horticultural technique of joining plant tissues to grow together

Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion while the lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissues grow together. The natural equivalent of this process is inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. The scion is typically joined to the rootstock at the soil line; however, top work grafting may occur far above this line, leaving an understock consisting of the lower part of the trunk and the root system.

RISC-V is an open standard instruction set architecture (ISA) based on established reduced instruction set computer (RISC) principles. Unlike most other ISA designs, RISC-V is provided under royalty-free open-source licenses. A number of companies are offering or have announced RISC-V hardware; open source operating systems with RISC-V support are available, and the instruction set is supported in several popular software toolchains.

References

  1. 1 2 White, Patrick; Hill, Lewis (2015). Growing Christmas Trees. Storey Publishing. ISBN   978-1-61212-365-3.
  2. US 6981443,Tillaart, Marlin,"Tree tyer",published 2006-01-03, assigned to Dutchmaster Nurseries Ltd.
  3. Wray, Robert D. (2009). Christmas Trees for Pleasure and Profit (Fourth ed.). Rutgers University Press. pp.  154–156.
  4. Carole Christman Koch (2015-12-18). "Welcome to my World: Getting to the roots of Pennsylvania's Christmas trees". Berks-Mont News. Archived from the original on 2016-08-17. In the same year Indiana's Christmas Tree Grower's Association was formed, a board member, Beryl Johnston and his father, Clair, got the idea for a motorized Christmas tree baler, which bundled trees in twine.

Further reading