[GSBN] Baling thoughts

[john rehorn]

Hi Mark,

I'm not sure about sugar cane, but am fairly certain that corn stalk  
could be baled in a regular baler.  The trick is whether the culm  
(thanks for teaching me a new word) can be gathered and folded by the  
baler without balling up.  The pickup tines on a baler are about 3/16  
of an inch in diameter.  I don't see a real problem, so long as the  
baler isn't fed too rapidly.  The gathering forks must pull the culm  
into the baling chamber, folding the longer stalks as they do so.   
Moisture content would be key.  Too moist is obviously bad, but too  
dry could mean that the culm is brittle and wouldn't fold. It would  
just break into short pieces.  Your material would only be as wide as  
the bale and not make a bale with integrity.

All that said, I think it could work with corn, and maybe with sugar  
cane if the culm meets those criteria.  The only reason you haven't  
heard of anyone doing this is because there has never been a market  
for a bale of corn culm.

John
John Rehorn	
Executive Director
Colorado Straw Bale Association
www.coloradostrawbale.org
coloradostrawbale at yahoo.com




On Feb 3, 2009, at 8:51 AM, Mark Jensen wrote:

> Greetings everybody,
>
>
>
> I was in a meeting yesterday with a man who would like to see  
> sustainable housing in his home land of Kenya. He mentioned that  
> they grow a lot of wheat and rice there, however he asked if I had  
> heard of baling sugar cane or corn stalks. I have not heard of  
> anybody doing this, but have any of you heard of this or have any  
> thoughts of the plausibility of doing such. I’m thinking the culm  
> might be just too big for a baler. I would love to hear your thoughts.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
>
>
> Mark Jensen
>
> Construction Program Director
>
>
>
> Red Feather Development Group
>
> PO Box 907
>
> Bozeman, MT 59771-0907
>
> T: (406)585-7188
>
> F: (406)585-7187
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>
>
> markj at redfeather.org   www.redfeather.org
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