Bale Shredders & Spreaders For Sale in Ireland

A bale shredder and spreader is a fairly simple machine. A standard bale shredder design may consist of a big vertical drum into which the bale is dropped. At the bottom of the drum there is a rotary implement with cutting or ripping teeth. The action of the rotating teeth both shreds and spreads the bale over the required area. Bale shredders can be used as tractor attachments, while there are also smaller standalone, machines which can be used effectively in an indoor barn environment as the operator walks along behind the bale shredder.

Straw Bedders

A straw bedder, often called a straw chopper, is a specialised piece of machinery designed to take straw bales, chop them and spread the straw across an area as bedding. They come in a vast variety of sizes and configurations and vary in price from a few hundred to several thousand pounds.

The basic configuration of a straw bedder is to have a large drum into which bales are fed. At the base of this drum is a chopping mechanism, and typically the drum will spin to feed a continuous supply of straw into the chopping mechanism. This is then blown via a hose or other outlet on to the desired bedding area. Where a hose is used, an operator simply directs the bedding on to the appropriate area. For machines with nozzle outlets, this can be changed in orientation to allow the straw to be blown in the direction and to the distance required.

The feeding of the bale into the straw bedder is a job for the telehandler or tractor. This can be a fairly intricate manoeuvre that requires an experienced operator on the loading machine. It should be emphasised that at no point should an operator put any part of his body or any implement, such as a rake, inside the drum. Instead, the bale should be dropped in cleanly. Clearly, this can be an awkward manoeuvre where the drum or hopper is relatively small in relation to the bale being inserted, so due consideration should be given to the size of the bales that are produced on the farm when sizing the appropriate hopper. Inserting a large square bale into a relatively small drum can also greatly increase the combined height of load and bale, so this is best taken into account before attempting to drive a loaded straw bedder into a low-roofed building.