Historical information

The stationary hay baler was introduced to farms around 1930's. Prior to this hay was collected and stored in the barn to be distributed later. From the mid 1800's some farms used balers in the barn which dropped weights onto the hay for compacting but this required many trips back and forth to collect and store hay. This hay baler could be towed to each paddock by horse or tractor. Grasses would be forked into the chute by two workers. The engine would force the hay into bales and feed it out onto the parallel shelves seen in the photo.They would be hand tied by two other workers .The baler saved time and labour. The manufacturer cannot be identified, but this baler is similar to the H.V. McKay Massey Harris Hay Presses built in Sunshine Vic. and operating in farms around the 1940's.

Physical description

Unpainted, rusted, stationary baler