As you can guess from the name of the thread I made my own baler. I got the idea from this thread. If any one is interested in making their own a better copy of the planes can be found here. Here is a picture.
I didn't actually follow the instructions that closely. It's the same scale, but that's about it. It's made completely from scrap wood which I got for free. Mostly pallets. Over all it cost me $87 not counting gas and the screws and bolts I already owned. I'm not sure how much time it took. Here is my first bail.
My first bale is kind of a failure. The instructions say I should be able to make 50 bound bales, but this one only weighed 18 pounds. I need to try and make the next one much denser.
I've given some thought to how I'll make money from the thing. Because of Californian Redemption Value plastic drink bottles are worth $1.10 a pound here so I can make some money off that. They is also a recycling facility close buy that takes some types of plastic and paper. It's not worth that much, but I guess somethings better then nothing. What I'm shooting for long term is the the ability to process wood, paper and plastic. Even if they aren't worth very much being able to process them means less costly trips to the dump which means I can afford to take more unwanted items from people in order to also get the good stuff. At least that's how I'm hopping it will go. Also, I can use it as a trash compacter.
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