Baling leaves with a square baler

[m5guy]

So, I have an outdoor wood burner and a yard full of oak trees. I also have an old new holland square baler collecting dust. So I thought I would try baling my leaves and burning them in the outdoor burner. Took some trial and error, but it works surprisingly well. I need to make the bales as small as you can for my burner, as I found a full size bale will choke out the fire. Just an idea if you have lots of leaves and like doing things that make your neighbors question your sanity.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Cool! Could you bale full size and feed wafers?
Can I ask? ... What NH baler do you have?

 

[m5guy]

I did that last year, it's kinda of a hassle that way. I have a nh 273. 1974 vintage I believe.

 

[oldnslo]

How do you get the leaves dry enough to burn vs just smolder? Seems like around here they are damp 99% of the time when I rake or mulch them.

Great idea on getting some use out of baler and leaves.

 

[Hay Dude]

And when baling hay, you try as much as possible to keep leaves OUT of the bales lol

 

[LHF2019]

Cool! Could you bale full size and feed wafers?
Can I ask? ... What NH baler do you have?

They are leaves not hay. The second you cut the strings you will have a bunch of loose leaves.

 

[workinonit]

I don't touch leaves. I run them over with one of my mulching mowers and it's like "they never even happened".

 

[LHF2019]

I could see people buying those for fall decorations or adding mulch to gardens if you lived in the right area. Neat idea.

 

[lman]

If they smoke as much as they do when burning on the ground, your neighbors will love(not) you.

 

[SPYDERLK]

They are leaves not hay. The second you cut the strings you will have a bunch of loose leaves.

Messiness understood. Still, you have separate compressed strokes held stably for a time. It is an outdoor stove.