Baling Foam Rubber

With the goal of reducing the amount of material going to landfills, baling foam rubber is an application that has come of age. By baling this product we are capable of reducing the space required for storage usually by as much as a 4:1 ratio. Working with a customer, we have successfully baled this product with five 10 Ga. wires, contained in a 44" tie length and with a weight of approximately 600 - 700 lbs. Using 81.67 Ft. of 10 Ga. wire and with a 30 H.P. motor on the baler (using 21 KW/Hr average), our production costs are minimal. If the customer can find a recycler who will pay for the bales, then the customer may see an actual profit. If they are currently taking the material to a landfill, their tipping charge will be reduced due to a reduced number of drops.

The baler that best fits this application is a 5029H-930R. Of course, the horsepower is dependent upon production rates. You could do the same material in a 42" wide machine but your cylinder size would have to be at least 10". With the current customer, we are running this baler without any tension pressure, achieving 1500 PSI push thru pressure. This is because the extrusion chamber provides enough friction to adequately compress the material.

Another consideration in setting up the baler is there has to be enough hopper height to run the plunger from the forward position. In addition, the plunger must advance to LS-4 each time. Depending upon the consistency of the material, it could take as many as 50 bales to effectively begin smoothing the chamber out.

With a 34 cu. ft. package we are generating weights of 690 lbs. with a baled density of 16/cu. ft. This has been generated with an infeed density of less than or equal to 1#/cu. ft.

by Roger Williams — VP of Sales
Phone: 419/483-5790
FAX: 419/483-3815
TECHNICAL BULLETIN
REF: #00-001
November 21, 2000