HAYING MACHINERY 177 



253. Fork loader. In all of the early machines the hay 

 was placed upon the elevating apron by tines or forks 

 attached to oscillating bars extending up over the load. 

 The hay was pushed along this apron by these oscillating 

 bars with the tines on the under side. This form of loader 

 worked very satisfactorily, but had one disadvantage in 

 working in clover and alfalfa. The oscillating bars were 

 unsatisfactory, as they shook the leaves out of the hay. 

 This led to the introduction of an endless apron, which 

 works very satisfactorily in this respect. The loader 

 equipped with oscillating forks is of much more simple 

 construction than the other type. It also has an advan- 

 tage in being able to draw the swath of hay together at 

 the top, and force it upon the wagon. Loaders of this 

 kind are made without gears by increasing the throw of 

 the forks. These machines have not as yet demonstrated 

 their advantages. 



254. Endless apron loaders. The hay is elevated in 

 this type of loader on an endless apron or carrier after 

 it has been gathered by a gathering cylinder. The main 

 advantage of this type of loader is that it does not handle 

 the hay as roughly as the fork loaders. This is an im- 

 portant feature in handling alfalfa and clover, as there 

 is a tendency to shake out many of the leaves, a valuable 

 part of the hay. Due provision must be made, however, 

 to prevent the hay from being carried back by the carrier 

 returning on the under side. The apron or carrier usually 

 passes over a cylinder at the under side, which has teeth 

 to aid in starting the hay up the carrier. 



Provision must be made to enable the gathering cylin- 

 der to pass over obstructions and uneven ground. For 

 this reason the gathering cylinder is mounted upon a 

 separate frame and the whole held to the ground by suit- 

 able springs. The loader has a great range of capacity. 



