Drills, planters, seed tenders, conveyors, dry fertilizer, bulk grain, material handling and cotton equipment

New Modulating Boll Buggy

A Simple, Less Expensive Alternative to a Round Bale!

The Concept:

  • Eliminates the Module Builder and Module Builder power unit.
  • Uses tractor farmer already owns to pull the Modulating Boll Buggy.
  • Utilizes far less expensive basket-style strippers.
  • No module builder ground crew necessary.
  • Converts Boll Buggy operator to Modulating Boll Buggy Operator.
  • No Round Bale Staging Tractor required.
  • Eliminates non-recoverable Round Bale Wrap cost.

A dedicated hydraulic system

A dedicated hydraulic system using the tractor’s 1,000 RPM PTO output shaft powers a 55 gallon-per-minute pump at 1850 tractor RPM. This system operates the four cylinders of the tamper in tamping mode, and the traversing of the bridge left to right and right to left.

Electric solenoid valves

Electric solenoid valves control all basket operations. Hydraulic oil flows to three separate electric solenoid valves using three remotes from the tractor. With one switch of the Auto Tamp Program Module mounted in the tractor, all three valves can be changed from field operation to an unload operation. In Field Operation Mode, one valve extends and collapses the receiving wall, a second valve lifts the receiving basket, and the third operates the chain unload feature. In Unload Mode, one valve opens the rear gate, the second valve drops the floor, and the third valve operates the chain floor.

Light Weight, Bellow-Type Design

Light Weight, Bellow-Type Design allows for large capacity while still maintaining light weight. The receiving wall extends out easily to take one or two full loads from a 7460 stripper even with wide stripper head configurations. Dumping can be readily accomplished with zero spillage. Solid curtain fabric on the bellows blocks wind and aids in dumping during high wind situations.

TieBolt Cylinders

Four industrial-style tie bolt cylinders compact the cotton to the same density as that of a typical module builder. The ability to both convey cotton into the compaction chamber and the ability to continuously pack cotton while moving through the field converts wasted travel time to valuable work time!

Lengthway Bridge

The bridge is turned lengthways rather than sideways like on a normal module builder in order to allow it to tamp the full length of the module, which compacts twice as much cotton with each stroke compared to a typical builder. In addition, the scissor-action of the tamper cylinder allows for a full stroke of the tamper without having cylinders extending high above the compaction chamber.

Easy Unload

When the electric solenoid valves are switched to the unload function, the rear gate is opened, the floor is dropped to ground level, and the floor unload chains are turned on.

There is no need to time the unloading chains with the forward motion of the tractor. Once the operator finds the best forward gear in the tractor that corresponds to the speed of the unloading chains, modules can be consistently conveyed off without fear of breaking a module.
Module Being Unloaded

A finished module is a full 16 feet long—exactly one-half that of a typical module. Half tarps can be pulled over the module by using the rear gate of the Modulating Boll Buggy.

Modules built by the Modulating Boll Buggy have the same density of compaction as modules built with a typical module builder. The modules are solid and well-built, easily withstanding loading and unloading by a module moving truck.

easy-unload-floor

mbb-chasing-down-stripper

module-being-unloaded

tarping-the-module

finished-module

Standard Operation with a 7460 John Deere Stripper*

Elapsed Time Basket
Dumps		 Receiving
Chamber		 Compaction
Chamber
5 min. #1 Pull along stripper and take first dump (45 sec.) Nothing required: follow stripper for next load.
10 min. #2 Take next dump from stripper (45 sec. dump time).
Follow stripper for next basket load.		 Raise basket and place Auto Tamp (AT) on loading function. Two basket loads are dumped with one raising of the receiving basket.

Place AT to desired tamping program.

Lower basket after all cotton is in compaction chamber. Continue to run AT in tamping program while following stripper for third basket load.
15 min. #3 Take third dump from stripper (45 sec. dump time).

Follow stripper for next basket load.

 Begin dumping cotton and then switch AT to loading function while dumping the remainder of the third dump.

Switch AT back to tamping program while following stripper for fourth basket load.
20 min. #4 Take full dump from stripper and carry in basket while following the stripper for next basket load. Continue to compact the third (topped off) basket load completing the module.
25 min. #5 Take fifth load from stripper and carry it in the basket.

Immediately head for the turn row to unload the
completed module.

 Packing can continue while moving toward the turn row until the module is tightly packed.
At the turn row (or module yard), position the Modulating Boll Buggy to unload. Change the switch on the controller from field operation to unload operation, open the gate, drop the floor to ground height, start the floor unload chains while slowly pulling forward. This will unload the finished module.

Return back to the field while raising the receiving basket while dumps #4 and #5 are still being carried in the basket. Unload both dumps into the compaction chamber by placing AT in loading function and then switch AT to the desired tamping program.
30 min. #6 Take sixth dump from the stripper. This is the topping-off dump for the next module. Follow stripper for next basket load. Begin dumping cotton and then switch AT to loading function while dumping the remainder of the third dump.

Change AT to tamping program while following the stripper for the seventh basket load.
By now, one complete module of cotton has been made, and enough cotton has been received to build two complete modules. Continue the cycles as listed above to continue building a cotton module every fifteen minutes!

*John Deere is a registered trademark of Deere & Company. The John Deere 7460 generally requires its basket to be dumped about every 5 minutes, assuming standard stripper conditions. Different field conditions, variation in the harvested cotton, and/or different operating procedures may yield different results than that illustrated above.

Specifications

Height 16’5”
Width 17’10″
Weight 30,000 lbs.
Basket Capacity 1875 cu ft.
Basket Width at top 16’0″
Basket Length 17’4″
Module Size 7’4″ wide x approx. 9’6″ high x 16’0″ long
Ground Clearance 20″