Archived Backroom tips needed: The Big Bad Balers

[mickey]

I've been at Target for almost four months.

In that time, I've only made 3 bales.

Two of those bales consisted of me just helping another TM, the other was completely by myself.

When I can, I avoid making a bale like the plague.

My biggest problem is tying the metal strings that go around the bale... How do you tie yours?

Any other tips are also appreciated!

 

[redeye58]

I'm sure others will have details I'm forgetting but:
-Use sufficient number of wires & don't pull them tight; twist while leaving some slack or they'll pop when you release pressure.
-Make sure the chains are on when you're ready to eject the bale & your pallet is in position. You seldom get a second chance & do-overs are a b*tch.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Redeye is correct. Just ask for a training refresher on making a bale. Remember that an ejected bale can hurt or kill you. Please stay clear of the pallet,

 

[Quattro]

I used to avoid making them as well, but once I learned, I would make them any chance I got. Good excuse to take a few minutes out from running around the back room.

I was taught (especially if the baler is quite full) to use 10 wires. 2 on each outside space, 2 on each inside space, and 1 in each of the other two spaces. So 2-1-2, 2-1-2. It may be unnecessary to use more than 6, but that's how I learned. That's how I do it.

Feed the looped end in through the bottom from front to back, and then out through the top from back to front. So now you have both ends at the front of the baler. Looped end on top, straight end on the bottom.

Feed the straight end upwards through the looped end, then bend it downward towards the floor. Take the straight end and wrap about half of the slack around a few times (number of time depends on how much slack you're dealing with.) Then I bend (still the straight end) upwards and wrap the rest of the slack around the rest of the way.

I make bales fairly often, and never had a wire pop on me.

P.S. PLEASE make sure you position the pallet correctly. As you're facing the front of the baler, the slats should be running in the same direction your wires will be running (front to back, not left to right). I've had to fix a couple new guys' bales when they did it the other way around. Fixing it involves two people and two crowns, and it's a pain to do.

Pro tip: move the pallet jack out of the way when ejecting the bale. Don't leave it in the path of the falling bale. This may cause the pallet to move out of position.

 

[semantics]

I was just do 2 wires for every other hole 2-0-2-0-2-0-2 have yet to have a bail pop on me. Getting the pallet in place took a bit of trial and error so i get it to fall pretty much centered on the pallet. I also do the 2 wires at the same time i feed both of them though both loops and twist twist twist up and down as much as i can. Just remember to wear some level of eye protection, nothing will suck more than going blind because you scratch your eye with the wires.

 

[RetailWorld]

I've never doubled wired and never had a bale pop on me. Feed 1 wire through each hole, twist at the top, twist at bottom.

I second the eye protection though. I had a wire slip out of my hand and swing towards my face. Didn't have eye protection and it got dangerously close to scratching my eye.

 

[dave white]

I would use 4 wires, and 5 if it was bigger than normal or if i felt i did a shoddy job with one of the four wires.

I never shyed away from making bales, i took pride in doing them. Try to make your bottom and top layers big pieces of flat cardboard.

Take your time, don't be in a rush to make one considering what you're actually dealing with. Once you have a good rythym and understand what you're doing then you can work on speed.

 

[Ringwraith917]

I've been told only 5 wires are necessary, but I always use 6. One in every slot.
In addition to everything above, make sure your middle wire doesn't catch the cotter pin at the bottom where the ejector plate is connected, or get hung up on the corners of the slots at the top

 

[semantics]

I've never doubled wired and never had a bale pop on me. Feed 1 wire through each hole, twist at the top, twist at bottom.

I second the eye protection though. I had a wire slip out of my hand and swing towards my face. Didn't have eye protection and it got dangerously close to scratching my eye.

We double wire because we skip every other hole, same number of wires just placed differently. We also make sure to save good cardboard either from sterilite or from bulk to use as tops and bottoms.

 

[Unreturnable]

Different stores have different balers. For best results get someone at your store who is familiar with the equipment to help. In general, it's kind of ridiculous to describe the process in text, as it depends so much on your store equipment.

The only important thing is to get a reasonable number of wires around the bale and secure them as best you can. I've seen 3 wires, 4 wires and 5 wires. Everyone I've met prefers a different strategy and ties them differently. Most important thing #2 is be safe. No excuses on that. It's not a science, just get it done without losing an eye to a snapped wire.

 

[redeye58]

*in the voice of Ralphie's teacher:
"You'll put your eye out!"

 

[NitroKing2110]

A tip I can give, although I have never touched our baler. This tip comes from my ETL-Salesfloor Ops, who learned this the hard way.

Don't overload the baler and over-tighten the wires. When the bale is ejected, it will expand a bit. Leave a bit of room for it to do so. ETL-SFO learned this when a bale burst open on him, spilling cardboard all over the floor.

 

[sigma7]

And for the love of all that is holy, please stand on the side of the baler when you are flipping the bale onto the pallet. Safety, safety, safety! You do not want to get hit by a snapped wire.

 

[redeye58]

....or a bouncing bale.

 

[sigma7]

No joke @redeye58. My store might be a special case, but my baler opens with just enough clearance right into the side of the steel/power racking/power shelving/whatever your store calls it. There's maybe 18 inches between the edge of the pallet and the steel. Our bale hangs off the edge of the pallet a few inches as well. Someone would get crushed between the bale and the steel if they were standing in front of the baler while you were tipping it out.

 

[semantics]

A tip I can give, although I have never touched our baler. This tip comes from my ETL-Salesfloor Ops, who learned this the hard way.

Don't overload the baler and over-tighten the wires. When the bale is ejected, it will expand a bit. Leave a bit of room for it to do so. ETL-SFO learned this when a bale burst open on him, spilling cardboard all over the floor.

The way we are suppose to do it in my store is to run the bailer see where the cardboard level is while uncompressed. Run the bailer again and stop it slightly below that uncompressed level. So the cardboard isn't super compressed there are lines at the side of the bailer and the compressing arm to help you tell how much it's traveled. Then you just run the wires as tight as you can because the cardboard isn't going to expand much. Plus it's actually quite hard to make the wires super tight.

No joke @redeye58. My store might be a special case, but my baler opens with just enough clearance right into the side of the steel/power racking/power shelving/whatever your store calls it. There's maybe 18 inches between the edge of the pallet and the steel. Our bale hangs off the edge of the pallet a few inches as well. Someone would get crushed between the bale and the steel if they were standing in front of the baler while you were tipping it out.

Similar our bailer there just isn't room for someone to stand in front of it we regularly have to clear a path of the cardboard carts that line the area leading up to the bailer just to make a bail because there is so little room. You can't get the bailed cardboard out of there if you don't clear a path.

 

[sigma7]

We also always stab the remainder of the wire into the bale.

 

[Cozum]

I think it must be different at every store, we do 5 wires (One through each hole other than the holes with the chains on them) and we are instructed to tie them VERY tight. I've never had the bale wire pop on me before, but I still stand behind the baler while I eject it. I try to avoid it because my CAF shifts are only 5 hours long at a somewhat busy Super Target and it takes me 15 minutes to actually make a bale. The only time I ever try to get it done is when I end up on B-side (our softlines side of the store) and I finish pushing my stuff before the hour is up.

 

[anathema]

I've never understood the mentality of tightening the bale wires extremely tightly. The bale expands when it gets ejected and unless the actual tie is loose, it shouldn't pop off. Having some slack seems like it would be the intention.

 

[asidius]

Bumping this since I just got trained in making a bale. Let's just say I don't want the opportunity to make one on my own come up. When the bale was ejecting and I saw it expand, I walked like 20 feet away from it for fear of a wire snapping.

My trainer also said to make it tight which doesn't make much sense since the bale expands while ejecting.

 

[POGguy]

We make ours tight and I've never had one snap. Anywhere between 5-7 wires depending on how big it is.

I did have a STL that said we were using too many wires and tried to make one with like 3 wires......

Cardboard everywhere.

 

[sigma7]

We make ours tight and I've never had one snap. Anywhere between 5-7 wires depending on how big it is.

I did have a STL that said we were using too many wires and tried to make one with like 3 wires......

Cardboard everywhere.

But they're the boss. They know everything.

 

[redeye58]

I did have a STL that said we were using too many wires and tried to make one with like 3 wires......

Cardboard everywhere.

Oooooh.....video?

 

[POGguy]

Oooooh.....video?

I wish.

 

[redeye58]

I did have a STL that said we were using too many wires and tried to make one with like 3 wires......

Cardboard everywhere.

Oooooh.....video?

I wish.

Code green?