Bale Accumulator with Decouplable Front Bale Supports Enabling Yaw-Capable Road Transport

A method of transitioning a baler and an accompanying bale accumulator from a working field mode to a road transport mode, said method comprising:

• (a) in either order:
• (i) from a bale pusher of the bale accumulator, decoupling a rear mount of a front bale support of the bale accumulator that, in the working field mode, spans longitudinally forward from bale pusher of the accumulator to the baler, where a front mount of said front bale support is engaged with the baler in a longitudinally slidable manner to permit forward and rearward displacement of said front bale support with the bale pusher;
• and
• (ii) longitudinally extending a variable length drawbar by which the bale accumulator is connected to a hitch of the baler, thereby shifting a platform of the bale accumulator longitudinally rearward from a working field position to a road transport position of increased longitudinal distance from the baler compared to said working field position;
• and
• (b) with the platform of the bale accumulator in the road transport position, and with the front bale support of the bale accumulator decoupled from the bale pusher, permitting the bale accumulator to yaw relative to the baler about an upright yaw axis at which the variable-length drawbar is connected to the hitch of the baler, but about which yawing of the bale accumulator is prohibited in the working field mode, owing at least in part to coupled connection of the front bale support of the bale accumulator to the bale pusher thereof.

A method of transitioning a rectangular baler and an accompanying bale accumulator towed therebehind from a road transport mode to a working field mode, said method comprising:

• (a) in either order:
• (i) longitudinally collapsing a variable length drawbar by which the bale accumulator is connected to a hitch of the baler, thereby shifting a platform of the bale accumulator longitudinally toward from the baler from a road transport position to a working field position of closer adjacency to the baler than said road transport position;
• and
• (ii) to a bale pusher of the bale accumulator, coupling a rear mount of a front bale support of the bale accumulator that also has a front mount that is engaged with the baler in a longitudinally slidable manner, whereby the front bale support is slidable back and forth with the bale pusher during actuated displacement thereof and enables riding of rectangular bales from a rear discharge of the rectangular baler over said front bale support to a pushable position behind the bale pusher;
• and
• (b) with the platform of the bale accumulator in the working field position, and with the front bale support of the bale accumulator coupled to the bale pusher, prohibiting said yawing movement of the bale accumulator relative to the baler so that the bale accumulator resides in and maintains an in-line trailing relationship to the baler.