As long as you’ve got the right equipment and know-how, making a cardboard bale is pretty straightforward. Still, if you’re yet to properly familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of baling, it can be a little overwhelming and possibly even dangerous.

Obviously, health and safety need to come first, so it’s certainly worth getting to know the basics of cardboard baling before you give it a shot yourself.

The size and shape of your cardboard bale might seem fairly inconsequential on the face of it, but this is far from the reality!

Your efficiency and ability to remain cost-effective depends on your ability to make the most out of your baling endeavors. If you want to find out more about what the perfect bale should look like, here are some top tips to take a look at.

It Depends on the Machine

In short, the size of your bale and the amount of cardboard you’ll need to make it will depend on your machine.

For example, a mini cardboard baler may be able to produce bales weighing up to 110lbs and measuring at around 7.5 cubic feet, which translates to a 28-inch width and a 23-inch height, which could be perfect for creating easily manageable bales without taking up much space in the facility.

On the other end of the spectrum, a high-density baler could perhaps produce huge bales up to 60 cubic feet or more. Generally, balers are referred to by the size of bale they are able to produce, handily enough.

This means that if you hear someone talking about a 72-inch baler, they’re referring to a large machine capable of creating 72-inch bales.

If you’re unsure as to which machine is best for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to Recycling Balers, we can point you in the right direction.

What’s the Average Weight?

In terms of the sheer volume of cardboard required to make a single bale, it’s worth thinking about the average size a machine can produce. If you possess a medium-sized machine capable of producing a standard bale, you’re looking at around 660lbs of cardboard.

Again, it’s dependent on your machine, so you may be looking at a much lower amount if you have a smaller baler (around 56 pounds) or a much larger amount (1102 pounds) for the bigger varieties.

As long as you follow the machine’s guidelines, you should be okay, so don’t try and overdo it if your baler isn’t up to the task.

Applications

There are many different situations and applications in which you might need to make a cardboard bale, and it’s not just the recycling and manufacturing industries that benefit from having a baler either.

For example, you could invest in a mini baler if you needed to deal with general office cardboard recycling, hopefully allowing you to save a huge amount of money on waste disposal.

These bales wouldn’t be very large at all, possibly around the 28-inch mark, which is only around 80 or 90 pounds of cardboard.

Balers are highly effective forms of recycling equipment, and no matter how much cardboard you need to recycle or what kind of industry you work in, there’s likely an option for you to explore.