Old Steam Cotton Bale Press

[oliver2-44 10,450]

For those of you that love "Old Iron" here's some BIG OLD IRON!

 

I went to Schulenburg, Tx last Friday to pick up something for a family member.  Schulenburg is about 15 miles from my home town.

These metal buildings are at the back of the property and were a Oil Field parts manufacturing Machine Shop, Rig Master, Inc.

I worked there during the summer of 1976. 

these warehouses are now a farm feed and fertilizer business.

I went by the property as I has heard they tore the old cotton warehouse down. 

Because the "Compress was surrounded by upper an building and a raised wooden floor, you really didn't see just how massive this beast was.  

I don't know where the boiler was located, it was long gone by the time I was there.   

 

This cotton bale "Compress" used to be surrounded by a large warehouse next to the railroad tracks in Schulenburg, Tx.  

I have always been told that the top cylinder was steam operated.   

As I understand cotton was ginned (cleaned) and baled (in large bales) by several area gins.

Then the large bales were brought to this rail shipping warehouse.  They used this "compress" the bales for shipping (If I've got this wrong' please enlighten me)

There is a heavy cast iron pit in this brick foundation that held the bale. 

This is the ram that pressed the bale in the pit

Here in the top of the picture you can see the large piston rod below the cylinder.

Then in the middle is the massive cast piece that is above the ram .

The vertical timber post holding the upper structure are probable 24 inches square.

 

There was also a Cotton Compress in my home town, but it has been completely torn down.

In my youth we rode bikes through the warehouse when it was not in use.

 

[Skwerl58 752]

I worked for a large user of cotton and some from Texas. Fiedcrest Cannon Incorporated was where I worked from my junior year of high school, 1976 until 1995. We manufactured the best towels in the world until closing in the early 200?.  We opened those cotton bales in  the carding department. I am certin they were right at 500 pounds each and the process ended in the Finishing Mill on the same property in Fieldale, Virginia. Those were great times and now the buildings are mostly warehouses. Thanks for sharing!

[953 nut 58,492]

           I bet when that unit was running everyone in town knew it. That much weight in motion and the quantity of steam needed to run it had to be impressive.

[ebinmaine 71,233]

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post!

[Tractorhead 9,110]

Thanks for sharing,

Looks like an impressive construction.

 

[Mickwhitt 5,065]

Interesting to have wooden supports on a steam machine, almost nautical construction. 

We have some big old stuff here in Sheffield...

This is a medium sized steam hammer from one of our steel works. Scale is a bit hard to judge but I reckon I could stand in front of her and the Brightside plate would be at eye level.

 

Thus baby is a Bessemer converter, its a huge old thing and would blow oxygen through molten iron to drive off impurities and produce steel. The whole ladle turns on its bearings to accept a charge of iron direct from the furnace then tilts forward to blow it before tilting further down to pour it. The whole process was watched over by a skilled man who could judge the state of the blow from the colour of the flame so that tons of steel were not ruined. 

Thats impressive big iron. 

[Stormin 9,983]

  Workington just down the coast from me was a steel town. Used to make the best railway tracks in the world. Exported everywhere. But like most of the steel industry in the UK has gone into decline. Cheap, inferior, Chinese steel is now imported.