When you shop for baling wire at Vulcan Wire, you&#;ll quickly notice that we have a number of wire gauges available. It&#;s always nice to have options, but do you know which is right for your needs? In this post, we&#;ll teach you how to choose the right baling wire gauge for you.

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An Intro to Buying Wire

If you are new to buying wire, you may need a little clarification on what we mean by &#;gauge.&#; Simply put, the gauge of a wire is its thickness. Some tasks require a relatively thin wire, while other jobs need a thicker product, so it&#;s always smart to pay attention to gauge before placing your order.

It&#;s important to note that wires actually get thinner as the gauge goes up. This is counter-intuitive for some people, but smaller numbers equal thicker wires. For example, 10 gauge wire is thicker than 12 gauge wire, which is thicker than 14 gauge. You may be a little confused by this point at first, but you&#;ll get used to it soon enough as you order more wire.

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What Kind of Machine?

There are a few different types of balers on the market today, and the machine you are using will play a role in picking the right wire gauge. Often times, vertical balers will demand a slightly thinner wire than horizontal balers, as they are usually meant for lighter-duty work. So, you will probably find yourself in the 14-12 gauge range when shopping for a vertical model, while a horizontal model may go as thick as 10 or 11.

Consider the Material

Another factor to note when picking out your wire is the material that you will be baling. Newspaper and cardboard are two items commonly packaged up in a baler, and both of those materials can be managed with relatively thin wire, often around 14 gauge (depending on the machine). On the other hand, a material like foam can cause trouble for a thinner wire, so a thicker 11 gauge is usually appropriate.

Making Adjustments

To get started, it&#;s a good idea to consult the owner&#;s manual for your baler to determine what wire gauges it can handle. That information will point you in the right direction and will help you place your first order. From there, you may need to go through a bit of trial and error until you dial in your wire selection just right. If you notice your wires are struggling to handle what you are trying to bale, the obvious next step is to try a thicker wire and test the results. After a short period of making adjustments, you should land on the perfect wire for all of your baling projects.

Order from Vulcan Wire Today!

Now that you know how to choose the right baling wire gauge, it&#;s time to place your order! If you have any questions about wire gauges or anything else related to our products, please feel free to contact us right away for assistance.

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How to Properly Size a Bale Tie: What Size Bale Tie Do I Need?

Bale ties allow us to condense, palletize and easily move a wide variety of recyclable products and waste materials including plastics, paper, aluminum, and cardboard. Compacting using either a horizontal or vertical baler is always followed by the use of some type of securement often times this comes in the form of a bale tie. Bale ties are most commonly used in vertical balers and sometimes used in horizontal balers. Properly sizing your baler for the correct bale tie will likely save you time and or money down the line. Here are some tips to help you navigate your way through sizing:

Measure your bale

The first and most important thing to do when trying to get to the correct size of bale tie is measuring your bale. Grab a tape measure and get the full dimensions of an already completed bale. If you are working with a vertical baler you will need measurements on height and width and if you are working with a horizontal baler you will need measurements for width and length. These measurements will directly impact the length of your bale tie.

Weigh your bale

You have your measurements, now its time to get your bale to a scale and see how much your made bale weighs. This weight doesn&#;t need to be exact but you should be able to get somewhere within 10 lbs. of an accurate weight. You might also consider weighing multiple bales and averaging the group. It&#;s common for bales to vary in weight depending on who makes the bale and who is feeding the baler. The weight of the bale will help diagnose the gauge or thickness of wire that will best fit your needs. The most common gauges requested are 12 gauge and 13 gauge however 11 gauge and 14 gauge are also available.

Understand what is being baled

Now that you have your measurements and your weight it&#;s time to understand and think critically about the composition of the straight you are processing. A material like paper doesn&#;t really have much expansion once the baler releases the bale, however a straight like plastic will expand. This is important to understand because this may affect the type of finish (black annealed or galvanized) bale tie will best fit your application.

Count your wires

This one is simple, how many wires do you use to make a bale with your particular type of baler? This number, like the weight of your bale, also helps us calculate what gauge bale tie will be most effective for your system. So, we have a bale measured and weighed, we know we are baling paper so not too much expansion after release and we know we are using 5 wires per bale in the vertical baler we are using, what now? Now we just use the formula of (height&#;+width&#;)x2+12&#;. So, for example, we will use the height of 48&#; and a width of 38&#; for a total of 86&#;. Now we have 86&#; times 2 gives us 172&#; plus 12&#; comes to 184&#;. Using the chart below we know we need a 17&#; bale tie. Now we have our length its time to calculate our gauge and finish. Our bale weighs lbs. and we know we are using 5 wires per bale. So using the other chart below we can see that 13ga wire has a break load strength of 425-450 lbs. we take that 425 and multiply by 5 and we get 2,125-2,250 lbs. of total break strength. We also know we are baling paper so not too much expansion after release so we can go with a standard galvanized finish.

Looking For Bale Ties in the Midwest?

Feel free to use the materials and examples below to do your own sizing assessment, shaving off a couple of feet or going to a lighter gauge could save you up to 10% on cost and the correct length could help cut time off on tying off the bale. Also, keep in mind we do samples bundles of 20-25 wires if you would like to try a different length or gauge bale tie than the one you are currently using. If you have any questions or would like to request a sample bundle please don&#;t hesitate to or call 765-364-.