Abstract
An experimental forage maceration device, consisting of a flail mower, two crushing rolls, and an impact rotor was fabricated and evaluated. Force applied to the crushing rolls flattened the tubular structure of the plant stem creating longitudinal cracks, thereby making the plant fiber more compliant and ribbon-like. Maceration occurred as the crushed plant material was struck by a finned rotor. Several factors were critical for producing well-macerated forage including impact rotor speed, specific crushing roll force, and feed rate into the crushing rolls. The specific energy required by the crushing-impact macerating unit, not including the flail mower, ranged from 0.56 to 2.28 kW.h/t. However, under typical feed rates, the impact macerator effectively processed third crop alfalfa at specific energy requirements from 0.56 to 1.01 kW.h/t.
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