Properly built modules will help to avoid losses due to adverse weather during storage as well as losses during loading and hauling. Most modern cotton harvesters have metered unloading system to spread cotton the length of the builder. Compaction should begin as soon as the tramper reaches the level of cotton. This accomplishes faster unloading with less spillage, and it is easier for the operator to level and compact the module when it is nearly full. The final dumps should make the module look like a giant rounded bread loaf. If the module is properly shaped and covered with a tarp, water will be shed by the cover. If depressions occur in the tarp, water will collect in them and cause serious problems.
Automated compacting systems are available to save labor and will pack the seed cotton tightly. The tighter the module is compacted, the better it sheds rainfall from the sides and the less seed cotton is lost during storage, loading, and hauling. Cotton should never be left in the builder over night in case of rain. It is recommended to finish the module and properly tarp before shutting down for the night and start with a new module the next morning.
Self dumping trailers or boll buggies can increase harvester efficiency by reducing travel and dumping time. Trailers can be used to hold and transport cotton while a module is being topped off or the module builder is moved, thus enhancing the effective daily capacity of harvesters and allowing modules to be built on high ground away from the picking area.
Labor should not be in, on, or near the module builder when dumps are being made into the builder. The dangers of having a person injured or killed by falling from the builder or covered with cotton can be eliminated by using the builder hydraulics instead of man power to move the cotton. Make a partial dump, then use the module builder hydraulics to carefully distribute and compact cotton. Spillage will be reduced the harvester or boll buggy will get emptied quicker.
For additional information: Just Build It - Seed Cotton Modules
