15 is driven by a chain 19 trained about two sprockets 17 and 18 into a further chain 20 secured to the frame 16 there project gears 21 and 22 which are rotatably mounted on the carriage 15 the gears 21 and 22 simultaneously drive through a chain 23 the drive rolls 12 and 13 of the respective breaker aprons 3 and 4 in this manner the drive of the carriage 15 and the drive of the breaker aprons 3 and 4 are connected to one another so that a positive drive is effected between the traveling movement of the carriage 15 and the rotation of the belts 10 and 11 the entire drive chain arrangement may be driven by a sole motor m whose speed is preferably steplessly variable and which drives the roll 17 by the intermediary of a chain 17a as illustrated in fig3 the support rack 1 is formed of a plurality of parallel spaced support rods 24 extending in the working direction and attached to a transverse bar 25 which in turn extends generally horizontally and perpendicularly to the working direction the transverse bar 25 is situated above and spaced from the support rods 24 and is itself supported by uprights 26 arranged on either side of the breaker aprons after depositing for example ten bales 2 on the support rack 1 the two breaker aprons 3 and.