The winner of the complex category of the 2023 Farmers Weekly Inventions Competition is an ambitious big-bale lorry chaser built by Joe Williams and Tim Ansell of Hertfordshire contracting firm Eastern Counties Straw.

Having run Heath Super Chasers for years, Mr Williams wanted a faster and more reliable way of collecting the 120x90cm bales produced by his eight-string Krone balers.

His solution was to develop a self-propelled 16-bale collector based on a 2013 eight-wheel Scania lorry, which could travel fast over rough ground and produce stable stacks every time.

See also: Herts contractor builds novel self-propelled bale chaser

© James Andrews

After a few sketches and a couple of miniature mock-ups, Mr Williams handed the project over to Mr Ansell, who heads the firm’s sister business, JW Fabrications.

He started by fitting a hydraulic arm on the front that grabs bales and drops them onto a hinged platform on the cab roof.

This then lifts at the front, forming a ramp that the bales slide down before landing on their side on the rear deck.

Another bale is dropped onto the first, forming a double layer, before a hydraulic headboard shunts them down the bed, making room for the next pair.

When it comes to unloading, the whole bed tips up so that the bales can be deposited vertically.

At the same time, a couple of flaps pop out the floor to step the top half of the load, making for a more stable stack.

All functions are controlled by a single electronic joystick mounted on the driver’s door, which apparently makes it relatively simple to operate.

Mr Ansell produced CAD drawings for the project and cut much of the steel on the firm’s profile cutting table.

All the fabrication work was carried out in-house, but he did seek some help setting up the air solenoid-actuated hydraulics.