Farmers looking to simplify waste management or improve silage quality now have the option of speccing Vicon’s FastBale with film-on-film wrapping.

Film tying on the non-stop, round baler-wrapper combination works exactly the same as net, and is used to bind the 1.25m-diameter bale before it is discharged from the chamber.

The material is stretched prior to application, which reduces bale expansion as it leaves the chamber.

This results in a denser bale compared with net and, with less oxygen trapped inside, contributes to an improvement in forage quality.

The other advantage is in waste recycling, with farmers left with a single material to dispose of, rather than a combination of film and net.

See also: Ultimate guide to buying a round baler 2022

The system can also be used with rolls of net, which may be useful for contractors that find some customers are willing to pay extra for the film-on-film service and others that won’t.

Including rolls in use, the non-stop baler-wrapper has the capacity to carry up to 10 reels of bale wrap, plus two rolls of either net or film for tying.

The rest of the machine remains the same, with the feed-in mechanism featuring stub augers, a spiral rotor and up to 25 knives.

Grass is accumulated in a 14-roller pre-chamber before being transferred to a 17-roller main chamber for completion of the bale.

Wrapping is the job of two 750mm film dispensers mounted on hydraulically-driven vertical orbital arms.

The film-on-film option adds £4,170 to the cost of FastBale, which has a list price of £125,696.