All-in-one baling & wrapping concept takes forward step
All-in-one baling & wrapping concept takes forward step
By Andy Moore
THE quest to bale and wrap round bales at the lowest cost and achieve optimum silage quality would appear to have reached another milestone.
Kverneland has now introduced the Taarup Bale In One (Bio) – a machine comprising a round baler and integral wrapping unit which applies film inside the chamber.
Not an entirely new concept – Tanco has a prototype machine – the Bio is claimed to offer significant cost savings when compared with conventional baling and wrapping techniques.
Promising outputs up to 45 bales/hour, Kverneland says the machine can almost match the workrates of conventional baler/wrapper combinations.
And because both operations are performed within the dimensions of a fixed chamber baler, manoeuvrability is considered to significantly better.
Weighing in at 3t, the Bio is on average 1.5t lighter than in-line or all-in-one combinations, a statistic which helps minimise soil compaction and damage. Better silage quality is claimed to be achieved because the bale is wrapped immediately after formation, although such an argument could be put forward for conventional combination baler/wrappers.
At the business end, the Bio has a hydraulically adjustable 2.1m pick-up which feeds a 14 knife Opticut rotor capable of a 7cm chop length. Bale formation is similar to conventional machines, except the Bios chamber is divided into an upper and lower section with 12 and six rollers respectively.
When the bale is at 90% compression, an alarm tells the driver to stop the tractor, allowing the extra 10% to be added and the netwrap and wrapping process to commence automatically.
What follows is almost like clockwork. Because the bale is wrapped before unloading, only one and a half layers of net are applied – a procedure that takes about nine seconds.
Once netwrapped, the film application system is activated. To start with, the 12 upper rollers and chamber body lift clear, leaving the bale to rest on the wrapping table which comprises the lower six rollers.
The rollers are switched from mechanical to hydraulic drive via a dog clutch so the bale turns proportionally to two orbiting film applicators to achieve a standard 50% overlap. Such an overlap provides the best seal to preserve optimum quality silage, claims Kverneland.
The two 750mm film applicators are mounted in parallel on a ring which is powered by two hydraulic motors with high friction nylon drive wheels. Rotating at 50rpm, the ring and applicators encircle the bale and apply film which, after four layers, takes 12-15 seconds to complete.
Two pre-stretchers on the ring are set to a standard 70%, although they can be adjusted to 55% or 65% stretch.
After wrapping, the three rear rollers lower to form a ramp, while the ring lifts to enable the bale to roll off the back onto an optional rubber mat.
Although the wrapping process can be performed quickly, the machine is stationary for 35-40 seconds for each bale. This compares with 20 seconds for a stand-alone baler or 25-35 seconds for a combination unit.
The Bio is controlled by an in-cab console which allows fully automatic operation of baling, net application, wrapping and discharge. Further functions include baling, net application and discharge so the bale can be passed through the machine without wrapping. Each operation can be performed manually when working on steep or difficult terrain.
Available for next season, the Taarup Bale In One is priced at £36,265. *
Kvernelands Taarup Bale In One is claimed to offer considerable cost savings when compared with conventional baling and wrapping systems.
Inset: In-cab control system keeps the operator informed of baler status.