Samco has teamed up with Kilkenny dairy farmer Tom Kerrigan on the CTS Bale Chaser.

Samco says the trailer is fully automated for the loading and transport of round bales, with a capacity of 16 bales.

The machine picks up the bales in the same direction as the baler releases them, meaning no crossing of the field is required.

Samco says that by handling the bales on their ends, where more plastic is used, the risk of plastic damage is reduced.

A pressure setting in the handling arm using the on-board controller and joystick allows the operator to select the parameters to suit the bales at hand.

Once the bottom two bales are loaded, they are moved up to allow two more to be loaded underneath. Once these bales are in place, they are moved to the rear of the trailer and the process of loading another four bales begins.

In the region of 17ft long, the unit is shod on 710/45R22.5 tyres; other sizes are available. The unit includes sprung high-speed axles, as well as load-sensing air brakes for safe bale haulage.

The unloading system tips the rear eight bales on their ends, two high.

By extending the sides, the bales are released and the rear of the body is brought back down where the front eight bales are pushed to the rear to await unloading.

Samco says this means the footprint to unload the bales is halved.

The tractor and trailer not having to be in a straight line also means it can unload in a smaller area. The bales being stacked two high cuts out the need for a tractor or loader in the yard. A demonstration tour is planned for the summer with the unit set to be commercially available ahead of the 2022 season.