Based just south of Binevenagh mountain, in Moy, Limavady, Tommy Simpson operates a sizeable tillage enterprise, while also carrying out a small amount of contract work for local farmers.

Tommy purchased his first round baler in 1994, a Welger RP200, and the brand remained his baler of choice for the next 24 years. He bought his first combination baler in 2001, mainly baling grass, straw and often wholecrop.

Tommy decided to change his two older Welger machines in 2018, buying a Pöttinger Impress 125 Fc Pro combination baler from his local dealer Hunterkane and Son.

The Impress has completed one season, clocking up just shy of 10,000 bales trouble-free.

Pickup

The baler is the higher-spec Pro model, fitted with a 2.3m pickup as standard. The Master model is fitted with the narrower 2.05m pickup. In addition to the pickup moving up and down, it can also move laterally to improve ground following capabilities, a feature Tommy likes. The pickup wheels are within the baler’s transport width, removing the need to leave the cab when entering each field.

The balers 2.3m pickup sees five tine bars, pickup wheels do not have to be removed for transport.

Two contra-rotating augers ensure crop is evenly fed into the feed rotor. “Crop flow into the machine is phenomenal. We have lifted 30ft rows of grass over 15km/h and never once chocked the pickup,” Tommy says.

Feed rotor

The Impress baler range is unusual in that its 650mm feed rotor rotates backwards (clockwise). This means material has to pass up and over the rotor, through the knife bank and into the chamber. The feed rotor has a spiral configuration to encourage uniform feeding into the bale chamber. Tommy says this works well, reducing wear on the central knives as grass is evenly distributed. The baler is fitted with a cleaning rotor to re-feed in crop if it happens to fall through and not make it into the chamber due to its short chop length. This, combined with the short distance between pickup and feed rotor and the rotation direction of the rotor, reduces loss of crop heads, especially when baling whole crop, Tommy notes.

Pöttinger’s feed rotor setup allows the baler’s knife bank to be very easily accessed as it is mounted above the feed rotor. The Pro model knife bank is capable of carrying of 32 knives, 16 of which can be disengaged easily using the knife tool to create different chop lengths. This is all done at a waist height once the two rams for engaging or disengaging the knife bank have been disconnected, leaving the knife bank easily pulled out using the designated tool. Its Twinblade reversible knives are theoretically capable of chopping to a length as short as 36mm. Knives are spring-loaded for protection against foreign objects, while the knife bank and feeder housing roof are easily raised to remove blockages. Tommy says “silage is almost as short as precision chopped grass, allowing more grass to be packed into a bale”, noting how he weighed one bale last summer at almost 1,250kg.

Bale chamber and wrapper

The Impress’s bale chamber is fitted with 18 rollers, capable of producing bales 1.20m in width and 1.25m in diameter. Roller wall thickness ranges from 3.5mm to 4.5mm, with the 4.5mm rollers located to the front to withstand greater compaction forces. All rollers are fitted with self-aligning 50mm diameter bearings lubricated using the auto-lube system. The baler was only available with a conventional net wrapping system at the time of purchase, although the Austrian manufacturer has film-on-film binding technology in the pipeline.

The Pöttinger Impress 125 FC Pro working last summer.

Tommy likes the consistency of bale shape and density, which he reckons is mainly down to crop flow through the baler. Sensors monitor the density within the chamber, displaying the fill percentage in the cab. Once the bale is ejected from the chamber it is moved along the linear transfer system. The wrapping table tilts forwards, catching the bale from the transfer system and so the wrapping process begins.

Accessibility

The baler is easily accessed from all angles, Tommy notes. Manual controls on the left mudguard allow for individual control of each of the wrapper’s functions if problems occur.

The wrappers manual control buttons and emergency stop button are located on the left hand side mudgaurd.

If the chamber has to be accessed, the wrapping table can be tipped, allowing the operator to climb in easily. The baler is capable of carrying 12 rolls of wrap and two spare rolls of net. Both wrap holders under each side panel are hydraulically lowered to waist height using manual controls on each mudguard, allowing for easy loading and removal of wrap.

Ease of use

The Pro series baler features load-sensing hydraulics and full Isobus capabilities. Tommy opted for the 8.4in CCI 100 control terminal. All the baler’s functions are controlled from the terminal, including pickup movements and chamber opening and closing. Tommy says the large colourful screen is easy to navigate: “The arrows at the bottom of the screen even indicate where to be on the row of grass to ensure an even fill in the chamber.”

The CCI 100 8.4in colour touchscreen display is easily navigated through.

The operator can view the percentage fill within the chamber and can set bale density for different crops such as straw, hay or silage. Other features such as engaging the baler’s knife bank or selecting manual or automatic baling modes can be selected from the home screen.

Pöttingers Impress range features a unique knife bank, that slides out at waist height for easy access.

The wrapping process on the baler can be run in three modes – manual, customised or fully automatic. Tommy operates the baler most of the time in full automatic mode.

Comment

Tommy is more than happy with how the baler has performed after its first season. Particular standout features for him are its pickup and its easily accessed knife bank, which are “unmatched by other balers I have witnessed on the market”. He also highlights its straightforward control terminal automation.

The baler weighs in at an unladen weight of 7,540kg. Its tandem axle is fitted with 500/60 R22.5 BKT flotation tyres.

Tommy says the axle position leaves it well balanced and it travels ground better in comparison to his older combination balers of the past, albeit slightly longer in length.