Limerick machinery manufacturer Samco is set to use the Lamma show in January as the launchpad for its new CTS 1600 round bale chaser.

The show is set to take place from 11-12 January at the NEC in Birmingham. The CTS 1600 is designed to collect and load 16 round bales in as little as eight minutes.

This year, Samco embarked on an Irish demonstration tour around the country with its prototype machine. The Limerick firm has confirmed to the Irish Farmers Journal that the machine will be commercially available in Ireland and the UK ahead of the 2022 season.

How does it work?

The CTS 1600 features a hydraulically operated soft hand bale squeeze, which lifts and rotates the bales onto the chaser, with just one joystick click from the operator.

Once full, the 16 bales are secured by the chaser’s caged sides, which move inwards to hold the bales in place. Built-in sensors fine-tune the position of the sides to the size of bales, while gripping bars along the top and rear of the chaser prevent any movement during transport. A Danfoss load-sensing hydraulic system controls the main functions of the machine.

Samco notes that the CTS 1600 can simultaneously offload eight bales (in four stacks of two on their ends). The operator then moves the trailer forward to unload the remaining eight bales. The unit is 7.3m longs which helps it unload in tighter areas.

The CTS 1600 runs on air-brake equipped ADR axles and features a choice of 710/40 R22.5 tyres and a steering axle, if required. There is an in-cab colour screen for fine-tuning settings and monitoring bale numbers, along with a manual mode, which lets the operator stack the chaser with odd-sized loads. A rear-facing camera gives excellent vision and helps keep bale stacks tight when unloading.

The chaser has also been entered into the Young Engineers Award at the Lamma show. The final pre-production and design was completed by 27-year-old Samco employee, Paddy Lane, who has worked for Samco for over three years.