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This Combi test was held at Tullamore Farm in mid-May. The reason for the test was to assess each machine on one parameter – the weight of the wrapped bale it produced. The machines would be operated by a driver from the manufacturer/importer, with the instruction to make the best bale possible and clear the rest of the plot at a constant 6km/h. It was agreed to use half of the available knives. The grass was mown on the Wednesday of the week with Malone Procut mowers and then tedded using a Malone Teddair. It was left to wilt for 36 hours and then rowed using a sip rake on the morning of the test. After the test, the bales were weighed with the new Q companion loader weighing system from Quicke, which was mounted on a JCB Fastrac.
This is an all-new combi unit from John Deere. It looks to be very well put together and well designed to make it a tidy package. The John Deere has a 2.2 metre pickup, with five tine bars, and the tines on these bars are 6mm in diameter. The baler is run through a 1,000rpm gearbox as standard. When the silage is in the baler, it is then passed through a maximum of 25 knives but on this occasion 13 were used. Once the crop is chopped, there is adjustment between 1.25 metre and 1.35 metre diameter bales. The bales that were made on the day were 1.25 metres in diameter. When it comes to forming the bale, there are 55mm double roller bearings on main drive rollers which are reinforced and 50mm roller bearings on all the other rollers. Control of the baler is via an Isobus connection where all the settings of the baler and wrapping units can be set, including bale density, bale size, net turns, plastic application and greasing.
On the John Deere tractor on the day of the test this was plug and play and was controlled from the tractor’s screen. This should be possible with all brands of tractor and makes it very user friendly.
The big Krone is a striking machine and dwarfs the other balers. The pickup is 2.1 metres wide and has five rows of tines. The easy flow system feeds the rotor cutter which features three helical rows which allows the crop to flow consistently, be cut precisely and to spread the material across the full width of the chamber. The chamber of the Krone is variable from 1.25 metres to 1.5 metres. For the test, all the balers were set to make a 1.25 metre bale. The machine on test has 26 knives in its Xcut system and 13 of these were engaged for the test. The bales are formed using Krone’s Novogrip belt and slat elevator system. This system allows the baler to handle both dry and wet crops with great ease and still make good bales. Once the bale is made, the wrapping system on the Krone allows the operator to use 50cm or 75cm wrap and whichever is chosen it can apply four, six, eight or 10 wraps on the bales.
As the bale is being dropped, the film cutter perforates it and the movement of the bale from the table breaks the film. The machine that came on test included the optional tandem axle.
The Kuhn combi now comes with film-on-film binding and the same film is used for both the cylindrical binding and the wrapping of the bale. It was awarded machine of the year in the forage category. The pickup on the Kuhn is 2.3 metres wide, the intake is an integral rotor with the opti 23-knife system which allows for 0 -7-11-12-23 knives to be used. For the test, 12 knives were engaged. Once the crop was chopped, it was formed into a bale using a set of 18 rollers. These make a bale that is 1.25 x 1.22 metre. Directly after the net or film binding, the bale is transferred quickly on to the wrapping table thanks to the fast tailgate and side guide protection plates. Once on the INTELLIWRAP™ wrapper, there is the option to 2D or 3D the bale. The baler on test was fitted with film break sensors. Control of all the functionality of the combi is done via an Isobus terminal – either the tractor’s own display or a standalone one for the baler/wrapper. Some nice features of this outfit were the automatic rotor deblock system and automatic knife cleaning. The baler on test was on 500/45 R 22.5 tyres.
This is the first and currently only continuous baling and wrapping machine available on the market and has caused quite a stir during its first year in Ireland. The pickup of the FastBale is 2.2 metres wide and has five rows of tines running on twin-cam tracks. The intake rotor on this machine is 800mm and there are 25 knives in a full set, with the capability to run 6-12-13-25 at any time. Thirteen were engaged for the test. The FastBale works on a twin-chamber system with a split of approximately two-thirds/one-third. In the pre-chamber there are 14 rollers (three of which are shared with the main chamber, where there are 17 rollers) giving a bale diameter of 1.26 metres. These roller are run on a double set of 50mm bearings on the drive side and a single on the non-drive side. In the case of a blockage, there is a dropped floor system that can release pressure from both chambers. The FastBale has a fully automatic oiling and greasing system which has to be a good thing on a machine that has a lots of moving parts. Density is controlled hydraulically, as there are no latches on the back door. The FastBale has the capacity to carry three rolls (one in use, two spare) of net and up to eight rolls of wrap, two in use and six in storage. On the day of the test, the non-stop baling was an interesting sight.
The Fusion name is on the side of most combi units in the country – since the early 2000s, it has been the class leader. The pickup is 2.1 metres wide and has five rows of tines. The rotor design is a spiral.
This feeds the crop past the knife to get an even chop before entering the chamber.
There are 25 knives in the full set and, for the test, 13 were engaged. The knives are fitted with hydraulic pressure and release if there is a blockage or foreign body.
If the pressure on the knives gets too great, the operator will be alerted. Once the crop is chopped, the bale enters the fixed chamber which consists of 18 heavy-duty rollers, all of which are mounted on heavy-duty 50mm bearings.
Once the bale is formed in the 1.23m X 1.25m chamber and wrapped using film, it is then transferred to the orbital-style wrapper using a clamshell type action, where the chamber become the transfer mechanism. On the machine, there is storage for up to 10 rolls plus the two in the dispenser.
The machine is controlled by the iTouch control system, which allows for the baler setting including the knives to be set using the controller from the cab.
Also, the iTouch allows you to hold or tip a bale, has a bale-only program for hay or straw and allows you to watch the progress of the wrapper on the in-built camera.
Pöttinger is new to the combi baler market with the machine that was supplied to the test having only been brought over from the UK a couple of days before. It was one of only a handful of pre-production models available in the world. The pickup on the Pöttinger is 2.3 metres wide with five rows of tines. Once the crop has been collected, the liftup rotor offers tangential crop flow into bale chamber. The chopping system comes with 32 reversible knives, the largest number in the machines on test. For the test, 16 knives were used. An individual knife protection system is available on this machine. The Pull-out easy-move knife bank is a simple way to inspect and chane knives. Once the crop is chopped, the material enters the 1.25m x 1.2m chamber which is lined with 18 rollers. Once the net is applied to the bale, it is ejected to the compact wrapper unit with twin satellites mounted from below.
This wrapper has wrap break monitors on each satellite. The Isobus controls can link to any compatible screen or tractor.
It’s hard to believe that there is such a varying collection of Combi balers on the market. The results of the bale weight test in the table show that there is one standout baler in the market.
The Fusion has been the market leader since the inception of the idea of combining the baler and the wrapper into one unit. Behind the Mchale machine there is very little to choose between the other five machines and all of them have a place in the market and attributes that will appeal to certain farmers and contractors.
In the case of the Krone, the slatted baling system gives it an advantage in certain crop conditions.
The John Deere comes with a very intuitive control system and makes full use of the Isobus capability in modern tractors.
The new kid on the block, the Pötinger has some really nice touches with the ease of knife removal and also the fact that it is possible to engage 32 knives, seven more than any of the other contenders.
The Kuhn is also new this year and comes with a very impressive blockage relief system for the rotor.
The FastBale has been much talked about over the last few seasons and, on the day of the test, showed it could make a good bale. With the way it works, it is difficult for the system to pack as much material in as a conventional machine but the fact that it can bale continuously is the big selling point.
The main thing that can be learned from this test, is that in the conditions on the day, the Fusion 3 showed the others a clean pair of heels. All of the combis made perfectly good solid bales, just not as good as the McHale.
The class leader showed that it is still the one to beat in Irish conditions.
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