A round baler that double wraps a finished bale while forming another has made its debut in WA.
The owner, Rosa Glen and Capel dairy farmer Cameron Lumsden, felt more than vindicated with his purchase from A&R Machinery, Donnybrook, of a Krone Comprima CV150XC Xtreme baler wrapper combination.
Mr Lumsden also can lay claim to the first WA buyer of this model baler that could make a big dent in the round baler market in WA.
“We’re getting 800 kilograms out of a four-foot roll, which means I’ll have less bales to cart,” Mr Lumsden said.
“We’re punching bales out at a rate of one just over every minute, which has increased productivity in the optimum window.”
With an annual program of baling 4500 film-wrapped silage rolls for his mostly 600-head milking herd and 1500 hay rolls, Mr Lumsden said generally his ideal window for forming his silage and hay bales was “about a month”.
“This year we started on October 9 and while we copped a bit of rain I’m very happy with the results so far,” he said.
“We got substantial rain at the Rosa Glen and Capel properties and that was a game-changer for us.
“The crops of Balansa clover and ryegrass have bulked up really well but we’ll be down a little on quality.
“But I’m pleased how the silage bales are forming with this new machine.
“It has got a variable bale-forming chamber which automatically forms the bale and looking at the results the bales are like bricks compared with the belt chamber in my previous baler.”
According to Mr Lumsden, the bale density is vital to expunge oxygen, to preserve product quality before feeding out by the end of this month, mixed with silage rolls from the Rosa Glen property.
As an added measure, Mr Lumsden also opted for an after-market spray attachment to introduce an inoculant on the cut material before it is baled – the inoculant sucks out oxygen from the bale once it is wrapped.
“There isn’t much of chance for oxygen to get into the bale because it has a pre-wrap upfront and when it comes out the back it’s very compact and within seconds it is being double wrapped for a complete seal – almost like being Glad-wrapped.”
The bale formation and wrap in one operation is a big feature of the Comprima and Mr Lumsden said it eliminated the tension of taking bales to a bale wrapper.
“You’ve got to stop to eject each bale but it’s getting closer to a non-stop operation,” he said.
“The fact we’re making roughly 60 bales every hour is a bonus.”
Mr Lumsden said stopping to change film rolls was not a hassle with the well-designed machine meaning rolls were ergonomically positioned for easy access.
“It takes only a few minutes to replaces the rolls on either side of the machine and that’s good for about 40 bales,” he said.
Tractor horsepower requirements haven’t posed any problems with Mr Lumsden as he uses a Deutz 6160 which develops 116 kilowatt (155 horsepower) with a 8kW (11hp) boost.
“While the baler has a lot of gear it has got its own hydraulics and pump so it’s not relying on the tractor’s hydraulics,” Mr Lumsden said.
“It’s just the PTO operating the pump.”
Mr Lumsden also was high in his praise of the after-sales service provided by A&R Machinery.
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“They know what they’re talking about and I can’t fault their service,” he said.
“That’s a big plus, particularly when you know you can rely on them when things get a bit hectic.”
According to Krone, the variable bale-forming chamber consists of two belt and slat elevators that wrap the entire bale from the core, with a three-stage mechanical soft core adjustment standard.
The Comprima XC produces bales from 0.9-1.5m, either hay or silage.
A&R Machinery’s salesman Daniel Trigwell said the Comprima is very price competitive compared to buying a baler and a wrapper.
“It’s about the same price,” Mr Trigwell said.
“But the bonus is no extra tractor or labour.”