How Bale Wrapping Transformed Forage Storage
Machinery and Products editor Mark Daniel takes a look at the history of bale wrapping.
Tractor Implement Management (TIM), moisture sensing and the ability to tie the bale using film in place of net wrap, are just some of the upgrades for Vicon round balers for next season.
TIM is available on the fixed chamber FixBale 500, alongside the RV5200 Plus-series variable chamber balers, offering an ISOBUS solution, allowing the balers to automatically carry out repetitive operations and manage key tractor functions, when used with any TIM-compatible tractor.
Functions include pre-programmed tractor deceleration, pausing baling and applying net wrap and opening and closing the tailgate. Designers have also integrated an inclinometer to prevent unsafe, automated bale ejection on steeper slopes.
From operational and safety standpoints, after bale ejection the system needs acknowledgement from the operator to resume the baling process, with confirmation instigating a pre-programmed rate of acceleration to the desired forward speed for the volume of crop being baled.
Following several modifications, including additional rollers for the PowerBind net application system, the FixBale 500 model is available with a film binding option. Hydraulically operated film groupers gather the material into a tail to assist with the start and finish of the film binding cycle, with the ability to handle a wide range of pre-stretch ratios and film roll widths up to 1300mm.
The 2025 RV5200 Plus-series balers can be equipped with a Techno-Pack, which adds crop humidity measurement to the range. In practice, a sensor plate mounted in the lower part of the bale chamber is equipped with a pair of electrodes which pass an electric current through the incoming crop.
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This resultant data is used to calculate the moisture content in the bale, displayed in real time, with the ability to detect levels up to around 50%.
In other Kverneland news, back in July a team from Kverneland Sweden set out to establish a world record for the number of round bales produced by on machine in 24 hours.
Baling in 105 hectares of a heavy pre-cut crop, a 240hp tractor and a Kverneland Non-Stop FastBale Premium combination set a new world record of 1587 wrapped bales.
The record was achieved under full practical conditions, including travel time between fields, machine maintenance, and the replacement of net/film, all factored into the overall baling time.
