Wednesday, 15 June 2016 14:55

Manually removing smelly bale wraps a thing of the past

Written by  Mark Daniel
The Goweil bale slicer does the job for you. The Goweil bale slicer does the job for you.

Anyone who's fed round bales to cattle on a cold, wet winter morning would revel in a device that removes the need to manually remove smelly bale wrap plastic and netting.

No surprise to see manufacturers developing grabs to do this, usually with a slicer to split the bale in two.

The Goweil RBS bale slicer from Webbline handles bales 0.9-1.6m in diameter.

It comprises a lower frame with five tines (42mm dia. x 1000mm long) which lift the bale. An upper frame has the bale slicing attachment, powered by twin HD double acting rams, which splits the bale in half, allowing easier feeding by stock, and better incorporation and lower power consumption in case the bales are used in feed trailers or mixer wagons.

Beneath the slicing frame, a secondary system uses a bank of eight hooks which sink into the bale across the full width, to firmly hold the film and net wrap in place while the bale is handled.

The debris can then be placed on a rubbish pile without the operator having to leave the tractor seat. This improves operator safety by removing the need for climbing up and down from the tractor as with a manual removal system – tricky in bad weather.

Feedback from the McGuire family, who milk 600 cows on 250ha near Ashburton, is that "the Goweil RBS saves us around 45 minutes every day when feeding out, and sees us loading our feedout wagon with six bales in around 15 minutes, all without leaving the tractor seat".

They also mention that the design of the film and net capture system means the unit always works, even handling badly misshapen bales.

www.webbline.co.nz 

More like this

Webbline joins recycling scheme

Agricultural plastic recycler Plasback has announced that the nation-wide farm machinery and silage wrap distributor Webbline has joined its on-farm recycling scheme, a move that will see around 85% of the silage film imported to New Zealand being covered by the scheme.

Easy does it

With the increase of standoff pads and wintering barns, the amount of slurry being stored for distribution is soaring. 

Featured

US removes reciprocal tariff on NZ beef

Red meat farmers and processors are welcoming a US Government announcement - removing its reciprocal tariffs on a range of food products, including New Zealand beef.

India-New Zealand free trade agreement (FTA) dairy outcomes

OPINION: As negotiations advance on the India-New Zealand FTA, it’s important to remember the joint commitment made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the beginning of this process in March: for a balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial agreement.

Honesty vital in flood insurance claims, says IFSO

As New Zealand experiences more frequent and severe flooding events, the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme (IFSO Scheme) is urging consumers to be honest and accurate when making insurance claims for flood damage.

National

Machinery & Products

New pick-up for Reiter R10 merger

Building on experience gained during 10 years of making mergers/ windrowers, Austrian company Reiter has announced the secondgeneration pick-up on…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Remembering Bolger

OPINION: Is it now time for the country's top agricultural university to start thinking about a name change - something…

Time for action

OPINION: If David Seymour's much-trumpeted Ministry for Regulation wants a serious job they need look no further than reviewing the…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter