The baler allows for continuous operation without stopping the unit
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Kubota is adding to its existing lineup of hay equipment in North America with the introduction of the FastBale continuous baler.
The implement has a pre-chamber and a main chamber, which allows the operator to produce bales quickly and seamlessly.
“The operator never has to stop the tractor,” Andrew Marshall, director of national sales with Kubota Canada, told Farms.com. “From a baling perspective, if it takes one minute to produce a round bale, once that process is complete and the bale needs to be ejected, other balers would have to stop the unit.”
With the FastBale, an 800mm-intake rotor feeds crop material into the pre-chamber, which is equipped with a 25-knife chopping system.
Once the bale is at its proper density, the crop flow and bale is sent into the main chamber to complete the process. When the bale is complete, the crop flow is redirected back to the pre-chamber to have netting applied.
At the same time, the bale in the main chamber is ejected onto the wrapper and then placed onto the ground.
When the pre-chamber is full of crop material, the process repeats itself.
Given the challenges farmers face during any given year, it’s important for them to have tools that allow them to work faster, Marshall said.
“When we consider baling today and look at weather patterns, timing and staffing challenges, anything we can do from a one-pass approach or increase capacity for a single operator creates those natural efficiencies,” he said.
Kverneland Group, a Kubota subsidiary based in Ravenna, Italy, built the FastBale and European farmers have been using it for the last few years.
Kubota photo