• Super productivity with 32t/h, 1254 bales averaging 434 kg in 17 hours over 2 days
• BigBaler Plus and T7 Heavy Duty team up to deliver ultimate efficiency
New Holland Agriculture put its BigBaler 1290 Plus to the test, teaming it up with a T7.315 Heavy Duty Auto Command™ tractor in a challenge that saw the machines work 17 hours over two days in real contracting conditions in France. The challenge was overseen and the results certified by SGS.
Simon Nichol, Head of Hay & Forage and Crop Production Product Management, said: “With its performance in the challenge the BigBaler exceeded our expectations, which were already high. It delivered exceptional productivity with an impressive bale count of 1254 – and every single bale was of consistently excellent quality and weight. It achieved this outstanding performance in the real conditions straw contractors operate in, with hot and dry weather and long hours. This challenge clearly shows how the BigBaler can benefit straw contractors, large scale arable farmers, hay and forage operations and biomass businesses.”
Super productivity with 32 tonnes/hour, 1254 bales averaging 434 kg in 17 hours over 2 days
The challenge took place over two days, on 26 and 27 July 2016 at the La Duranderie farm of New Holland customer Mr. Landais, located in Nalliers, in the Pays de la Loire. The fields baled in the challenge were sown with Durum wheat of the Miradoux, Sculptur and Anvergur varieties. The two day’s activities were overseen by the leading certification company SGS Agriculture, Food & Life, who certified the results.
On the first day, the BigBaler and T7 worked in sunny conditions with temperatures ranging from 19 to 270C, completing three fields for a total of 84 hectares. The second day, while temperatures where similar, weather conditions were changeable, having completed 31 hectares, the decision was made to stop because of light rain and bale moisture rising past 14%. The BigBaler and T7 baled these 115 hectares in 17 hours over the two days.
The outstanding performance achieved by the BigBaler and T7 was possible thanks to the IntelliCruise™ feed rate control system, which controls the tractor speed in relation to crop yield. The system ensures an optimal crop feeding rate in the baler and results in more productivity and lower fuel consumption. IntelliCruise was used for the entire Endurance Challenge, automatically adjusting tractor speed, so that the baler was operating at the perfect speed at all times, achieving an average capacity of 32 tonnes/hour, showing the exceptional productivity the BigBaler is capable of with the IntelliCruise™ system.
At the end of the two days, the BigBaler totalled an impressive 1254 bales of high quality. It maintained a consistent bale shape, weight averaging 434 kg, and length averaging 2.37 m – hour after hour, day after day.
The BigBaler proved totally reliable: no twine snapping, no blockages, no miss ties or shear bolt failures meant that baling continued with no stoppages throughout the two-day challenge.
This result was possible, in real conditions with changeable weather and dry crop, thanks to the longer bale chamber and the improvements that are part of the Plus package.
Mr Landais, who averages an yearly bale count of over 3,000 on his farm and over 4,000 on contracting jobs, was more than impressed with the BigBaler’s performance: “The productivity and efficiency of this baler is incredible; it has produced more bales in the same time and with half the fuel than I can manage on the same fields with the same crop. And the quality of every single bale is excellent!”
BigBaler Plus and T7 Heavy Duty team up to deliver ultimate efficiency
The BigBaler Plus and T7 Heavy Duty proved they make an unbeatable team, not only in productivity but also in fuel efficiency. The performance data, which was recorded through the PLM Connect telematics system, shows that the pair used a total of 481.7 litres, averaging a fuel consumption as low as 0.89 litres/tonne, which resulted in just 0.38 litres/bale.
Key statistics:
Total time baling: 17 hours
Number of bales: 1,254
Tonnage: 544.4 tonne
Average capacity: 32 tonnes/hour
Average bale weight: 434 kg
Bale density: 170 kg/m3
Average bale length: 2.37 m
Fuel used: 481.7 litres
Fuel consumption: 0.89 litres/tonne
Fuel consumption: 0.38 litres/bale
Area baled: 115 hectares