“You’re already harvesting the grain from your fields; why not bale in the same pass?”
That’s the question Hillco Technologies – a US-based entity – is asking.
The company is known for modifying John Deere and Case IH equipment, to make farming “more efficient”.
Perhaps its most eye-catching product is its JB510 SPRB or, in other words, its ‘Single Pass Round Bale’ system. The system has been designed to fit John Deere’s S-Series ProDrive combine and 569 round baler.
Not only does it enable one-pass combine harvesting and baling; the company claims that it’s also a “non-stop” approach to round baling.
This video (below) explains how the system works.
During operation, MOG (material other than grain) is propelled by the combine’s straw chopper into a spout. This, in turn, directs the material into a hopper (which forms part of the accumulator contraption attached to the front of the baler).
Three sensors indicate how full the hopper is, at any given time. When enough material has been fed into the hopper, the baler and feed system engage. A conveyor then transfers MOG into the bale-chamber; feed-rollers promote an “even feed”.
When the hopper empties, the feed system shuts off. Meanwhile, the fully-formed bale is then finished off inside the chamber; it’s tied/net-wrapped and ejected.
A hydrostatic pump (installed on the combine engine’s output shaft) powers the baler (via a bent-axis motor). A gear pump, driven off the straw chopper, powers the conveyor and feed-rollers.
Inside the combine cab, the operator gets an additional controller (pictured below).
Available functions include: spread/collect mode; automatic/manual mode; and spout rotation. Built-in video cameras allow a close eye to be kept on all the action.
Though ultimately designed as a US-based innovation for baling ‘corn stalks‘, could this approach pay dividends on this side of the Atlantic – handling straw from a typical cereal crop?
