B&B Contracting, Featherston, is co-owned by Jake Hawkins, Richard Blundell and Sandy Bidwell. They do all sorts of agricultural contracting except fine-chop silage, running a large fleet and employing six permanent staff and up to 10 operators at peak season.
The Lely Welger Tornado variable baler-wrapper combination also has automatic wrapping that's variable.
Hawkins says the Tornado replaced another baler and is the latest technology – the main catalyst for the upgrade. "We didn't have any issues with our previous baler but [seeing this new machine] we thought we would give it a go."
B&B Contracting has done 12,000 bales with the Tornado this season – 9000 baleage and 3000 hay.
"We've baled lucerne, oats, clover and ryegrass for baleage, as well as hay. It's been really good and I can't fault it. We had a second-hand Welger baler we bought a couple of seasons ago and we had good success with that on hay and baleage, so we knew what sort of bales we'd be getting out of the new Tornado. I've operated it myself all season and it's run well."
Hawkins says the speed of the wrapping is second-to-none and the transfer of the bale to the wrapping table is good.
With its automatic wrapping system, the Tornado wraps bales so quickly that the output of the variable round baler can be utilised to its full potential, Lely says.
"The Welger has high capacity and it can do the job, so we've been getting through a large number of bales a day. It produces a dense bale. We've been averaging 60-70 bales an hour in good going."
Hawkins likes the bale transfer system, Lely says. The transfer table folds up out of the way, reducing risk of damage.
"The wrapping system is good and quick. It's got a solid ring on the back and I'm quite impressed with it. It doesn't seem to leave big tails on the bales. When it cuts the wrap off it leaves them tidy.
"I was making 1.4m bales and they were big bales. It was on a hill block and they were popping out and hitting the ring and I was impressed with the robustness of the machine."
The Tornado suits experienced operators, he says. "It's not a machine you would put the new kid on the block on because you're not just operating one machine, you're operating two. But... once you get your head around all the electronics and computer it's easy to operate."
Tel. 07 850 4050
www.lely.com.
