Collecting bales? Easy-going with the new Fliegl PICKER

The Fliegl PICKER effectively prevents film damage during bale collecting. It is a contribution to improved bale handling and transport and provides safety for a crucial process in the silage economy.

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The weak point of conventional bale collecting trailers is the bale pick-up: If the bale and trailer axle are not exactly parallel, the bale to be picked up will be picked up slightly diagonally. Contact surfaces which are too small lead to high pressure on always the same bale zones. Both result in at least overstretching and at worst damage from scratching on the bale wrap which is not or hardly elastically deformable. The stretching of the film, in turn, leads to the formation of air-filled cavities in the bale or to a film tear - this endangers or prevents an optimal anaerobic phase and can spoil the silage, render it inedible or toxic for the cattle and leads in any case to losses. The integrity of the bale wrap is therefore of crucial importance and the primary objective when picking up bales onto the bale collecting trailer. A punctual pressure which is too high has a negative effect on the condition of straw balls and their nets as well and can lead to damaged nets or losses in quality and quantity.

Fliegl is now revolutionizing this work process with the bale collecting trailer PICKER. Straw and silage bales are not loaded onto the vehicle as usual, i.e. either on the side or back of the vehicle, but rather on the front side, making it unique. This is made possible by a pivoted drawbar. The bale collecting trailer PICKER can thus travel completely off- set track next to the towing vehicle, thus enabling optimum soil protection. 

The big advantage of the Fliegl bale trailer PICKER is exactly this frontal loading of the bales. As a result, the round bales can be picked up in the direction of travel of the baler. The round baler places the round bales transversely to their direction of travel, that is to say, with a roll axis which is perpendicular to the direction of travel. In conventional designs, the round bale must always be approached parallel to the roll axis and in the longitudinal direction of the transport device, i.e. transversely to the direction of travel of the round baler. The Fliegl technology saves travel distance by driving straight ahead instead of in serpentine lines. Furthermore, it is also possible to pick up bales while driving. 

The PICKER is suitable for both, silage bales and straw bales. With the aid of the L- shaped swivel arm, the bale is loaded onto the trailer. The swivel arm is telescopically extendable so that it is variable regarding the bale diameter. All bales from 120 cm to 180 cm in diameter are therefore no problem for the PICKER. This provides flexibility. In addition, the forage is protected by this method of picking up bales. Using the conventional wrapping method, a silage bale has 24 film layers on the circular surface of the cylinder whereas the lateral surface is wrapped in only four layers. This means that friction on the circular surface area has less impact than on the lateral surface. If the silage bales or straw bales are thus transported widthwise, as in the PICKER, the risk of damage due to friction of the side rails is significantly lower. The pick-up and output unit also significantly protect the bales with the help of friction minimization through the rollers. 

When the round bale is finally loaded, it is conveyed by a rubber conveyor belt towards the output unit. This happens until the trailer is fully loaded. Then the swivel arm closes the pick-up unit and serves as load securing. 

When unloading the bale trailer PICKER, an output unit mounted on the rear opens which also has rollers. The round bales are carried towards the output unit via the conveyor belt and then gently unloaded via these rollers without falling off or any friction.

Fliegl PICKER is a real innovation! It optimizes bale handling, effectively eliminating film stretching and film damage and thus silage losses. In addition, picking up can take place while driving and it prevents unnecessary travel distances since the pick-up unit is mounted in the direction of travel of the baler.