Efficiency gains and heavier bales are promised with John Deere’s latest large square baler
John Deere has launched its new powerhouse baler that produces longer, heavier bales to save the contractor time, fuel and labour, and it comes with all the precision agriculture integration that the company is renowned for.
Completely designed and built by John Deere in the United States, the L341R High-Density Large Square Baler features a bigger build chamber, reinforced hoops and is 45.7cm longer than a standard unit.
The manufacturer says this enables the machine to compress hay into a 3-foot by 4-foot (90cm x 120cm) bale with 30 per cent more density.
Since fewer bales need to be removed from the field, farmers spend less time travelling across the crop and trucks are loaded with the maximum amount of hay for enhanced efficiency, creating savings on each trailer load.
Despite its increased power and compression ability, the L341R operates under the same PTO power requirements as its predecessor, negating the necessity to invest in new machinery to pull it.
The machine’s MegaWide pickup comes in two sizes on the L341R, a 2.2m wide pickup and a 2.5m wide pickup, which makes it easier to produce neatly shaped bales and improves crop pickup in wide, windblown or scattered windrows.
Other highlights are the low-profile pickup drum with a large-diameter roller baffle to efficiently pick crop up and compress it against the pickup tines, meaning more crop in the bale and less debris in the field.
While the L341R High-Density Baler leverages product components, functions, and technology that John Deere customers are familiar with, it introduces the local hay industry to new levels of sophistication through the data acquisition system, Bale Doc.
John Deere’s Australia and New Zealand hay and forage product specialist Roberto Scheidt says Bale Doc is a standard feature on the L341R, providing customers with information they did not previously have to boost productivity and profitability.
“Bale Doc provides customers with yield data to inform decisions on whether to apply fertiliser to parts of the field, whether to let the hay re-grow for more cuts or plant a new crop,” he says.
“It allows operators to monitor bale characteristics such as weight and moisture as bales are made, so they can make more consistent, high-quality bales, and the moisture maps allow the operator to understand where there are issues in the field with dry down.
“This precision technology seamlessly integrates data in near real-time for record keeping in the John Deere Operations Center,” he says.
“It’s the same system being used in broadacre cropping machinery, but the hay industry can now benefit from these new efficiencies.”
The L341R has been trialled under Western Australian conditions and hit the ground running, Scheidt says, with excellent reliability.
“The farmer remarked on the ride and driveability of the new baler too, as the usual rocking motion of the tractor when baling was much smoother thanks to the Ride Control feature on the JD tractor,” Scheidt says.
“The new baler also features an integrated preservative applicator, to provide more precise application of innoculant to preserve the crop.”
The John Deere L341R High-Density Baler was on show at the Australian Fodder Industry Association conference in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales last month.