Mini Round Bales Make Sense For Small Farms

Mini Round Bales Make Sense For Small Farms BALE HANDLING Big round bales may have made the Allis-Chalmers Roto Baler obsolete but mini round bales still make sense for small farms and small tractors Mini round balers from Small Farm Innovations SFI can make net-wrapped bales as small as 25 to 30 lbs with only a 17 or 18-hp tractor SFI makes an accumulator for the mini round bales and offers a wrapper as well     “Our mini round balers let our customers control the quality and timing of the bales they make ” says Phil Livengood SFI “They no longer have to wait for the neighbor or custom hay baler to put up their hay ”     SFI sells mini round balers from two companies in Japan IHI and Takakita Livengood points to the difference between those companies and the leading Chinese competitor IBEX     “You can go to the IHI and Takakita websites and learn all about them ” he says “If I went out of business my customers could order parts directly from the company By comparison you can’t even find where IBEX balers are built in China ”     IHI makes a mini-round net baler Takakita makes a twine baler “Most people in the last 20 years have wanted net over twine ” says Livengood “The IHI net baler is a roller chain type and doesn’t like really tall material However the mini round twine baler has a forming chain that bales from tough cornstalks and Johnsongrass to gentle legumes ”     The MRB855N from IHI makes 100 to 150 35 to 55-lb net-wrapped 22 by 27-in bales per hr It offers six density settings and mounts to the tractor’s 3-pt hitch The MRB855N is equipped with electronic auto-wrap but can also be controlled manually In ideal conditions using auto-wrap can produce more than 150 bales per hr     The mini round baler has a self-contained hydraulic pump and requires only pto and 12-volt connections to the tractor SFI has been selling it since 2007     The Takakita RB511 DX works with either sisal or poly twine and is equipped with forming chains It can produce as many as 100 30 to 50-lb 20 by 29-in bales per hour It requires as little as 17 hp and has a self-contained hydraulic system It’s 3 pt mounted and has an electronic wrapping control     “It has a bale kicker so there’s no need to back up when releasing a bale ” says Livengood “Its 36-in wide pickup is the widest in its class making it easier to operate and more productive ”     SFI developed its own accumulator for the mini round balers It’s designed to mount on front-end loaders and removes the backbreaking work of picking up bales by hand     “Our accumulator saves time labor costs and the need for pain medication ” says Livengood “It accumulates and moves up to eight mini round bales at a time ”     The company also offers a mini round bale wrapper from Takakita The 110-volt powered wrapper can handle up to 75 bales per hr has three wrap settings and uses 10-in wrapping film The wheeled wrapper has a 33 by 69 in footprint and is only 36 in high     The IHI MRB855N is priced at $13 200 the Takakita RB511 DX at $12 900 the SFI accumulator at $2 200 and the Takakita wrapper at $4 900     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Small Farm Innovations 3701 TX-36 Caldwell Texas 77836 ph 979-200-1473 or 979-200-0766; www smallfarminnovations com

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