For Neil Smithson, bale quality and a consistent size have become stand-out qualities of using a Vicon RV5216 Plus variable chamber baler.
Based at Fen Farm, in Unitened Kingdom, the Nottinghamshire-based farmer and contractor makes around 10-12,000 round bales each season. “I’ve had a variety of round balers over the years, but none have made bales with the consistent size, density and shape of my Vicon baler,” he says.
“It’s very impressive; bales are like peas in a pod and output is good too, making 100/hour without rushing around.” Having replaced a five-year old, 40,000-bale RV5216 with the latest RV5216 Plus from local dealer Farmstar, he says past experience of Vicon’s variable chamber baler has given him the confidence to bale pretty much anything.
He recalls being asked to bale a 30-acre field of straw that had been harvested by an Axial Flow combine. “The swaths were just so smashed up,” he says. “It looked like another baler had been over the top and skimmed off the best of the swath. So I fitted the short crop plate into the chamber and got stuck in. There was only enough straw to make 11 bales off 30 acres, but every one of them was perfectly formed. I was really impressed with what the baler had done.”
He says it was the PowerBind net injection system that first got him interested in Vicon balers. “The bales are so good, that I am now using less net for tying,” he adds. “It takes just 2.1 turns of net on silage and up to three on very chaffy straw.” He says daily maintenance is easy thanks to banks of grease nipples all over the machine, and the twin cam pick up also comes in for high praise, which leaves little crop behind and is kind on tine wear too.
“After five seasons with that first Vicon variable chamber baler. I knew that whatever the crop I’m going into, the Vicon will just bale it,” he says. “It’s by far the best baler I’ve ever run, and the new Plus-series has made a great baler even better.”