Eighteen years ago, Alistair Craig built a three-bale accumulator for his 80×90 baler as an A-level engineering project.

The neat design meant it was fixed rigidly to the back of the baler in work mode, with castor wheels underneath allowing it to turn freely on headlands.

For venturing on the road, he could remove two top links attaching it to the baler and lock the wheels solid so that it could be towed like trailer.

He fitted a hydraulic shifting arm in the bed for moving bales from side to side, as well as a pair of rams underneath for tipping off a full load.

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It worked well, but after upgrading to 120×70 baler, he needed to make a few modifications.

He also decided to widen it so that it could carry five bales at a time – sufficient capacity for him to drop only on the headlands.

Very little work needed to be done to the original chassis, but considerable time went into fabricating a new hydraulic folding frame to sit on the top.

To help the bales slide more easily, the bed is fitted with a series of rollers, which he had made by a local engineering firm.

Control is all manual, so Mr Craig monitors loading using a camera and operates a spool valve to shunt the bales to the desired position.