Tom Lamb is our intermediate category winner.

The Bale Blaster Pro is the latest masterpiece to emanate from the workshop of the Leicestershire farmer, inventor and YouTuber.

Fed up with getting a face full of dust and chaff when fiddling under his baler, he rigged up an air system that can disperse the debris while he sits safely in the tractor.

See also: Latest technology for putting out harvest machinery fires

One flick of an in-cab switch opens the two half-inch solenoid valves that release all the on-board tank’s air – 240 litres held at 120psi – in less than a second.

It is fired through a series of custom jets that can be mounted anywhere on the baler where material is likely to accumulate, including under the rear axle.

Weeds and fire

As well as saving the operator from getting caked in debris, the system can be used to clean machines between fields to reduce the risk of weed seed transfer.

To that end, there’s also a retractable airline on the side so that operators can blow off hard-to-reach spots.

Once jettisoned, the tank is refilled via the tractor’s red air line.

Alternatively, older models can be rigged up with a hydraulically driven compressor, with the spool simply set to constant pump.

He has also incorporated a manual tap in the plumbing so that the jets can be isolated when they’re not required, and there’s an integrated fire extinguisher system to quell any embers in hot, dry conditions.

Tom is now working on developing a central tyre inflation system to make more use of the large on-board air tank.

As this is far bigger than the tractor’s own vessel, it will potentially reduce the time it takes to pump up tyres between field and road.