For efficient field clearance, stacking and road transport – especially for essential straw supplies delivered to the main grassland and livestock areas of Britain – hefty rectangular-shaped bales continue to rule the roost.

And growers and contractors are offered a huge selection of balers from mainstream manufacturers that not only provide a choice of bale sizes from 80-120cm wide and 50-120cm deep, but also in terms of performance and features.

See also: How to get a big square baler ready for the new season

The Ultimate Guide 2022 lists individual model variants from Case IH, Claas, Fendt, John Deere, Krone, Kuhn, Massey Ferguson and New Holland with few changes among this year’s crop of machines other than significant upgrades for the Claas Quadrant.

Case IH

A version of the Case IH LB 436 Heavy Duty baler without crop chopping is a new addition this year, offering an alternative to the full-spec chopping version introduced last year and a saving on the list price of more than £20,000.

The latest version of this machine producing 120x90cm bales has a simple six-tine feed rake instead of a 650mm-diameter “W” helix rotor to get material from the pick-up into the pre-compression chamber.

But in all other respects the machine is the same as its chopping counterpart, which has a 4.05m bale chamber – 705mm longer than other LB balers – and new knotters delivering a 26% increase in knotted twine tensile strength to cope with the denser bales.

Claas

While the 80x50cm Quadrant 4000 continues unchanged, all other models in the range have earned the “Evolution” moniker, thanks to a number of largely detail changes aimed at improving cost-efficiency.

The balers come with a new pick-up featuring twin cam tracks, an extra tine bar to maintain performance despite a speed reduction, and heavier duty components shared with the latest pick-up for Jaguar forage harvesters.

A new pick-up with heavier-duty components is among changes for the Claas Quadrant said to reduce wear by up to 40% © Claas

Meanwhile, the Power Feeding System pick-up intake roller has been speeded up a touch and given extra paddles (that can be removed for long-stalked crops) for a more positive performance.

A redesigned upper assembly for the bale formation chamber, comprising the top plate and side panels, is said to result in a slight increase in bale density potential and better bale shape.

The latter also benefits from factory-fitted side knives and deflectors designed to reduce the build-up of material in the ram guide area and eliminate the distinctive stripe down both sides of the bale.

Changes inside the bale chamber eliminate the stripe down both sides of Quadrant bales © Peter Hill

The Quadrant now has faster-responding automatic bale pressure control that is also more sensitive to twine tension or load in the intake area, and with two working menus plus three settings menus, the control display on Cemis 700, Cebis or any other Isobus-compatible terminal is reckoned to be simpler and easier to navigate.

Krone

Having introduced the fifth-generation Big Pack 1270, 1290 and 1290 HDP balers last year, changes to the Krone line-up are limited to removal of the 51-knife VariCut versions of the previous-generation 1270 and 1290 HDP.

The “Gen 5” Big Pack 1270 and 1290 gained the longer (3.6m) bale chamber of the HDP models for increased bale density potential and improved bale shape.

Also, in-cab adjustment of the trigger pressure for transferring material from the pre-compression chamber to the main chamber gives control over the thickness and number of wads in each bale to better suit different end uses.

Kuhn

The Kuhn range has been rationalised by culling all LSB models – that’s the 80x70cm LSB 870 and its Omnicut crop-chopping counterpart, and equivalent versions of the 120x70cm LSB 1270.

Kuhn SB balers have gained a powered feed roller that encourages the flow of material from pick-up reel to intake rotor © Kuhn

This move completes the switch started in 2019 to the newer SB models that have an improved crop intake system, said to raise capacity by up to 15%, partly thanks to a powered feed roller that encourages the flow of material from pick-up reel to intake rotor.

Improvements on these machines also include a torque-monitoring and regulating system to optimise performance and allow increased bale weights, and a “steering” system for the feeder forks in the pre-chamber for even filling.

New Holland

The CropCutter version of the New Holland range-topping BigBaler 1290 HD has been joined by a packer feed model for operators who do not want to chop incoming material before it is packaged into a 120x90cm bale.

A simpler version of the New Holland BigBaler 1290 HD with packer tines rather than a crop-cutting rotor © New Holland

Apart from knocking 20hp off the full-spec machine’s 250hp power requirement, the simpler machine offers the same features and performance upgrades that result from a longer bale chamber and ram stroke, and the more forceful “thump” delivered by a heavier, larger-diameter flywheel than lesser New Holland balers possess.

Compression force sensors automatically adjust pressure on the bale chamber exerted by seven hydraulic cylinders and new knotters provide the increased knotted twine tensile strength needed for the denser bales.