Electronics technology upgrades among the machines listed in our Ultimate Guide to big square balers is a common theme this year.

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

Claas

The Quadrant big square balers have also come in for some attention following last year’s introduction of the Evolution 4200, 5200 and 5300 with uprated pick-up assembly, weightier flywheels, tweaks to the bale chamber and faster-responding auto bale pressure control.

This time, the 5200 and 5300 get a hydraulic drive option for the pick-up and for the PFS paddle rotor that encourages material into the grasp of the chopping rotor.

As a consequence, the PFS rotor can be run at different speeds to suit baling conditions and the higher maximum drive torque of 1,000Nm is available when reversing the pick-up and rotor to shift plugs.

Further refinement is added by the automated pick-up guide wheels that extend and retract as the reel is lowered and lifted.

Hydraulic drive to the pick-up and paddle rotor is a new feature of the Claas Quadrant Evolution 5300 © Claas

Fendt

A number of updates have been introduced for the Fendt big square balers, not least a new pick-up reel with five instead of four rows of tines for a cleaner sweep of silage ground or cereal crop stubbles.

Polypropylene strippers are installed, said to be lighter, more durable and more slippery than steel versions.

Adjustment of the pre-compression chamber pressure flap is said to be easier and electric bale length measurement more accurate.

Other updates to the electronics include a redesigned Bale Create display, introduction of a twine monitor to record the amount used and warn when spools are running low, and availability of Fendt Connect telemetry for fleet management functions.

Fendt has a number of pick-up, electronic and running gear upgrades in the pipeline for its big balers like this 1290 XD © Fendt

In addition, automatic forward speed control to help achieve consistent bales in variable swaths is introduced for tractors with Isobus Tractor Implement Management (TIM) capability.

Larger tyres and passive steering for the rear axle are to be fitted as standard on new tandem-axle running gear.

Krone

There are no changes to Krone’s extensive BiG Pack line-up, but the BaleCollect accumulator can now be controlled by GPS to deposit bales neatly in lines.

Until now, operators wanting to drop each three-bale set in neat lines had to manually trigger the discharge; now they set up virtual lines across the field and leave computer “intelligence” to do the job.

The advantages of lining bales in this way include better logistics and reduced trafficking of the field surface when it comes to gathering up the bales for transport to store.

GPS guidance for the Krone BaleCollect accumulator simplifies field clearance © Krone

Massey Ferguson

A number of durability upgrades have been introduced for Massey Ferguson MF 2200-series balers by adopting assemblies and components from the MF 2370 Ultra HD model, including the pick-up.

They also get more compact suspension running gear that permits tyres up to 620/50-22.5 without exceeding 3m overall width, MF Connect telematics data resources and Isobus TIM compatibility for speeding up and slowing down a similarly equipped tractor to optimise output along variable swaths.

The new five-bar pick-up with 80 double tines is said to deliver improved crop flow and feed-in, especially at faster working speeds, with slippery polypropylene strippers also contributing.

Automatic forward speed control is among new features for the latest-generation MF 2200 balers © Massey Ferguson

Making fine adjustments to the pre-chamber feed-in fork trigger mechanism is said to have been made easier.

The machines also get a new in-cab Isobus display – MF BaleCreate – that offers three swiping-selected work screens with up to 12 items displayed on each.

This  includes the new electronic bale length control, which constantly monitors the size of the previous 10 flakes to maintain the target bale length within half an average flake thickness.