Buddisa Bag © James Andrews

Hawick-based Bill Rae Contracting has become the new UK distributor for forage and feed bagging specialist Budissa Bag.

The firm took on the job in June last year – having spent years working with the German firm’s products through its contracting business – and offers a comprehensive range of models suitable for storing everything from grain and silage to beet and potatoes.

See also: Dorset grower’s guide to building a cash-saving DIY grain dryer

Pictured is the GBK-W bagger, which can be used to fill 5ft- and 9ft-diameter bags with both wet and dry grain/maize, as well as a range of other bulk materials.

In use, material is either tipped into the hopper using a bucket or loaded via a trailer chute, providing the optional auger has been specified 

The machine then pushes the product into the bag, which extends automatically as it fills – just like a supersized sausagemaker. Grain bags are available in continuous lengths of up to 120m and filling rates of 200t/hour are possible.

During operation, the tractor powering the loader is left in neutral and the act of the bag filling slowly pushes the outfit along. Once full, a clamping system is then used to seal the ends, making them airtight.

Emptying involves another piece of kit with a series of augers that wind the material out of the bag into trailers. Uploading rates of up to 250t/hour are possible and the discharge auger is tall enough to load into an HGV.

Price of the GBK-W bagger and unloader is about £43,000 and the plastic cost works out at roughly £2.31/t of material stored.