Switching to a fixed chamber BF3500 round baler has helped one Ceredigion contractor to improve the quality of silage and haylage for his customers.
The switch to a fixed chamber baler for P Howells Agri Services has improved efficiency and simplified baling for the Ceredigion contractor.
“We had been using an older belt baler, but gradually found that we no longer needed to produce different bale sizes for our customers,” explained Phil Howells of Penbeili Mawr Farm, Llandysul. “So we took the opportunity to upgrade our old model to a new heavy duty fixed chamber baler from JE Rees.”
His baler of choice is now a Kubota BF3500, complete with Focus 3 control terminal, bought for the 2024 season.
P Howells Agri Services produces around 2,000 bales of silage and haylage every year, alongside fencing, hedge laying and forestry work. And as part of the silage making process, he offers a full range of support services from mowing through to wrapping.
“Customers often want a complete solution, and that’s something I can accommodate,” he said. “It’s about being flexible, but also having the ability to deliver a first-class service for customers.” Alongside traditional forage crops, Phil has also used the BF3500 to make round bale whole crop silage for neighbouring farmer Liam Davies-Jones, aka the Beef Farmer.
“We got stuck into some whole crop barley and peas that was also undersown with grass,” he said. “We put half the baler’s 14 knives in, and made some ridiculously heavy bales. They were all square-shouldered and a treat to handle and stack.”
“The BF3500 is much simpler than a belt baler, and has far fewer moving parts,” said Phil. “And being a heavy-duty model, it really does make some fantastic bales with a reasonably firm centre that’s not too soft, which is something I really like.”
Phil says net loading is a convenient height at the front of the baler, and the parallelogram drop-floor is very easy to use.
“I’ve had a couple of blockages in some really heavy, tangled crops, but it’s very easy to unblock the intake and chamber from the convenience of the cab,” he said. “And running the baler on my Kubota M7-151 tractor using 540 economy PTO means I can also save fuel.”
