Balers & Bale Handling

Unique bale handler attracts interest in the UK

Since making its o cial UK debut at this year’s LAMMA Show, the TR bale handling range – which was pioneered by farmer’s son and engineer Joe Moynihan – has piqued the interest of farmers and contractors across the UK due to its high output and unique approach. Sarah Kidby caught up with Joe for an update on the business.

First developed for Joe’s family farm in Ireland, the TR bale handling range from JM Agri Design uses a patented over-arm design which signi cantly reduces damage to plastic wrap on the bales. It also has signi cantly higher output compared to a conventional handler, which has made the range attractive to contractors and farmers alike.

Having proved highly popular in Ireland, the range o cially became available UK-wide at LAMMA in January, where there was a great deal of interest from visitors, particularly the agship TR-8 model, Joe says. JM Agri Designs is launching an online facility in mid-April which will allow customers to purchase machines from its website with quick, free delivery. From its new UK base, the company says it will be able to o er delivery within 3–4 working days if the machine is in stock.

Depending on the model chosen, the TR range can improve e ciency by anything from 25% up to 115%, the company says. The TR range can comfortably put through 100,000+ bales without any issues, compared to 20,000–30,000 with a conventional handler, which has been a “big winner” for contractor customers, Joe says. The rst TR machine was originally developed to reduce bale damage on Joe’s own family dairy farm, and this remains a key bene t of the machines, which are able to grip round bales on the at faces where there is more than double the plastic wrap. The TR range can approach a round bale from any direction, unlike other bale handlers which can only be approached from one side. It’s also possible to switch from handling round to square bales of any size without any adjustments. The over-arm design additionally means it can grip bales at any angle. The arm supports two large rotating rollers to ensure bales are handled without risk of damaging the plastic wrap. These rollers, along with all other pivot points, have composite bushings and grease points tted as standard. A check valve is also tted