The Best Large Square Baler for Biomass
Biomass harvesters, including the largest such company in the U.S., choose Hesston large square balers for their reliability, capacity and continuously evolving design.
By Deborah Huso | Photos By Brett Deering
PacificAg operates the nation’s largest agricultural residue and forage harvesting business, and also maintains the country’s largest fleet of biomass harvesting equipment. That equipment includes one of the largest collections of Hesston large square balers in North America.
The Hesston 2270XD large square baler
“The Hesston baler has been a staple of our program for 16 years,” says PacificAg CEO Bill Levy. That’s in large part due to comparisons with other brands that found the Hesston large square baler’s performance to be superior. “It runs more consistently with fewer breakdowns than any other large square baler,” he adds.
Charles Lalonde, with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, agrees. “AGCO has upgraded the baler to improve efficiency and dramatically reduce downtime,” he says. “You don’t have to stop to replace parts. It runs continuously.”
Another critical upgrade, says Lalonde: “Four years ago, the baler could handle bales weighing 800 to 900 pounds; today, we have balers handling 1,300 pounds. The Hesston 2270XD large square baler … achieves the greatest amount of density per cubic foot.”
That density, says Glenn Farris, AGCO’s manager of segment strategy for biomass/industrials, has its definite advantages, resulting in lower transportation costs and fewer bales being shipped, no matter the material being handled.
“What has been important has been AGCO’s understanding of this emerging market,” Levy says of the biomass industry. ”They’re much more accessible than other manufacturers and offer more attention to customer service.”
<< Read the full story, “Biomass Harvesting: Win-Win, and Then Some”
