Case IH’s LB436 high-density baler with its modern shape immediately caught the eye at Case IH’s stand at Nampo. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
Case IH’s first LB436 HD baler in South Africa entered the country in December and made its appearance at Nampo last week where it was officially launched.
This big-block baler’s strongest attraction is the dense and necessarily heavy bales he makes. Daniel Dames, a product specialist at Case IH, says the LB436 can make alfalfa bales weighing between 700 kg and 800 kg, which is over the mark for bales that may be loaded into storage crates.
This baler was named machine of the year in the hay and forage section at Agritechnica in Germany in 2020 and the American Society for Agricultural and Biological Engineers (Asabe) named it one of its top 50 machines in 2021.
Daniel Dames, Product Specialist at Case IH says the LB436 HD baler is an essential addition to the haymaking equipment they offer. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
During Nampo, Rhewal found out more about the characteristics of this streamlined machine.
Ladies say to farmers and contractors who transport or export bales, weight and space count a lot and therefore everyone strives to load square bales that are as dense and precisely shaped as possible into a shed, onto a truck or into a storage crate.
“We now have a wider range of hay equipment that we can offer,” he says. “With this baler, Case IH now covers a segment in which it was not previously represented and it can also now meet the needs of a larger market,” he says.
Case IH’s LB436 HD baler makes bales 120 cm wide by 90 cm high with different lengths. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
There are also a handful of new ingenuities that the LB436 boasts. Dames says it has been completely redesigned with a stronger plunger that can exert 50% more force than previous models.
He is equipped with an Isobus Level 3 communication system, which among other things allows the baler to control the tractor.
A new density control ring with seven cylinders, spread across the top and sides, has a combined thrust of 62 tonnes.
The new TwinePro knot system now makes a double knot that is 30% stronger.
Daniel Dames shows what the crisp cylinders look like around the density control ring. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
The baler has a very modern gearbox with a soft switch, which greatly reduces the stress on your tractor’s PTO. As the PTO’s revolutions increase and reach 1,000 rpm, the gear in the gearbox changes automatically, taking the revolutions from 1,000 rpm to 1,445 rpm. This gives the flywheel enough momentum to pull through when it starts working hard.
The pick-up is 2.35 m long with five pick-up finger bars. The feeders take the material to a rotor cutter with 29 blades, which can be completely removed, or individually pulled in or out as needed. The new bale chamber is 16% longer and the density, as well as the size of the bales, is adjusted at the rear.
Up to 36 skeins of rope can be packed inside the baler’s storage space. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
The baler can easily be pulled by a Magnum 280 or a Magnum 310 tractor and if the conditions are favorable, you will be able to bale at 30 km/h and make 40 tons of bales per hour.
The moving parts and bearings are lubricated by an automatic grease system and the volume of the grease can be adjusted from the cabin.
