Self-propelled big round baler hits the field

Oct 25, 2022

Long ago, tractor was king. It pulled and powered swathers, combines, balers and sprayers. When self-propelled arrived, the baler became the final pull-type holdout. Well, the baler has finally caught up.

Vermeer launched its ZR5-1200 self-propelled big round baler two years ago. With so many farm shows cancelled because of COVID, the new baler received little attention.

In 2022, outdoor farm shows such as Ag In Motion near Saskatoon returned and many innovations that had been parked in the shed for two years were moved out into the prairie sunshine.

Vermeer representative Corey Dalman made good use of the AIM opportunity to haul the ZR5 to Langham for the show. He says the machine’s development came quickly because the company already had the basic baler component to build on. The ZR5-1200 is basically an enhanced version of the pull-type machine that’s been around for a while. Vermeer’s large industrial division was able to provide the power plant, controls and cab expertise.

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