That farm machinery engineering companies are prepared to pull out all the stops to meet special requests is evident by the SF132. The low centre of gravity and wide tyres allows the self-propelled baler to tackle 45-degree slopes.
Flagged up as a compact, manoeuvrable, low weight (around 6.0t) and high-output machine that is ideally suited to working in small or wet fields, the SF132 is the result of work by Swiss farm machinery firm Lisibach Maschinenbau.
Caption: SF means self-propelled in German and the 132 is the horsepower of the Perkins engine.
Best known its homeland as a manufacturer of static maize balers and wrappers and as a maize baling contractor, the grunt in the self-propelled baler comes from a 4.4-litre Perkins 92kW/132hp four-pot block.
All four wheels are powered, but just the front wheels steer. The maximum speed of the four-range hydrostatic box is 40km/hr. With a length of around 5.0m, and a height and width of approx. 2.5m, the pivoting chassis allows the machine to turn sharply on headlands.
Operation is via an armrest mounted joystick, and the cab provides heating, air conditioning, Grammar air suspended seat, radio and a cooled drink holder for 1.5-litre bottles.
This is the fourth machine Lisibach has built since making the first one for the contracting arm of the business in 2005 (where the drive unit is married to a Welger RP235). The same baler was used for the contractor’s second machine in 2013, and that same year a third was built for a Swiss farmer based on a Kuhn I-Bio baler/wrapper combi. The drive unit on machine number four is connected to a Kuhn fixed chamber FB3135.
All four machines work in Switzerland. We understand there is a farmer request to develop a version with a John Deere round baler. Lisibach charges around €250,000 for the SF132 and that price tag does not include the cost of the baler.
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