PRACTICAL TEST: Though still based on the core principles of the original Orkel baler design, which CNH bought from the Norwegian firm around six years ago, the new RB 545 Silage Pack contains a whole raft of new Case IH features. We test the latest configuration in the field
It was way back in 2016 that we initially got our hands on the successor to Case IH’s RB 544 baler wrapper, allowing us to publish a brief driving impression on the freshly monikered RB 545 Silage Pack in our January 2017 magazine. Two years on, we progress to meatier matters … with a full practical test on said machine, whose 1.22m wide chamber rolls up a 1.25m diameter bale.
So, let’s get straight to it. First job is clearly to attach tractor to baler, and it will come as no surprise to learn that there’s both good and not-so-good news in this department. Although the drawbar is fashionably slim, tilts to various angles and is available with all manner of hitch systems, it’s also very short and thus brings the pick-up and crop intake assembly unnervingly close to the tractor and out of the operator’s view. As a result, the mudguards on the Silage Pack’s rear wheels are prone to fouling with the rear wheels on smaller tractors, and in our case this even prevented our Maxxum 145 CVX — the perfect tug for the baler in question — from completing lock-to-lock turns.
