A square baler has a baling chamber, a plunger reciprocable at one end of the baling chamber, a pre-compression chamber within which charges of crop are amassed and pre-compressed by a rotor prior to transfer into the baling chamber, and a pickup roller having radially projecting tines for picking up crop from the ground and advancing the crop to the rotor. A torque sensor is connected to at least one tine of the pickup roller to produce an electrical output signal indicative of the torque experienced by the pickup roller, and a processing circuit is operative to estimate the rate of crop flow into the chute by analyzing the electrical output of the torque sensor only at times when the position of the tine lies within a predetermined angular position of the pickup roller.

A square baler has a baling chamber, a plunger reciprocable at one end of the baling chamber, a pre-compression chamber within which charges of crop are amassed and pre-compressed by a rotor prior to transfer into the baling chamber, and a pickup roller having radially projecting tines for picking up crop from the ground and advancing the crop to the rotor. A torque sensor is connected to at least one tine of the pickup roller to produce an electrical output signal indicative of the torque experienced by the pickup roller, and a processing circuit is operative to estimate the rate of crop flow into the chute by analyzing the electrical output of the torque sensor only at times when the position of the tine lies within a predetermined angular position of the pickup roller.

Systems and methods are provided for controlling operation of one or more controllable components of an agricultural baler. Using a moisture level of material collected by the agricultural baler a baling strategy including an indication of a wrapping material for a formed bale is determined. Methods include controlling one or more operational components associated with the baler in dependence on the determined baling strategy to control the wrapping process in accordance with the determined baling strategy.

A baler for forming a bale of crop material includes a plurality of walls defining a bale chamber. A drive roller and a plurality of idler rollers are disposed in the bale chamber. At least one baling belt contacts the drive roller and the plurality of idler rollers. A bale engagement roller is rotatable about a bale engagement roller axis. The bale engagement roller is positioned to directly engage crop material in the bale chamber. An actuator is coupled to the bale engagement roller. The actuator translates the bale engagement roller in a direction perpendicular to the bale engagement roller axis.

A baler implement includes a twine storage box, and a door panel positioned in a substantially vertical orientation relative to the twine storage box. The door panel is moveably attached to the housing for movement between a lowered position enclosing the twine storage box, and a raised position providing external access to the twine storage box. A linkage system interconnects the housing and the door panel. The linkage system includes a first link and a second link, each interconnecting the door panel and the housing. The first link and the second link are configured to maintain the door panel in the substantially vertical orientation relative to the housing while moving between the lowered position and the raised position.

A baler a chute assembly extending in a rearward direction from a baling chamber configured to simultaneously receive first and second bales as the bales are urged out of the baling chamber. The chute assembly includes a rail assembly and an opposing shelf assembly, the rail assembly and the shelf assembly cooperating to form a cavity therebetween. The rail assembly includes an upper rail and a lower rail with the lower rail offset from the upper rail in a horizontal direction toward the cavity, and the shelf assembly includes a horizontal first surface, an ejection plate, an angled second surface and a guide rail. As the first and second bales are urged from the bale chamber the first bale engages the rail assembly and the second bale engages the shelf assembly. The chute assembly rotates the first and second bales as the bales drop from the chute assembly in a single line of bales arranged in an end-to-end orientation.

A baler including a needle yoke driven via a needle coupling device including a connection member pivotally mounted around a fixed pivot axis for swinging around the fixed pivot axis. The swinging corresponds to movement of the needle yoke. The connection member is cooperative with the needle yoke by (i) a shearbolt adapted to transfer a force from the connection member to the needle yoke during a forward movement and (ii) by a protrusion, formed at one of the connection member and the needle yoke, to abut against the other one of the connection member and the needle yoke during a backward movement of the needle yoke.

A twine tensioner arrangement for a baler including a pair of rollers, each of the rollers being rotatable about a shaft and having circumferential lobes, at least one of the shafts being mounted on a displaceable armature, displacement measurement apparatus to measure the displacement of the displaceable armature and a signalling apparatus to generate a signal if the displacement of the displaceable armature exceeds a predetermined value. This enables monitoring of the tension in a strand of twine entering the twine tensioner arrangement and when the tension exceeds a predetermined value, allows action to be taken to avoid a mistie or damage to the baler components.

A continuous round baler forms a cylindrically-shaped bale by spiral, coiled layers created by a conical portion of a bale-forming chamber and protruded upwardly from a cylindrical portion of the bale-forming chamber. The bale is circumferentially supported by netting applied to the bale in the cylindrical portion. A rotary feed table receives crop from the field and feeds the crop into the conical portion. The bale forming process can be interrupted if an insufficient volume of crop is collected on the rotary feed table. The netting material is provided on short rolls to facilitate loading onto the machine. A cutoff mechanism is coupled to the growth of the bale from the cylindrical portion to sever the bale at a predetermined length with end surfaces that are perpendicular to the axis of the bale. A bale density mechanism supports the distal end of the bale as the bale protrudes upwardly.

An agricultural bale detection system includes: a sensor apparatus being land-based and including a base and at least one sensor coupled with the base, the base being configured for being temporarily placed in a stationary position when the at least one sensor is operating, the at least one sensor being configured for: detecting an operative parameter of at least one object in a field, the operative parameter being associated with a location of the object in the field; outputting an operative parameter signal corresponding to the operative parameter; and a controller operatively coupled with the at least one sensor and configured for: receiving the operative parameter signal; and determining a position of the object based at least in part on the operative parameter signal.