360-icon download left-arrow left-doublearrow nav-dot pdf-icon rss-icon search-icon spot-icon subnavi-icon close-icon info-icon
Contractor Jørgen Kristensen from Denmark.
We chose to have the new Fendt 1290 XD presser supplied with a built-in chopper so we can offer customers the option of cutting the straw at the same time as it is pressed.
Jørgen Kristensen, contractor with 13 employees Denmark - Fendt 936 Vario, Baler 1290 XD
We chose to have the new Fendt 1290 XD presser supplied with a built-in chopper so we can offer customers the option of cutting the straw at the same time as it is pressed.

A presser with a punch!

The Fendt 1290 XD has a flywheel, which is almost twice as heavy as that on the standard model. The heavy flywheel puts extra straw in the bales, as Jørgens Maskinstation A/S at Grindsted has found out.

The Fendt 1290 XD is built like a genuine big-bale presser at the Hesston plant in North America. But instead of the usual 120 x 130 cm bales, the Fendt 1290 XD delivers bales with a width of 120 cm and a height of 90 cm. ‘XD’ stands for ‘Xtra Density’, and that means up to 20% extra straw in the bales.

Reinforced presser

To be able to tamp the extra straw down into the bales, the presser has been reinforced in a number of areas, from the chassis above the bale chamber to the flywheel and transmission. The main gear box alone weighs 35% more than the transmission in the standard model and, in order to attain the required inertia for making the heavy strokes, the flywheel in the XD weighs over half a tonne.

The presser has an enormous capacity…

The Fendt 936 Vario with the 1290 XD baler at work.

Built-in chopper

The Fendt 1290 XD is supplied both as a standard presser and with a built-in chopper. If the presser is fitted with a chopper, an S is added to the name. “We chose to have the new Fendt 1290 XD presser supplied with a built-in chopper so we can offer customers the option of cutting the straw at the same time as it is pressed. This is the first time we have had a presser with a built-in chopper, and around 10% of the straw was cut in the first season. The customers were mainly cattle farmers, who use the cut straw for fodder. The presser can be fitted with up to 19 knives, and we use all knives in the presser for making fodder,” says Jørgen Kristensen from Jørgens Maskinstation A/S.

Contractor Jørgen Kristensen from Denmark.

About Jørgen Maskinstation: From one person to a big, close-knit team

Jørgen Kristensen founded the service supply station as a one-man supply station in 2006. The supply station currently employs 13 permanent members of staff during the season plus a number of temps. The station is a traditional agricultural service supply station, focusing on the application of manure and the establishment and harvesting of grass, cereals and maize.

The yarn decides

In addition to the new presser, Jørgens Maskinstation A/S also has two big-bale pressers and a round-bale presser. Jørgen Kristensen recognised the quality of the American-built Fendt pressers in the Fendt 12130 big-bale presser.
“The Fendt 1290S XD is fundamentally a big-bale presser, in which the bale channels have been made lower. This means that the presser has an enormous capacity, and it can easily use the power from a Fendt 936. We have a Parkland bale wagon with weight after the presser and we can, therefore, keep track of what the bales weigh. The weight depends, of course, on both the length of the bales and the moisture in the straw. But even if the straw is bone-dry, we can still press it, so the bales are as hard as rock. We have tried various yarn types but, in practice, it is the strength of the yarn that sets the limits for how hard we can allow ourselves to press the bales,” says Jørgen Kristensen.

The bale size of the future

Close-up of the flywheel on the Fendt 1290 XD baler.
The flywheel of the Fendt 1290 XD weighs over half a tonne and, together with the unique kit system, it produces hard and uniform bales.

Jørgen Kristensen is in no doubt that bale sizes of 120 x 90 cm are what we will be seeing a lot more of in the future.“ Compared with traditional mini-big bales, 120 x 90 cm bales have a great many benefits. First, there is significantly more straw in the bales and, second, there is greater stability in the bales when they are loaded as well as transported. As far as big bales are concerned, several tonnes of straw can be transported on a truck trailer with this size of bale, and that is of great significance when, for example, straw is exported to Holland,” he says, and adds that he thinks the Danish heating plants are taking a good look at the benefits of bale sizes.