Diesel or electric: choosing the drive for a baler wrapper
One baler wrapper in the range runs on diesel and the rest are electric. The decision is about where the machine will stand, not about which engine is better.
The LUC-55 Diesel is the only diesel baler wrapper LUCTORC builds. Every other machine in the range is electric. Customers often ask which is better. The honest answer is that the question is really about the site.
Where the machine will stand
An electric machine needs a fixed position near a supply. That suits a yard or a feed centre where material is brought to the machine. A diesel machine can be towed to the material, which suits contractors and farms where the crop is baled in the field or at a distance from the buildings.
What the two actually need
The LUC-55 Diesel carries an 18 hp diesel engine and weighs 900 kg. It produces 550 × 520 mm bales at 60 to 65 bales an hour, which works out at 7 to 8 tonnes an hour.
The 55 belt-type electric machine needs 7.5 + 0.75 + 0.37 kW of installed power and weighs 1.2 tonnes. Its published figure is 50 to 80 tonnes a day.
Note that these are quoted differently on purpose. An hourly rate is the useful number for a machine that moves between jobs. A daily rate is the useful number for a machine that stays put.
Running cost and maintenance
Electric drive has fewer consumables. There is no fuel to carry, no engine oil and filter schedule, and the noise level is lower, which matters if the machine runs next to housing or a milking parlour. Against that, diesel keeps working during a power cut, and in many export markets that is not a rare event.
If your supply is unstable rather than absent, tell us. A generator sized for a 7.5 kW machine is a very different proposition from one sized for 39 kW, and that changes which machine we recommend.
The practical rule
Mains supply at the working position, machine stays in one place: electric. No supply, or the machine has to travel: the LUC-55 Diesel. Unstable supply: tell us the details and we will work through the generator sizing with you before you commit.
