Bale Shredders/Farming Simulator 15
A Bale Shredder is a device designed to take Bales and rip them apart back into loose form. That loose material can then be used for a variety of purposes, just like loose material picked up directly from the field.
The base game contains only one Bale Shredder, and it works only with Straw bales - shredding them apart and using them as bedding for Cows. This Bale Shredder may be cheap, but is otherwise functionally inferior to both of the Mixer Wagons available in the game.
List of Bale Shredders
| Shredder | Price ($) |
Maintenance ($ / day) |
Capacity (Bales) |
Bale Type | Front Hitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
19,000 | 20 | 1 | Straw | Drawbar (Ball) |
Overview
Straw can be picked up from the field in both loose form as well as Bale form. The Bale form, whether Square or Round, is significantly easier to store than loose Straw. However, in this form it cannot be used to furnish Cows with bedding.
The Bale Shredder is a machine designed to revert Straw into its loose form. The Bale Shredder takes one bale of Straw, whether Square or Round, and shreds it up back into loose Straw. The machine can then be used to spread that Straw into the Cow Shed.
The Bale Shredder is an open-top box on wheels. At one front of the box is a shredder that can tear Bales apart. At the rear end is a hinged door, that can be opened to allow Bales in more easily. The front of the box is also equipped with a pipe and nozzle that can spray the shredded Straw into the Cow Shed when required.
Bale Shredders are generally loaded using Front Loaders equipped with a Bale Handler, Bale Spike or Pallet Fork. The process may be slightly easier with Round Bales, but is equally possible with Square Bales too. These bales are kept inside the Bale Shredder until it reaches its destination - the Cow Pasture.
Once at the Cow Pasture, the Bale Shredder must be taken into the cow shed, where the option to unload will appear. Upon hitting the appropriate button, the Bale Shredder will simultaneously shred the bale and spread the Straw inside the shed. As long as Cows are provided with straw, their productivity level is slightly higher - and they also produce Manure (a type of fertilizer) at a constant rate.
It is possible for mods to add Bale Shredders that shred other types of bales besides Straw. Unfortunately, the base game only provides a single Bale Shredder model that can only work with Straw. However, the game also provides two models of Mixer Wagons, which can do the same thing to any kind of Bale, including Straw, Hay, and even Silage bales - and can also prepare Total Mixed Ration when necessary. They are effectively superior to the Bale Shredder in every way.
Loading a Bale
In order to shred a Bale using a Bale Shredder, that bale must first be loaded into the machine. The Bale Shredder has no automatic loading mechanism, so it must be loaded using a separate device.
Front Loaders and Telehandlers are the only devices in the base game designed for this task. The loader must be equipped with a tool that can handle bales. The most appropriate tool is the Bale Handler, which can grab and release bales on command - but some players may find it easier to use a Pallet Fork or Bale Spike for this purpose.
The Loader needs to pick up a bale, and stuff it into the machine. This can be done by dropping the bale into the Bale Shredder's open top, but this method can be tricky and may not work all of the time. Instead, the Bale Shredder can open its rear hinged door, to allow Bales to be slid into it from behind. The hinged door on the Kuhn PRIMOR 3570 is actually designed so that a Round Bale can be placed right on top of it, and the door can then be closed to pull the bale into the machine.
Once the bale is inside the machine, the capacity gauge will show that it contains 4,000 liters of Straw. This means that the machine is ready to shred the bale. Shredding, however, cannot take place until the machine is also ready to unload the resulting loose Straw.
Note that until the bale is actually shredded, it is considered a separate 3D element from the machine itself. It is not held securely to the machine, and may fly out during rough driving.
Unloading Loose Material
Once the Bale Shredder contains a Bale, it must be driven to the Cow Pasture in order to be unloaded.
The Bale Shredder will not shred its bale until it has reached a suitable unloading point. It also cannot automatically dump the bale it is carrying. The only way to remove the bale from the machine is to nudge it out carefully with a Front Loader.
The only unloading point for a Bale Shredder that currently exists in the game is the Cow Shed at the pasture.
- On Bjornholm, the cow shed is a large structure at the front of the Cow Pasture, which you can actually drive into. The shed has feeding troughs on either side, with enclosures for cows on either side. You may unload your Straw anywhere inside this building.
- On Westbridge Hills, the Cow Shed is a smaller, roofed structure at the north-western corner of the pasture. It has a couple of feeding troughs in front of it. Drive up next to one of these troughs to get the option to unload your Bale Shredder.
Upon hitting the "unload" button, the bale will instantly disappear, and the machine is now filled with 4,000 liters of loose Straw. The Bale Shredder will also immediately begin to spread its Straw into the cow shed. You may stop spreading Straw into the cow shed at any time, by either driving away from the shed or hitting the "unload" button again.
The game keeps track of the exact amount of Straw you have dumped into the cow shed. It will be consumed at a steady rate by your cows. As long as there is at least 1 liter of Straw inside the shed, Cow Productivity levels are increased by a small percentage (around 10%), and the Cows will automatically produce Manure at a steady rate. You cannot reach 100% productivity without Straw bedding.
Partially-filled Bale Shredders
As mentioned above, you can stop the spreading process before the Bale Shredder reaches 0 liters. The small amount left in your Bale Shredder can only be emptied by starting the spreading process again as described above.
This is very important, in case you try shredding another Bale when the Shredder already contains some Straw. In this case, loading a new bale into the machine and shredding it will only fill the machine up to 4,000 liters. This will waste some Straw.
Therefore, always remember to empty your entire Bale Shredder before putting in a new Bale. There really is no good reason to empty a Bale Shredder part-way on purpose.
Bale Shredders vs. Mixer Wagons
The only Bale Shredder available in the base game is the Kuhn PRIMOR 3570. This machine can only work with Straw bales, is somewhat difficult to load, and can only process one bale at a time.
In comparison, both of the Mixer Wagons available in the game are superior to the PRIMOR 3570, in quite a large number of ways:
- They can process any kind of bale, including Straw, Hay and Silage bales of any shape.
- They can be loaded with loose materials, not just bales.
- They are far easier to load, since both have a very large opening on top.
- They can process several bales simultaneously, including bales of different types.
- They can create Total Mixed Ration, if loaded with the correct mix of materials.
- The Kuhn SPV Confort 12 is also self-propelled, and does not need to be towed by a tractor.
- The Kuhn SPV Confort 12 can load Silage directly from a Fermentation Bunker.
The PRIMOR 3570's only advantage is that it is less than half as cheap as the cheapest Mixer Wagon.
Remember this when buying your equipment for Cow husbandry. You may wish to skip the Bale Shredder altogether.