Click on the button below to view our bale wrapping guide containing information on our films, storage, wrapping and other useful tips.
Always use a high quality balewrap such as Sila-Seal, Performance5, or Ultra5 from Sigma Agricultural Products for the best results.
BaleWrappingGuide (pdf)
DownloadHandle the balewrap with care:
Throwing rolls around will damage the plastic very easily making it impossible for the wrap to unroll properly.
In hot weather:
Keep the roll boxed and in a shaded area until needed. This will limit excess tack coming out of the plastic. Balewrap that is very tacky will cause tack build up on the stretch unit rollers, and result in the film "over stretch", reducing your protection result.
Keep the rollers clean:
Some tack will stick to the pre-stretch rollers whatever steps are taken, so make sure they are cleaned regularly using white spirit. In very hot weather it may be necessary to do cleaning more often. Dirty rollers will affect stretch percentage, and cause uneven application and too much neck down on the bale.
Measuring:
To measure that the correct amount of stretch is being achieved, mark or tape 2 points 10 inches apart on the roll after pulling the wrap through the pre-stretcher. Measure the distance once the wrap has been applied to the bale. For conventional film, 50% stretch would mean a reading of 15 inches and 60% would mean a reading of 16 inches on the bale. Measuring neckdown after stretch should not be lower than 24"(for 600mm), 22.8"(for 580mm) and not lower than 16" (for 500mm).
Always wrap bales within 2 hours of baling:
If wrapping individual bales in the field, move bales to the stack straight after wrapping.
Follow the bale wrapper manufacturer's recommendations for machine set-up:
On single bale wrappers, make sure that the center of the bale and center of the roll of film are in a horizontal line. Take into account difference bale sizes and adjust the height of the PSU accordingly. To ensure that 6 layers of film are applied, count the number of revolutions it takes to completely cover the bale once. Add one more and multiply by 3.
For example, if it takes 7 revolutions to cover the bale once, add 1 (making 8 in total) and multiply by 3. Therefore, 24 revolutions are needed to apply 6 layers of film.
On in-line wrappers, the number of layers applied is adjusted by altering the number of inches the bale is moved forward per revolution of the hoop. To apply 6 layers on an in-line wrapper (with 2 pre-stretchers) using a 30inch(750mm) roll of film, adjust to a 4-inch movement. After stretch, the film width is +/-24" divided by 6 layers will equal 4" apart.
NOTE: As bales vary in both size and shape, extra turns may be necessary to achieve correct film application.
Use a hydraulic type grab for handling bales, even before they are wrapped:
Remove bales from the field as soon as possible.
When stacking single bales, stand the bales on their end, as there is more plastic to protect the bales from rough ground and bird damage.
SIGMA AG
© 2022 Sigma Stretch Film. All rights reserved. 808 Page Avenue, Bldg. #8, Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071 (201) 507-9100
SIGMA AG, Making Tomorrow's Products Today!