Our History

Tim Scott & Michael Coleman together formed an agricultural contracting company taking TIM & MIK from their names to make TIMIK Agricultural.

Hesston develop the world’s first big baler the Hesston 4800.

Nigel Crossley started working for Timik. At that time Timik were still hedge cutting and small bale contracting but the company had started to move towards sales of equipment.

Michael Coleman (Timik) & David Johnson (Northern Straw) formed Big Bale Co Ltd with two depots, one in Hampshire & one in Doncaster.

Big Bale were now importing spares in a 40ft container annually. About this time we imported our first used 4800 baler.

Big Bale Co started to explore the possibility of hiring balers, this was driven by the number of 4800 balers we had in stock. The hire fleet eventually peaked in about 1999 to approximately 40 machines.

Nigel Crossley became the General Manager.

Four 4900 balers arrived and were sold, Big Bale established a long term and fruitful relationship with Tom Schrag, one of the main design engineers.

Big Bale ordered 16 balers for harvest 1989. We also started annual trips to visit the design engineers at Hesston as, it seems, we were able to give them information relating to baler performance and failures in European conditions.

Moved to current address in Waltham Chase.

Michael Coleman & David Johnson amicably split and formed Big Bale (South) Ltd & Big Bale Co (North) Ltd.

Hesston produced the Hesston 4750 (0.80 x 0.90). Big Bale Co (south) Ltd bought four, fitted the safety kit to them and sold them.

AGCO bought Massey Ferguson. Louis Lobermeier (Company Accountant) & James Pavey (Workshop) started working for Big Bale Co (South) Ltd.

Hesston produced the silage version of the Hesston 4750, marketed as Hesston 4755.

Both Big Bale companies were approached by MF/AGCO to sell their balers for them and were both given the whole of the UK as our territories.

Seeing a need in the baler market for a 0.80 x 0.70 bale size. Big Bale Co (South) Ltd experimented with a few designs. BBS produced 25 machines before AGCO took the design up with the 2140 baler.

We began offering yearlong work placements to the first Harper Adams Student, thus establishing a mutually beneficial relationship with the university. To date we have our 15th student with us and over the years, at various times, we have employed six of our work placement students full time.

Big Bale Co (South) Ltd bought the intellectual rights for the Transtacker from John Walton.

The 4100 Transtacker was being developed and tested. Because of the imminent release of the new Transtacker model, we ceased production of the 6072. At this point BBS had manufactured 53 new 6072 Transtackers.

The first two 4100’s were produced and sold.

New building at current Church House Farm site was started.

Five updated 4100’s produced, and the two original ones updated.

Ten 4100’s produced, and all existed units updated.

Eleven 4100’s produced.

December 2021, Nigel Crossley steps down as General Manager. Louis becomes the Managing Director. James Pavey is made a director. John Corfield becomes Workshop Supervisor. Nigel Crossley is now sales.

Big Bale South Ltd moved into the new premises.