A bale plucking machine for plucking fibres from the bales arranged on both sides of the machine includes a trolley (1) with locking holes mounted on rails (2); a turntable (3) with an indexing hole rotatably mounted on the trolley (1); a tower (5) mounted on the turntable (3); a plucking head assembly (6) connected to the turntable (3) through a spring biased locking spindle housed inside the tower (5). The said plucking head assembly (6) includes at least one feed roller (8), at least one plucking roller (10) with at least one detachable strip of teeth attached to its outer periphery, a detachable suction hood (7) and an interchangeable grill assembly (9). A drive arrangement is provided to rotate the turntable (3) in a semicircular path so as to turn the plucking head assembly (6) from one side of the machine to its opposite side. The plucking head assembly (6) is lifted and lowered by lifting and lowering means comprising a shaft (4), at least one pair of rollers mounted on the shaft (4), a driving means for driving the shaft (4), and at least one pair of slings (11) one end of which is fixed to the tower (5) and the other end is attached to the said rollers.