RARELY do northern hemisphere machinery companies use New Zealand as a test ground for equipment, but for one it was an obvious choice this summer.
Irish company McHale have recognised the similarities between New Zealand and Irish farming and this year trialled their prototype round baler, the McHale F550 in Southland. Long-time contractor and McHale user Darrell Black used the new fixed chamber baler to churn out almost 10,000 bales this season, and was "blown away" with its performance and simplicity. With his wife Frances, Darrell has been contracting since 1984, and has seen many balers come and go over that time.
"We would have gone through nine balers in the last few years, and this would definitely have been the best we have used." The two McHale wrappers Darrell uses have been "going for years" and he has never had to remove the turntables for repair or wear.
Darrell's ties to McHale extend back to the mid nineties when he first came across the brand at the national Grasslands field days in the United Kingdom. At the time he had three opposition balers and wrappers operating, but found while they were good machines they could not withstand the demands of rougher paddocks and higher throughput requirements.
"We were pushing them pretty hard, and they just were not designed to do the numbers."
He found the Irish balers and wrappers almost bullet proof, and he was one of the first in New Zealand to buy the Fusion baler-wrapper combination. This machine has found favour with many contractors because of its smaller "foot-print", the result of closely engineering the wrapper to the baler, rather than simply adding on a wrapper behind. Darrell says the Fusion also produces a quality, consistent haylage product due to the extra wrap it puts around the bale, minimising air penetration. A combination of sound engineering and simple design has won the machine many pundits in New Zealand.
Following the success of the Fusion, McHale have taken the bold step of introducing a fixed chamber baler into an already crowded market. Manager for importer Lely, Peter Vis, says the company were confident they could apply the formula of simplicity and strength to make the 550 a successful launch. Using a contractor in the field was central to this.
A key feature is the drop down hydraulically operated chamber floor. It comes as standard, and if a blockage occurs it can be freed by lowering, then reset for baling to continue. Expensive down time is eliminated and the operator does not need to get off the tractor to free the blockage.
An auto-greasing system is expected to be a strong selling feature of the machine, and one Darrell Black believes will add to its service life.
"It delivers a shot of grease to all bearings each time the door opens, and you just need to replace the dispensing cartridge when it runs out." He sees this, the strength of the 50mm side bearings and shafts, all pushing the F550's life well beyond the usual three seasons for most machines.
"This makes it a machine you will actually make money on, rather than having to quit it after three years because you need the highest resale you can to contribute to profit and the cost of a new one." He expects this could also reflect in the resale value of the McHale.
The F550 not only won over Darrell Black, but his wife Frances too. She came to call it the "motor mouth" baler because of its voracious ability to scoff grass at great rates with little fuss.
"I had absolutely no problem letting her go out on her own with it. Some machines you know are a bit fiddly and you can have problems, but not this one."
Features like the cab operated knife system meant Frances did not have to get off the tractor to pull pins and turn levers to engage the 15 bale knives. A simple control box with automatic and manual net cycles, lube alarm and easy to read layout is a great change after some that are almost unfathomable, says Darrell.
"You feel quite confident putting new staff on the machine. They get a handle on it very quickly indeed."
"The biggest dilemma is whether to buy the F550 or another Fusion - they are both great machines." "They are definitely the best machines around at present".
