Lightweight butterfly mower sets have been gaining attention this season, yet that does not mean to say that more robust and sophisticated machines, such as those built by McHale, have gone out of fashion.
To get the best from premium mowers, premium tractors are called for and those produced by Valtra fit the bill exactly, according to Kilkenny Agri Machinery, which happens to sell both.
McHale is back
The company recently held a demonstration day a few miles from its base in Kilkenny city at which it laid on a display of the whole ensiling process, from mowing to stacking using McHale equipment paired with Valtra tractors.
McHale has not been chasing the limelight over the last couple of years so any developments or new products have tended to slip out quietly rather than with a fanfare of publicity, although the latest Fusion 4 was a notable exception.
Yet it has not been standing still and this new enthusiasm to show its product could well be due to there being plenty of new product to show.
It was refreshing to see the company back out promoting itself and catch up with what it is now offering, and much more to the point, see it working rather than sitting on a show stand.
The three companies, Kilkenny Agri Machinery, McHale and Valtra, had arranged for each process in the baling operation to be demonstrated in sequence, starting with the mowing.
No nonsense mower
McHale has made its name producing the sort of equipment that can cope with the heavy crops grown in Ireland and nowhere is this more obvious than on its mowers; they are, unashamedly, built to last
It was the rear-mounted Proglide 89000 butterfly set, in conjunction with a front Proglide F3100, which was tasked with the initial cutting and what was immediately apparent was that these are not lightweight units designed for part-time use.
The solidity of build in these mowers is their most striking feature, along with the telescopic arms which allow a variation in working width, useful in odd-shaped fields or on corners.
The company likes to highlight the ground-following features of these machines and the suspension system has clearly undergone some careful design work, but the field chosen for the event left it unchallenged and the wet grass fell effortlessly to the blades.
New McHale Tedder now available
Following the mower was the new M6-770 mounted tedder which has yet to be officially launched, although there are around 30 units already working in Ireland.
As the name suggests, this has six rotors and a working width of 7.7m and is the smallest of this new range. Two trailed units of greater width will also become available for next season.
Once again it is the robustness of the construction that immediately stands out, the joints being of cast steel rather than pins running through sheet metal with reinforced holes.
Hooked tines are standard as is a curtain, on the right-hand end, to prevent grass being flicked into the hedge. A neat touch that is controllable from the cab.
Raking it in
Swath forming was left to a R 62-72 centre delivery rake which is already familiar to customers, although it does represent another step in the company’s recent expansion into the whole grassland machinery market.
Like the rest of the range this is not built as a one-season wonder, but is, instead, engineered to perform in all conditions over many years.
Working width, as indicated in the name, is between 6.2m and 7.2m, this being adjustable from the cab and the set width clearly displayed on a gauge mounted in the drivers view, as is the rotors height.
The tine cam setting can also be adjusted, altering the point at which the tine engages with, and then lifts away from the swath.
McHale Fusion balers updated
Refining the Fusion baler wrapper concept is an ongoing project and in this, its latest iteration, McHale claims to have increased the intake rate considerably over the Fusion 3.
This has been accomplished by a slightly wider pick up and a redesign to the augers at its edges, both helping to not only bale faster, but also improve the shape of the bale by squaring up the shoulders.
There is also a new control panel at the rear of the machine to enable the operator to activate the functions from the rear. This is tucked well away from the moving parts.
ISOBUS has come to the Fusion with this latest model and either the McHale screen or the tractors own screen can be used to operate the baler and keep the driver informed of what is happening behind him.
Baling is not all about combination balers, the standard fixed-chamber models, which make up the bulk of sales by volume, have undergone some TLC as well, with much the same improvements being made to increase work rate.
Wrapping and handling
There was little new in the way of the Orbital wrapper although McHale is making much of the load-sensing function which only takes oil from the tractor’s circuit when it is actually wrapping, offering a saving on fuel.
However, it was also pointed out that one Orbital wrapper should be able to keep up with two standard balers in the field which opens the question as to the relative costings of having one combination baler, or two balers and a wrapper.
With two balers, there is more flexibility and a higher work rate, with the safety net of having two machines working rather than relying on just the one of greater complexity.
On the downside it will require three tractors, although they may be smaller, and operators. Requirements which may well outweigh any gain in productivity. It would be an interesting equation for many contractors.
Full line for baled silage
With the new tedder being demonstrated for the first time in public, this event signalled an important milestone.
Over the last few years the company has been enlarging upon its range of popular balers by applying the same engineering ethos to a range of grassland machinery, leading to it now being able to supply machinery for every stage of the baled silage process.
Although the company was not trumpeting the fact, this demonstration day was the first occasion on which all the machinery, from mowing to stacking, could be seen working together, and that makes it a day worth remembering.