New higher density round balers produced by Irish manufacturer McHale provide better intake, less crop loss and easier maintenance, according to distributor PFG.
Industry-wide demand for larger hay balers is continuing into 2020, distributor PFG says, as it introduces two new highdensity round hay balers to the Australian market.
PFG national sales manager Brendan Lee says demand for larger balers is high, leading the company to make larger models available.
“We are finding a lot of people now are baling, cutting [and] conditioning cereal crops that would traditionally go to cereal [and] would be headed… now being baled,” he says.
“By going with some of this bigger equipment on our side of things, we are able to assist people in that area.”
McHale marketing and sales director Martin McHale says the balers, first unveiled at machinery expo Agritechnica in 2019, are well known for making well-shaped, high density bales.
“Our new V6740 and V6750 have brought baling to a new level with higher density, better intake, less crop loss and easier maintenance,” he says
Both models have a 2.1m high intake galvanised pick-up with options of either a five-tine bar cam track pick-up or six-tine bar camless pick-up option with double crop roller.
They also have a larger, adaptive intake system, designed to adjust to changes in material flow – making it easier to handle uneven rows and reducing the chances of blockages.
Designed with heavy-duty components, the new McHale balers can produce bales from 60cm to 1.68m in diameter – up to 130cm wrapped – using all types of forage.
Using the new Expert Plus control console, the operator can adjust bale size, density and the amount of net applied while wrapping, as well as choosing between a soft or hard bale core, depending on the customers’ feed out requirements.
Should a blockage occur, the balers can use a drop floor unblocking system, which means blockages can be fed through by lowering the floor, widening the feed channel and re-engaging the power take-off.
McHale has also increased the size of the lateral feed augers, which direct crop into the rotor while also increasing the rotor diameter to improve intake, while the floor angle has also been shifted to maximise the flow of crop into the chamber.
Both balers have three heavy-duty endless belts, with a fullwidth single belt available to reduce crop loss in lucerne and alfalfa harvesting, while the V6750 has a secondary drive to aid belt and material rotation should the primary drive slip.
The V6750 is fitted with a 15-knife chopper unit and heavyduty rotor as standard, delivering a chop length of about 65mm, though an optional selectable knife system is also available – allowing for various knife configurations to be chosen.