Hawker runs Waimea Contracting Ltd in Riversdale and trialled a McHale V660 baler two seasons ago.
“We were pretty happy with the way it performed. It made a nice tight bale. We aim to make the tightest bale of baleage that we can. The more in the bale, the better and more cost effective it is for the farmer.”
It also helped that Power Farming is New Zealand’s McHale distributor. Hawker says, in the past, he has had good support from Power Farming. Whenever his drivers had hiccups with a machine, product manager Nigel Prattley and his team were ready to answer questions or shoot out to see them.
With this history of good service behind him, once he’d tried the new McHale model, the outcome was inevitable: Waimea Contracting became the proud owner of a McHale V660.
“The baler was provided by Power Farming in Gore. Shane O’Donnell made the transition easy for us. It was the right choice for a busy company,” Hawker adds.
Waimea Contracting has more than 25 years’ experience. Combined with parent company Waipounamu Contracting, they offer a wide range of services.
Hawker says to provide the best service, you need the best gear for the job, and the V660 is just that.
“It’s improved our business,” he adds. “There are lots of features to like. It has a variable belt chamber and works well on a range of crops including grass, whole-crop, hay and straw.
“We chose the V660 because it’s a straight baler without a wrapper. While there is still a place in our business for a baler-wrapper combination, there’s a limited window in a day to make bales.
“A baler that is also a wrapper slows you down a bit. We can move around more quickly with just the baler. The man with the wrapper can follow along and can work into the night if need be. We have to try and make the best quality bales while conditions are good.”
Lots of bales in the area are also tube-wrapped and they didn’t need the extra weight of a baler/wrapper, especially on hills.
“The V660 is a very stable baler. When conditions are good we can make around 60 bales an hour. It’s up there with the best of them,” he says.
Most of the hay and straw bales Waimea Contracting makes are 5 x 4, while most of the grass baleage bales are 4 x 4. The baler copes equally well with straw or baleage with no extra adjustment needed.
“It has a 2.0m pick-up and a bank of 15 knives that is hydraulically engaged from the computer in the cab. You can also use the cab monitor to adjust bale size and density,” Hawker says.
“It also has a drop floor to deal with blockages. It opens the throat and 99 percent of the time it will pull the block through and suck it straight into the chamber.”
The bales are net-wrapped. It’s a simple system which copes with most types of net. They’ve now opted for Agpac’s Marathon brand and apply three layers of netting.
Maintenance on the V660 is easy. There’s a chain oil reservoir on the side of the baler, which Waimea Contracting staff top up every morning, and the grease points are all easy to get to.
Hawker says the McHale V660 does a great job and is easy to use.
“It’s driver-friendly. The monitor is easy to find your way around and we can chop and change staff and there’s no hassle for them all to use it. We’re really happy with the baler and its ideal for what we need.”
Further information is available from Graeme Leigh on 07 902 2280 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
