SOME major changes have been made to McHale's Fusion Vario integrated baler wrapper for the 2017 season, all of which hope to make the operator's job easier, with less downtime.

Mainly a contractor's machine, these have become a by-word for flexibility – able to make bales of silage from 1.1m up to 1.45m, or hay/straw bales from 0.6m-1.68m in diameter. Bale size is adjustable in increments of 10mm.

This has allowed contractors to offer a wider range of services, saving time on the road. From a farmers' perspective, they can get larger bales if they want them which for silage will reduce film usage and costs and for hay and straw will reduce the amount of bales that need to be handled for collection, feeding or bedding.

John Biggins, McHale's international sales manager, commented: “For next season, a number of changes have been made to the new McHale Fusion Vario, most notably, a single heavy duty belt replaces three endless belts, a new hydraulic stretch net system applies net to the barrel of the bale and all new machines now come with an auto greasing system as standard."

The latest McHale Fusion Vario has a 2.1m, five-tine bar pick-up and is now fitted with a larger rotor and flexible floor. This allows larger volumes of crop to feed through the rotor and into the chamber, which in turn reduces the risk of blockages and increases output for the operator.

The net stretch system provides better coverage across the barrel of the bale by stretching the net from each edge of the bale. With this, users can vary the net stretch from the comfort of the cab via the control console.

A visual difference is a new, safer access platform for changing the roll of net.

Two McHale patents remain at the heart of the baler/wrapper –

Its high speed transfer system's cradle reduces the height the bale has to travel to get to the wrapper, saving time; while the tip roller adjusts its height in line with bale size to ensure the plastic always goes onto the centre of the bale, regardless of its diameter, ensuring the correct overlap is achieved.

The i Touch in-cab control console provides clear indicators of machine performance on its large touch screen graphic display. New bale shape indicators have been introduced on machines to improve the bale shape by explaining to the operator which side of the chamber is full and by how much.

It also instructs the operator which way to turn the steering wheel of the tractor in order to fill the bale chamber evenly. There is also a rear camera as standard.