For the National Ploughing Championships, McHale will launch the McHale Pro Glide Mower range to the Irish market. McHale will be exhibiting two new products from this range – the McHale Pro Glide F3100 Front Mower and the R3100 Rear Mower – at stand 210.

Both mowers are fitted with 3m cutter bars with tine conditioners and benefit from a number of novel features which, according to McHale, result in better ground-following ability and quicker reaction times to changes in ground conditions.

James Heanue, Irish sales manager for McHale, says: “To maximise the feed value of forage it is important that grass crops are cut when the sugar content is highest, and that the mower leaves clean crop stubble and produces quality forage free from impurities.

“Our design team combined their specialist knowledge of crop harvesting, energy and know-how to develop the McHale Pro Glide range of mowers. I feel these products offer a number of unique features which will deliver better ground-following ability and better cut quality.”

The McHale Orbital High Speed Round Bale Wrapper (p55 opposite) is the latest addition to the McHale bale wrapper range. McHale has adapted vertical wrapping ring technology used in the McHale Fusion to deliver a high-output bale wrapper which is capable of keeping up with multiple balers, according to McHale. Once the operator drives into the bale, the lift arm can automatically lift the bale onto the machine.

PRO GLIDE F3100 – Front Mower

McHale’s design team has designed the frame on the Pro Glide front mower to place the centre of gravity as close as possible to the tractor, which results in better response to changes in ground conditions, according to James Heanue.

McHale also claims that the support frame on the Pro Glide mower responds to uneven terrain to glide over the ground through the use of an integrated suspension.

The integrated suspension allows the mowing unit to move independently from the front linkage. At standard settings, the cutter bar has 500mm adaptive range, which allows the mower to automatically adjust to ground contours. The left/ right pivot range of 17 degrees allows the cutter bar to follow right-to-left or left-to-right changes in ground conditions without overloading the cutter bar.

The McHale Pro Glide front mower range is fitted with patented active spring compensator technology which ensures that the mower cutter bar always applies the same ground pressure regardless of the working height, according to James.

When the ground pressure is set on the springs, as the mower travels downward the patented spring compensator controls the spring tension.

McHale used a tubular support frame designed to maximise the cutter bars’ clearance for headland turns and in transport. When raised, the mower has a clearance of over 600mm between the bottom of the cutter bar and the ground.

Stabiliser stops built into the tubular frame keep the mower centred during transport.

PRO GLIDE R3100 – Rear Mower

The McHale Pro Glide R3100 rear mower comes standard with McHale patented ground following technology, mechanical break-back protection, hydraulic ground pressure control and heavy duty bed design.

The patented ground adaption technology, which delivers three-dimensional ground contour tracking for its Pro Glide range of rear mowers, allows an arc of movement from left to right and forward and back movement of the cutter bar, according to McHale.

The Pro Glide mowers are fitted with patented ground adaption technology. McHale claims this allows the bed to move back and up if the bed encounters small obstacles. The rear suspension springs react to ground contours, which allows the mower to cut even when working at high ground speeds.

McHale claims this allows the mower to perform well on rough or undulating terrain.

On the Pro Glide rear mowers, the cutter bar ground pressure can be set from the tractor cab. The working pressure is visually displayed on the clock which is mounted on the headstock.

Once the desired pressure is selected, the cutter bar’s working pressure can be isolated from the tractor hydraulics with a mechanical tap.

On the Pro Glide rear mower, the gearbox powering the cutter bar is located behind the first mower disc, which allows the operator to mow into corners.

Cutter Bar

The 3m Pro Glide cutter bar is powered by a heavy duty right-angle gearbox which is positioned behind the inner top hat.

McHale states that the Pro Glide cutter bar has been designed so the rounded low-profile front edge lets the fully welded cutter bar travel smoothly over the ground. The slanted leading edge of the cutter bar allows for clean forage separation and reduces ground contamination.

Large heavy duty spur gears take the PTO power and transfer it to the discs. Each disc is driven by a smaller spur gear. The spur gears which drive the individual discs are mounted in a forward position on the cutter bars.

The blades are free to spin 360 degrees, which makes them self-cleaning. The knives orbit with a generous overlap, which ensures a clean cut, while also feeding a smooth flow of cut material to the rear of the mower, according to McHale.

Conditioner

Power is transmitted from the cutter bar to the rear of the mower to drive the rotor for the tine conditioner on the McHale Pro Glide range. The conditioner is driven by a mechanical gearbox.

Conditioning speeds can be adjusted between 700rpm and 1,000rpm manually.

The McHale Orbital Bale Wrapper is a unique to McHale and utilises existing technology such as the McHale patented High Speed Transfer System.

As the lift arm moves the bale towards the wrapping ring, the wrapping roller closest to the tractor pivots out of the way. This reduces the height the bale has to travel to get to the wrapper. This movement allows the bale to move from the ground to the wrapping platform.

Through the use of a patented tip roller, the McHale Orbital Bale Wrapper can wrap bales from 1m up to 1.45m. The tip roller adjusts its height in line with bale size to ensure that the wrapping ring always applies the plastic to the centre of the bale, regardless of the bale diameter, according to McHale.

Once the bale is loaded on to the bale wrapper, McHale claims the high-speed vertical wrapping ring can apply four layers of film to a 1.25m bale in approximately 20 seconds, or six layers of film in 30 seconds. This high-speed wrapping performance is delivered by two 750mm dispensers.

The wrapping system ensures an even overlap of film, even if the machine is working on difficult or bumpy terrain, which is difficult with satellite wrappers.

Integral to the wrapping process is the cut and hold system which gathers the film together at one point where it is cut and held. McHale claims this system ensures better grip and provides a more consistent, superior performance, even in wet and windy conditions.

The McHale Orbital High Speed Round Bale Wrapper has been designed with in-built film break sensors, which detect if the film breaks or runs out on either dispenser.

The machine alerts the operator in the cab and automatically switches to single dispenser mode.

Film loading can be carried out from the left-hand side of the machine and when the first roll is loaded and the access door is closed, a button can be pressed which will index the second dispenser to the loading position.

Machine Operation

The Expert Plus control console on the McHale Orbital Bale Wrapper makes wrapping operation fully automatic from loading the bale, through the wrapping process and gently placing the bale onto the ground.

Tipping off the bale, the rear wrapping roller moves downwards and the McHale Orbital Bale Wrapper gently places its tightly wrapped bale on to the ground.

James Heanue also commented: “We have a number of machines already at work around the factory and both farmers and contractors are very happy with them. The Orbital Bale Wrapper provides an unrivalled high-speed wrapping solution through the use of the vertical wrapping ring. By harnessing proven Fusion technology, the McHale Orbital offers high speed wrapping with low running costs.”