Tillage farming on the outskirts of Limavady, Co Derry, Andrew Cochrane and his father, Ronald, grow between 90 and 135 acres of potatoes annually.

All operations from tilling to planting, spraying and harvesting are taken care of in-house, leaving the spring and autumn months busy.

With potatoes being the only crop grown on the farm, the summer months therefore tend to be a relatively quiet time on the farm.

Last year with this in mind, Andrew made the decision to purchase a Kverneland 6500F fixed chamber baler and carry out some hire work in the locality, having felt there was an opening for the service.

Why Kverneland?

In a tillage stronghold, Andrew knew baling straw would potentially be a large percentage of his work. Therefore, he made the decision that a standard fixed chamber baler best suited his requirements and budget.

Powering each of the roller's sprockets is a heavy-duty 1.25in pitch chain.

“I spent a considerable amount of time throughout the country looking at the different balers on the market. Having looked at the majority of brands, Kverneland’s 6500F stood out to us as the best value for money.

“Granted, I could have gone second hand but the benefits of reliability, backup and better finance on a new machine outweighed those of buying a used machine,” Andrew said.

Already running a Kverneland plough and sprayer on the farm with faultless backup from local dealer D A Forgie, this cemented his decision to buy Kverneland.

Pickup and chopping unit

Andrews’s baler, being the latest generation 6500F model, is fitted with a 2.3m wide pickup reel. The five-tine bar design incorporates a cam track at both ends, while each tine bar, equipped with 32 tines, is supported on four bearings.

Andrew noted that the Kverneland's 6500F's pickup intake was a major selling point.

This generation of balers from Kverneland sees an increased pickup width of 10cm and increased tine length of 10mm, while the gap between the strippers has been reduced for improved performance in wet crop, according to the manufacturer.

So far, having baled a range of crops and swath widths of up to 30ft, Andrew can’t fault the baler’s intake. “When I was buying the baler I was told it wouldn’t be beaten for its intake and, so far, I’d agree based on my experience of other brands over the years.”

The baler is equipped with the SuperCut 15 chopping unit which features 15 individually spring-protected knives. With the full set of knives engaged, a theoretical chop length of 70mm is achievable. A 25-knife unit is optionally available.

The parallelogram DropFloor system works seamlessly from the control terminal, according to Andrew, noting the degree of extra clearance under the rotor it provides once lowered.

The 2.3m pickup features five tine bars and a cam track at either end.

Chamber and net binding

The 6500F baler is equipped with 18 heavy duty ribbed rollers, the same as what’s fitted to the firm’s Fastbale non-stop baler-wrapper combination.

Transferring power to each of rollers sprockets is a heavy duty 1 1/4in pitch chain, the quality running gear being another selling point at the time for Andrew.

From the cab terminal, Andrew can control bale density as well as the netting process.

“The baler uses a pressurised backdoor which I’m fond off. On the terminal there is a density bar which shows the extent to which the bale inside is packed. It’s producing bales as good as and better than some competitors having seen some of them side by side, Andrew says.

Typically, Andrew drives the baler using a New Holland T6080 which he says is well capable of the job.

Although the baler is not equipped to apply film-on-film binding he believes given the additional cost of the film and the fact straw is a large proportion of the work, it’s not a feature he requires at the moment.

“The netting system works well regardless of the crop or conditions. From the cab I can quickly change bale density and the amount of net applied when going from silage to straw. I like the low height of the netting system too for loading. Even though the netting system is low, visibility of the pickup from the tractor cab is very good.”

Andrew also had good praise for the baler's simple remote grease banks, leaving all roller bearings quickly greased from a central location.

The chain lube system again is simple yet effective with each outlet hose individually adjustable.

One season on, Andrew is delighted with how the baler has performed so far, with its ease of use and intake of crop being the major selling points.

The Focus 3 terminal is intuitive

and leaves all major parameters easily controlled, according to Andrew.

“The baler came with the standard Focus 3 terminal which is clear and easy to navigate. Aside from density and net parameters, the chopping unit’s position and the drop floor can be operated at the press of a button, so too can manual or automatic binding option.

“All in all, it’s proved a great wee baler, from usability right through to what comes out the back, a consistently well-formed dense bale. I fitted the rear door with a camera which proved much more useful than I’d initially thought it would, especially while baling late into the evening,” Andrew said.

  • Model: 6500F.
  • Knives: 15.
  • Rollers: 18.
  • Pickup width: 2.3m five-tine bar cam track.
  • Weight: 3,600kg.
  • Wheel size: 550/45 R22.5.
  • Width: 2.75m.
  • List price: €44,000 plus VAT.
  • The 6500F baler features 18 heavy-duty rollers, the same as what's used in the firm's Fastbale.