DRIVING IMPRESSION: Wanting to keep its manufacturing wheels turning all year round, McHale decided to develop a feeder/bedder to complement its long-established range of wrappers and balers. And to keep things simple there’s just the one model, the C460. We take a closer look.
Straw feeder/bedders represent a relatively new venture for McHale, with the company releasing the C460 in 2010 for Irish farmers and then other markets the following year. This one-model, one-spec machine comes with a swivel chute and electric controls all as standard; in fact, the only options in the price book are two types of drawbar. Basic configuration comprises a cross beater equipped with fingers to tease material away from the bale and serrated knives to chop. Material is then passed to a six-paddle flywheel and discharged out through a swivel chute with a maximum blowing distance of up to 18m.
But before all of that you have to load the bales. Twin rams lower the tailgate, with rubber stops to prevent the tailgate banging up against the hopper frame when closing. The rear tailgate also has a bucket-style digging edge to help it slip under a bale, and for added convenience there are duplicate electrical controls at the rear, allowing the C460 user to work the rear door and move the chain-and-slat floor back and forth.
Shifting attention forwards from the tailgate, the hopper sides on the C460 taper out towards the top to catch any material thrown up by the cross beater, while inside the hopper there’s sufficient capacity for either a pair of 1.2m diameter round bales or Quadrant size squares, or one full-size Hesston. Fingers over the drum alter the size of cross beater bite, and this is linked to an upper baffle plate: as the bale finishes, the baffle plate above the hopper is synchronised with the feeding fingers so that it presses down on the last of the bale, making sure that the beater can clear out the hopper. The floor speed is set using a dial on the in-cab control box.
