DRIVING IMPRESSION: For this season, McHale introduced the Fusion 3 Pro, sandwiched between the Standard and Plus variants. It hosts a number of automated features for those wanting to increase operator comfort over the entry level version. We travelled to the firm’s headquarters in Mayo to see what else has changed.
Although the Fusion 3 has been wearing the same clothes since it was introduced in 2012, each season has seen subtle tweaks under the curvy panels. For 2020, the Pro variant has joined the range, which in short is a Plus model without the film-on-film binding system. Aimed at the user who wants more automated features than the standard model can offer, here is a run down on what you get with a Pro.
Starting at the front, like the other two models, the Pro has the option of a 1,000rpm gearbox. This has a longer input shaft for the gearbox which helps reduce the length of Walterschied P400 pto. The main benefits of the 1,000rpm box is that it allows a slight fuel saving (particularly if 1,000E is selected) as the baler can comfortably operate with 900rpm, so less engine revs. Compare this with the 540rpm gearbox where operators tend to run the pto at 580-600rpm. The thousand speed also allows the rotor to better handle smaller lumps and if it is a bigger wad the engine can pull back to utilise the tractor’s increased torque allowing a lump to be better ingested by the baler.
On the hose support arm there is an oil pressure dump valve for easier attachment. The return line is ¾ inch for better flow. Moving down to the crop intake, the Pro gets a six bar camless pick-up option complete with larger diameter, shorter tines. The tines also disappear down into the bands quicker, which reduces the risk of crop getting pulled into the inner workings. To ease maintenance
