"At our price and with a throughput of only 30,000 bales, I believe this machine represents a really good buy for someone looking to upgrade to a top-quality baler," he said.

"Like all MF balers, it is out of Agco's Hesston factory in Kansas in the United States which has produced and sold more balers than all other manufacturers since it developed the world's first big square baler in 1978."

Mr Pfeiffer said the MF 187 baler, which produced large 1.2-metre by 1m bales, was designed to process all types of hay, silage and straw.

"It requires a tractor power of 90 kilowatts with a 1000 revs a minute power-take-off," he said.

"It is a single axle-mounted baler which features a 2.2m-wide four-bar 120-tyne pick-up to handle the heaviest of windows and is fitted with a rotary cutter.

"The baler is fitted with a blower over its double knotter system, and features an automatic lubrication system.

"It has a 30-ball twine storage capacity and features a heavy duty roller chute bale ejector system."

An important benefit of the 187's rotary cutter system – which could chop down to lengths of 48 millimetres – was its ability to create heavier bales. And cut material could be packed more tightly under pressure from the plunger.

"The baler is also FieldStar equipped," Mr Pfeiffer said.

"Agco bought the Hesston company in 1991 and wisely decided to continue with the company's large bale philosophy it launched more than three decades ago.

"While some of the basic components introduced on the first big-square baler in 1978 can still be found on the latest Hesston machines, much has changed.

"The Hesston famous double-knotter system, the charged chamber and the bale density control system on the new balers are evidence of this."

* Extract from a full Machine of the Week report in Stock Journal, July 2 issue.