Daniel Teal of Gavin Teal Contracting knew what he was looking for when researching a new telehandler for their family hay and silage, cultivation and seeding business.

After a spring from hell in the Taranaki, Paul and Tracey O’Rorke, dairy farmers and owners of PG O’Rorke Contracting at Opunake are keen to get their new Merlo Multifarmer Telehandler doing what it was bought for. Not that it has been standing idle over the winter. But, it’s main purpose of loading and unloading the McHale HS 2000 power pack bale wrapper and then stacking, has only just begun.

Anyone who has a telehandler doesn’t go back to a tractor, says contractor and farmer Mark Flipp.

“A tractor isn't designed to have a frontend loader: it’s an...