The horses on the Saville farm will be enjoying hay made by a 60-year-old baler this winter.

The David Brown baler was bought by Katikati's Arthur Saville 43 years ago for $100 – and he reckons it doesn't owe him a cent.

The 60-year-old David Brown baler, owned by Arthur Saville, may be the oldest still in use in the country.

'It's been used almost every season since then because it make bales which are ideal for feeding to horses.

'All I do is take it out of the shed, give it a grease and it's away,” says Arthur, who says his father Fred bought the same model back in the early-1950s.

'Dad was going to buy a New Holland but was told David Brown was bringing out a new model, so he waited for it to arrive. They sent the designer out from England, who showed me how to operate it and how to make any repairs. I ended up servicing others in the district,” says Arthur, who was living in the Morrinsville area at the time.

'I've still got Dad's old baler, but it needs doing up.”

Arthur likes the David Brown baler, which he believes may be oldest model still in use, because it's well-made and simple to operate.

'It can be driven by a Ferguson 35 or a David Brown 90, tractors with 35 to 45 horse power. The mechanism is simple and effective.”

The baler is 12 foot wide when ready to operate, but the hay shoot folds back to allow ease of access through gateways, and for storage.

In March, towed by a David Brown tractor, the baler made 80 bales of hay from two small paddocks at Tuapiro – and never missed a beat.

'Everything is mechanical. It's a bit like a sewing machine, you can hear when it's not running right and it's easy to make the adjustments needed.”

Arthur is now teaching his son Graeme to operate the baler. 'If it's looked after, it will go on for many, many more years,” says Arthur.

Arthur no longer lives on the family dairy farm near Katikati, but visits most days. He and his extended family are well-known for the Christian camps they run, based around horse riding and farm life.

'We have about 54 horses of our own and now the grandchildren of teenagers who came on our early camps are coming here, which we love to see.

'Too many children don't get to experience farm life and don't know hay is made from grass, or that milk comes from cows,” says Arthur.

If you have an old piece of farm machinery, or farm vehicle still in use, we'd love to hear from you. Email a photo and information about the machinery to [email protected] with ‘Farm machinery' in the subject line, or post to Elaine Fisher, Coast & Country, PO Box 240, Tauranga 3110.