Once upon a time in Lula, Oklahoma, there was a rancher in search of a baler with true grit. His wish list seemed simple enough: He wanted a machine built tough to withstand rough land, something simple to operate and with a reasonable price point to protect his pocketbook.

That rancher was Craig Wofford. After owning and running nearly every brand out there he finally found the perfect fit for his operation — the Vermeer 604N baler. Wofford admits it took some convincing to even give Vermeer a shot. He’d never pulled yellow iron before. After a year of smooth sailing, he sees yellow in a new light. He believes in Vermeer.

“I kind of have to see things before I believe them,” Wofford explained. “(My dealer) persuaded me to try a Vermeer baler, and I don’t regret buying it. It’s done everything they said it’d do. So I have no regrets on buying it at all.”

Wofford, a third-generation rancher, puts up 8,000 to 10,000 bales per year on his farm just outside of Lula and loves every minute of the rural lifestyle.

“It’s just home,” Wofford said in a wistful voice. “I don’t want to go anywhere else. The sky is pretty, there’s no city traffic, no hustle and bustle. You just watch the cows graze across the pasture and watch the horses grazing. It’s peaceful — it’s God’s country.”

When Wofford was due for a new baler, he knew he was ready to try something different. The other brands of balers just weren’t tough enough, productive enough, or gritty enough. The Vermeer 604N baler changed that. Once his neighbors noticed him hauling around that yellow iron they inquired immediately.

“They’ve asked me all the questions,” Wofford said with an amused grin. “I say to them, ‘As far as I can tell (the 604N) is as good, if not better, than other brands. It makes a bale as tight, if not tighter, than anything else I’ve run.’”

With such a large amount of hay to bale and nothing but rough ground to work with, Wofford needed a baler built for durability — something that could hold its own.

“(The 604N baler) is just heavier — I mean these fields we bale are rough. It’s not like it’s groomed ground (on our farm),” Wofford explained.

The rugged field conditions took a toll on his previous balers. Wofford still grimaces while reminiscing about all the pickup teeth he’s changed out over the years. With the Vermeer 604N he doesn’t do that very often anymore. Not that he misses it one bit.

“The pickup attachment teeth (in the 604N) are twice as heavy duty as my old baler,” Wofford said with a hint of pride. “I was constantly breaking teeth. That particular baler didn’t have a clutch on the pickup attachment, so if you happened to get on a high spot when you were making a bale, it was just continually setting there spinning and you could just hear those teeth popping off.”

In the year that Wofford has run the 604N, he hasn’t had to change a single pickup attachment tooth. Not one.

“With (the 604N), when (the bale is) ready to tie, the clutch kicks in and the pickup attachment stops,” Wofford explained. “I really like that feature in this baler, because I do not like changing pickup attachment teeth. It’s a chore to change them. You bust your knuckles and there’s a lot of swearing going on. It takes an hour to change them and time is money.”

In addition to the durability of the 604N, Wofford appreciates the simplicity of its design, which can mean better productivity, ease of use and less maintenance.

“I mean all balers have (several) working parts don’t get me wrong, but this baler is a pretty simple design,” Wofford said. “There’s not all of that unnecessary bells and whistles and it does the job.”

Now that he is armed with the durability and simplicity of Vermeer, Wofford said he can foresee a few more yellow iron purchases in the future. In fact, he’d buy another 604N next time he’s in the market for a new baler.

“I can’t complain — not at all — on anything,” Wofford exclaimed. “(The 604N baler) proved itself to me and that’s what I’ve got to see to represent something.”

And that’s why Craig Wofford switched to the Vermeer 604N baler

To hear more from Craig Wofford, click here.

*Information noted above was gathered from a third party who was advised his/her experience might be featured in marketing materials. Individual results may vary based on care and operation of machine and crop and field conditions, which may adversely affect performance.