THE POWER TO MATCH THE SCALE OF THE BIG FARMING SYSTEMS

MATTHEW HANSON

Farm Manager at LFC Horkstow, part of Limestone Farming Co, Horkstow near BARTON ON HUMBER

"Overall we’ve saved 30-40% on labour & repair costs"

Matthew has been Farm Manager at LFC Horkstow since October 2005 and has changed the way they work in that time. With the farm spread from New Holland and Barrow to Winterton Carrs and a range of land from very heavy reclaimed alluvial marshland to Wold land with sandy, silty loam over chalk, and with 3000 acres cropped, the economies of scale were essential.

Matthew explains the changes in their farming systems. "The key was a high hp tractor with road usage. We looked at an articulated tractor with large 900 tyres. Although this was the cheaper option, in the end we went for the 430hp Challenger 845, based upon the quality of its engineering and the considerable experience of Caterpillars on other farms in the Limestone Farming Company. We did very well with the deal and it has done everything we wanted it to. And it has been nigh on faultless.

The Challenger was bought last June, for a specific purpose and has done 750 hours in the first year. One man and one tractor has been able to do the lions share of the Autumn work - stubble incorporation and seed bed creation in one pass, turn round and drill it. The simplification is beautiful. It has drilled every acre of wheat we have and its phenomenal output means we can drill a lot of acres in a day giving us the luxury of being able to choose the right conditions to drill. Because of its huge capacity for work we have even managed to use it for a bit of contracting.

To get maximum benefit from the Challenger we needed to have the right semi mounted or fully trailed kit that matches it. As well as an 8m Väderstadt Drill, we have also got a 9m Kvernland CTD Cultivator and a 10m Simba All Farm Cultivator.

We bought the Challenger with P&B’s 5 year Repair and Servicing Warranty, so it’s maintenance costs are known.

However the major savings of investing in the large scale system could only be achieved by matching changes in our farming methods and crop planning to make maximum productive use of the machinery. With all the adjustments to our line up we have made an overall reduction of 30% on labour costs and 40% on repairs and maintenance. It has enabled us not to need to replace 3 staff when they have left over the last couple of years, whilst still farming just as many acres.

But good staff, who are diligent and committed to the job, are still priceless, and we rely on their knowledge of the machines to get the maximum output and to preempt problems to avoid down time.

The Challenger is relatively simple compared to some smaller tractors, simple and robust, reliable and comfortable. It has all the power needed to pull the rig even when cultivating to 9 or 10" with the 9m Kvernland on our hills and the traction is excellent. With it’s solid engineering and the job it does at full speed and full volume it should keep going for the 10,000 hours or more that it is designed for," concluded Matthew.

The Challenger working with the 9m Kvernland Cultivator on the Lincolnshire Wolds