Following on the back of the successful 2015 Red Power Tour, Case IH has announced another roadshow - the Red Excellence Tour to hit the road in July.
Visiting key cropping centres of Horsham, Victoria and Toowoomba, Queensland, the tour will showcase the latest Case IH technology and machines.
Validating the success of the 2015 event, Barossa Valley, South Australia, farmer, Neville Kies, purchased a Case IH Farmall 105U utility tractor.
Farming in the Barossa Valley of South Australia since 1857, the Kies family produce grapes for wine markets across two farms, along with a broadacre cropping, and a small herd of Murray Grey cattle.
“We’ve always been Case IH orientated, we started using International Harvester machinery over 60 years ago and followed the transition into Case IH when the two brands united in 1985,” Neville Kies said.
“That’s not to say we don’t look at other brands, but we’re consistently happy with the Case IH products we’ve got, and the service and support we receive from our local dealer.
“They take a keen interest in what we do and how we do it and are a key factor in our decision to keep using Case IH products.”
He said the family’s Case IH 4230 purchased in 1994 was ready for upgrade and the Farmall “sounded like it would fit in with our vineyard farming system, so we were about 80 per cent committed to the purchase before attending the Red Power Tour.”
He said Case IH product managers really got into the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the product at the Red Power Tour event answering questions from farmers.
The opportunity to test drive was also important.
“I was particularly interested in the powershift transmission so we were able to set the tractor up both with and without the Eco PTO, to see how it performs under particular speed ranges.
“I had an idea of the speeds that we want to work with – when spraying for instance, we work between 6.8 to 8 kilometres an hour – so it was enormously beneficial to be able to get a feel for this before making the purchase,” he said.
“It was also fantastic to have a close up test of the ergonomics of the cab and controls.
“Even with higher horsepower than our previous tractor, the Farmall 105U is very quiet in the cab – it’s a pleasure to operate and I’ve found it has really reduced my fatigue,” Mr Kies said.
“As a result I’m able to spend more time in the Farmall 105U and get more done in a day.”
He has been impressed with the reliability and efficiency.
“As a utility tractor, it’s small enough to work in the vineyards, but has the horsepower to back up our Maxxum 125 tractor and the weight to pull loads comfortably.”
