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Red Power Days inform users The Case IH Red Power Tour dealer days continued through April, including at events across east and south-east England, organised by main dealer Ernest Doe Power. David Williams reports. An event at Lavenham Airfield, Alpheton, Suffolk, close to the Essex border, was attended by farmer and contractor customers of Ernest Doe Power’s Sudbury and Framlingham, Suffolk and Fyfield, Essex and Fakenham, Norfolk depots. Area sales and service managers from each branch teamed up with Case IH sales and demonstration staff, explaining features and benefits of the latest models in the current range. A wide range of tractors was displayed from the Farmall 50 to the Quadtrac 580 and the Case IH show unit provided covered seating for presentations by Case IH representatives. Area sales manager David Redman talked about recent product updates, and harvester and large tractor specialist Paul Freeman explained principles of ballasting and the importance of achieving the correct tyre ‘footprint.’
Red Power Tour The Red Power Tour events, organised by the manufacturer, have been held across the UK to inform potential customers about the range of tractors and to help users get the best out of their own tractors, whatever the brand, providing information about tyres
and ballasting for field and transport applications. Ernest Doe Power Sudbury branch and sales manager Ed Perry commented that the event was a great success; “As well as being informative and an opportunity to discuss future customer needs it was a great social occasion and, despite many farmers being busy with field work, we enjoyed good attendance. Caterers providing locally sourced meat were kept busy, especially between presentations.”
Customer view The Duchesne family farms at Stanningfield near Bury St Edmunds and provides a contract farming and contracting service to local landowners. Approximately 400ha (1,000 acres) is farmed stubble to stubble and contract harvesting and spraying are key operations for the business, which trades as Richard and Ruth Duchesne. Sam Duchesne studied agriculture at Easton & Otley College near Ipswich, and was at the event with his father Richard and fellow student Will Tooke, who is studying at Harper Adams University but currently helping out on the farm. “I found the ballasting presentation particularly useful,”
Presentations by the Case IH team included advice on tyre pressures and ballasting, and were considered useful by visiting farmers.
Pictured at the Lavenham Airfield event are (l-r) David Redman, Ed Perry, Richard Duchesne, Paul Freeman, Sam Duchesne and Will Tooke.
said Sam. “It isn’t just about adding more weight to gain traction. Weight positioning has a big effect and mounting 1,000kg well forward of the front axle on the front linkage has the same effect as adding 1,200– 1,300kg at the front wheels. This means that balancing a rear mounted implement using linkage-mounted weights requires less ballast, allowing a lower total tractor weight. It’s all logical but a demonstration with weigh cells under the tyres showed the effect clearly.”
Optimising performance Case IH product demonstrator Ed Watson said the Red Power Tour days have been well received by customers. “Ballasting isn’t just about adding weight,” he said. “Optimising distribution for the particular model is important. For example the half-track Rowtrac needs enough weight on the front to turn on the headlands but for efficient traction weight is needed on the tracks. If too much weight is on the front, the front wheels ‘fight’ the tracks and with drawbarmounted implements in particular, there needs to be an allowance for front wheel lead. As a guide the Rowtrac needs a weight distribution of 75–80 per cent on the rear whereas conventional wheeled tractors usually perform best with 60 per cent of the weight carried by the rear wheels.”
Southern area demonstration Ernest Doe Power ran a similar day for customers south of the Thames at Farningham, near Dartford in Kent. “The attendance was good,” said Ernest Doe Power general sales manager Gerald Silvey. “We showed the full range of Case IH tractors and models working included a Puma 175CVX ploughing with a Lemken Juwel 8, 5+1 plough; an Optum 300 with a Lemken Juwel 8, 6+1 plough and a Magnum Rowtrac 380 half-track with a 7.5m Dal-Bo Rollomaximum seedbed cultivator. Many current and potential users took advantage of the opportunity to drive the latest models, and feedback from visitors suggested that it was a useful day.” Case IH representatives gave two presentations explaining differences between models and their intended applications, as well as features and benefits of each. Tyre specialists from Michelin demonstrated the importance of correct ballasting and continued over...
The second demonstration day was near Dartford in Kent.
58 www.farmersguide.co.uk June 2017
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