Eastern dealer enjoys busy evening celebrations Customers had the opportunity to join in John Deere tractors’ 100th anniversary celebrations at a series of open evenings arranged by main dealer Doubleday. David Williams was there. Doubleday has three branches from which it serves customers in Lincolnshire and parts of Norfolk and Cambs. The open evenings were held in mid-May at the Swineshead and Holbeach, Lincs and King’s Lynn, Norfolk depots. On display were the latest John Deere tractors, sprayers and combines, contrasted by a line-up of tractors from each decade back to the 1960s, several from the dealer’s own collection. These included a 1964 John Deere 5010 – boasting more than 100hp and used on a local farm, a 1975 2130, a 1984 2140 sold new by John Doubleday, and a 1991 2650. John Doubleday started trading in 1974 selling Ford tractors, but in 1982 he was appointed a John Deere main dealer. Trading as John W Doubleday the business
grew to cover a larger trading area adding branches and, now trading as Doubleday, represents key franchises including Vaderstad, Gregoire Besson, Bomford Turner, Maschio, KRM, Cherry Products, Lynx Engineering and Cousins, and last year took on the Kramer handler franchise. “All three open evenings were very well supported,” commented sales manager Alex Child. “We were lucky with the weather although one evening was particularly chilly and we estimate approximately 700 people attended. Customers enjoyed the opportunity to get together and socialise while finding out about all the latest products and our sales and service representatives were constantly busy dealing with enquiries.”
The Doubleday team enjoyed a series of three busy open evenings. (l-r) Mark Goose; Richard Wales; Paula Scrupps; Adam Langley; David Kreutzberger; Alex Child; Zoë Chappell; Luke Spencer; Dan Parker; Andy Webb; Jon Baxter and Richard Hook.
Earlier open evenings at Holbeach and King’s Lynn had proved popular and all included a display of classic John Deere models from the 1960s to the current time.
A demonstration by Bridgestone explained benefits of correctly inflated high performance VF tyres. A John Deere tractor was equipped with a pair of 650/65R38s; one a first generation version and the other the latest third generation VF type. Both were inflated to the recommended pressures for the tractor, plus a 3t rear linkage load to travel at 50kph; 19psi for the standard tyre and 11psi for the VF version. The tractor was then driven over a mould tray so the footprints could be compared. VT tyre sales manager Steve Lamb explained that for every tyre revolution there was a 42 per cent reduction in ground pressure due to the VF’s lighter footprint through its ability to spread the weight over a larger contact area. “An arable farmer’s most valuable asset is his soil,” he said. “We have been working with Doubleday during the past year raising awareness of the benefits of VF tyres and offering a service for users where we attend the farm equipped with weighpads, and weigh the tractors with different implements to ascertain the minimum possible working pressures for each task. “Increasingly users specify Bridgestone tyres on new tractors and also for after-market fitting and we are keen to help them get the best from our brand. Bridgestone offers high performance at a competitive price and although performance benefits of 40 per cent are easily available, the tyres don’t require 40 per cent additional cost.” Steve is pictured (left) with Doubleday King’s Lynn and Holbeach sales representative Chris Bailey. “In recent years we have received more requests for Bridgestone tyres without us actually suggesting the brand,” Chris explained, “and it is obvious that users are keen More over page... to do what they can to look after their soil.”
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