23/05/06
- Fifteen 152hp McCormick MTX150 tractors delivered to Elveden
Farms
- Working on field-scale vegetable and cereal crops across
10,000 acres
- Contract hire, dealer service, past performance influenced
tractor choice
- Single model meets most needs and simplifies daily fleet
management
Elveden's new McCormick MTX150 fleet lined up and ready to go!
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A cost-effective contract hire and service package that gives
tractor users a fixed and reliable basis for long-term machinery
management costings led to a deal for 15 new McCormick tractors
from one of the largest farming operations in the eastern counties.
It is the second time that the 10,000-acre in-hand farming operation
of the 22,500-acre Elveden Estate in Suffolk has renewed its fleet
through a contract hire package with McCormick and local dealer
Suffolk Agri-Centre.
“These are very difficult times for farming and our machinery
has to work harder than ever before,” says Elveden Farms
controller, Lindsay Hargreaves. “The contract hire and service
package put together by McCormick and Suffolk Agri-Centre has worked
well for us in previous years and we’re pleased to see it
continue.”
Elveden’s farming activities are dominated by field-scale
vegetables grown in rotation with cereals and grass. The fifteen
new tractors – identical examples of the 152hp MTX150, McCormick’s
most popular six-cylinder model – will handle cultivations,
seedbed preparation, sowing, irrigation, crop protection and harvest
operations.
“The MTX150 is a popular, proven model that ideally suits
the majority of Elveden Farms’ field work requirements,” explains
David Eley, Suffolk Agri-Centre managing director. “The farm’s
policy of running a fleet of the same tractors, as opposed to a
mix of models, simplifies day-to-day management because every tractor
in the fleet can handle the implements and work that needs doing
on any particular day.”
The two-year contract hire and service package provides a fleet
of modern tractors at fixed cost, which helps the Elveden management
team produce accurate machinery costings and budgets. Contract
hire also offers tax advantages and avoids the inconvenience of
having to sell-on or trade-in the tractors when they come to be
replaced.
The deal negotiated with Suffolk Agri-Centre also guarantees access
to a back-up tractor in the event of a prolonged repair and the
service agreement ensures the tractors are serviced regularly,
correctly and on time by skilled technicians.
“We’ve developed an excellent working relationship
with Elveden Farms since we first started supplying tractors in
2001,” says David Eley. “It’s a great advantage
to both parties that our service technicians are familiar with
the layout of this big farming operation and that the managers
know our service personnel. We understand their business and that
means we can support them in the best possible way.”
The tractors themselves have established a long-standing record
of performance and reliability in the hands of Elveden Farms’ drivers.
“This latest delivery continues our successful reliance on
Doncaster-built tractors,” says Lindsay Hargreaves. “Through
McCormick and Suffolk Agri-Centre, they continue to give us a cost-effective
solution to our ever more demanding needs.”
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