Claas Arion Quick To Impress Canterbury Cropper
Canterbury mixed cropping farmer David Gorman trialled his first Claas tractor in October last year. That machine, a Claas Arion 610, is now the main workhorse on his Highbank farm and David is already contemplating another Claas tractor.
“Put it this way, I wouldn’t be afraid to buy another one.”
David and wife Stephanie own a small but intensively farmed arable unit near Methven. Their operation grows seed potatoes and cereal crops and fattens store lambs in winter.
The Gorman family has grown potatoes for 50 years and David took over the potato business last year after his father retired.
When the time came to update one of the farm’s older tractors, David decided to break with family tradition and change tractor make.
He had spent many years driving Claas headers in the past and while he had developed a great respect for these machines, he admits he knew little about Claas tractors until the trial last year.
But he was immediately impressed.
“I just fell in love with it.”
One of the first things he noticed was the comfort.
“The cab is roomy, quiet and well-laid out and the seat is the most comfortable tractor seat I have sat in. Visibility from the cab is excellent and the armrest control is great because all the key controls are right at your finger tips.”
David says this high level of comfort makes it easy to spend long hours in the tractor seat.
He says the Claas Arion is used for all the heavy duty jobs on the farm, including ploughing and power harrowing.
It handles these jobs with ease.
The plough is a four furrow reversible, but David says the Claas could easily pull a
5-6 furrow plough.
“Its certainly got plenty of power.”
The Claas Arion 610 is equipped with mechanical spool valves and the dash-mounted Claas Information System (CIS) which enables the easy setting of key tractor functions. Powered by a six-cylinder engine, the Claas Arion 610 has a maximum power rating of 125hp.
David says the Hexashift transmission provides an excellent “and true” gear range, with a gear ratio to suit every job.
“This makes it a very economical tractor to run because you don’t have to work at full throttle all the time.”
As well as the heavy duty work the new tractor is also used as a backup to the smaller tractors on the farm. This year its duties have included pulling Gorman Growers’ new Grimme 75-40 potato harvester.
David bought the Grimme at the same time as he bought the Claas tractor and he is just as happy with that machine.
He says the sales and backup service provided by his local Claas dealer, Claas Harvest Centre Ashburton, has been superb.
“They gave us a really good deal on the tractor. We’ve had no problems since we bought it and the service manager rings up regularly to check that everything is OK.”
David is now looking at some of the older tractors on the farm and wondering if it is time to replace them. If he does, another Claas Arion would definitely be at the top of his shopping list.
“I’d probably go to something a little smaller, around 105hp, and put a front-end loader on it. But I’d have no hesitation in buying another Claas.”
For more information contact:
Dave Knowles, Product Manager – Tractors
021 287 5853
30 June 2010 |
