THE Case IH Farmall has been around since 1923 and while age may start to wear a lot of us down, this reliable four-wheeled workhorse is as sprightly as ever.
Tarcutta farmer Luke Heffer took advantage of the offer last year and just over 12 months on he still can’t say enough about his family’s Farmall 105C.
“I find it a fantastic tractor – nice, nimble, comfortable to sit in, everything’s there at your fingertips,” Luke said. “It’s really a pleasure to drive.”
Luke farms Maranogan with his mum, Helen, an operation that runs about 1100 head of cattle at any given time, with Luke also operating a sowing and hay-making contracting business. This month he’s been busy sowing 1100 hectares of cereal crops and pasture varieties.
He says they couldn’t do without their fleet of Case IH equipment, including the versatile Farmall, which assists with everything on the farm from feeding cattle and a little earth-moving when required, to stacking and carting hay.
“Anything you throw at it, nothing’s a drama, it just does it,” Luke said.
An example of its versatility, he said, was the ease with which it pulled a 3.6m wide mower when the family’s Case IH Maxxum 115 was having a service.
“It pulled it no worries at all,” Luke said.
Case IH product manager Peter Elias said the end-of-financial-year period was the biggest selling season for the Farmall range, which includes the Farmall B, C, JX and U Series.
“The Farmall was first manufactured in 1923 and almost 100 years on there’s many reasons why it remains one of our biggest sellers,” Peter said.
“Versatility is one of the main selling points for the Farmall range, the fact they’re an all-purpose tractor that can take on a variety of tasks and are affordable for even smaller farming operations.”
The Heffers are waiting for a Puma 165 CVT to be delivered in September, but while the Puma will provide a few more options for Luke and Helen, the Farmall will retain its workhorse role, the tractor already clocking up an impressive 720 hours in just over a year.
“We buy them to work, not look at them – and that’s what we do, we make them work,” Luke said.
Luke says his mum, Helen, is just as enthusiastic about their Farmall, the comfort and ease of operation all rating very highly.
“You can spend up to 16 hours in the seat without any trouble and it comes down to comfort at the end of the day,” he said.
“My mum drives the Farmall most of the time in the hay season. She’s rapt with it, loves it, and when there’s just me and mum on the farm that’s important. It makes it easy when mum can drive it and she’s not hesitant to drive it.”
The Case IH Farmall campaign ends on June 30.