Deutz Fahr passes landmark in NZ

For Immediate Release May 20 2014

Deutz Fahr passes landmark in NZ

Sales of Deutz Fahr tractors in New Zealand have passed the 1000 mark, less than five years after distribution of the brand was taken over by Power Farming.

The 1000th tractor sold is a 5-Series 5130TTV (130hp), which was purchased through Power Farming Timaru by Maruia farmers and rural contractors, Peter and Margaret Brooker.

Deutz-Fahr’s mid-range 5-Series was launched by Power Farming at the Waimumu and Feilding field days in February of this year, bringing a new level of performance, technology and affordability to New Zealand’s highly competitive mid-range tractor market.

The Brookers operate a fleet of seven tractors in their contracting business, and the 5130 TTV is their second Deutz Fahr, joining a 610TTV, which they purchased - also from Power Farming Timaru - in December.

Although based about 30 kilometres north of Springs Junction on the Lewis Pass highway between Christchurch and Nelson, the Brookers buy most of their gear from Power Farming Timaru, because of their long association with dealer principal Ross Dawbin, and - in Peter’s words – because of the way Dawbin has “looked after us over the years.”

“We’ve had some sharp deals out of him over the years,” Peter says. “His honesty and integrity are beyond reproach, and he’s proven that to us many times over the years with the deals we've done with him.”

Peter says he’s “gob-smacked” by how good the 5130TTV is, and amazed by its performance. His first experience with it was loading 60 tonnes of lime, and he says it’s a “wicked loader tractor”.

He is particularly impressed with its Deutz-Fahr built continuously variable transmission, which he says is very positive and driveable and doesn’t need a big learning curve.

“The 610 has some wickedly good features, but I’m a bit of a technophobe so I’ve found it takes a bit of getting used to, but the 5130 is so incredibly smooth that you just want to get in and drive it,” he says. “My 16 year old daughter Rebecca, was able to handle it really easily - it’s so easy to drive, it’s unbelievable. I’m gob-smacked at how good it is - it’s an absolute dream.”

As well as a very busy contracting business focussed mainly on providing feed for dairy cows, particularly winter feed, the Brookers also own a 128 hectare run-off block and a 300 effective hectare dairy unit currently milking 550 cows. A new sharemilking couple will take over the operation this June, and they have also purchased a new Deutz-Fahr 5-Series tractor from Power Farming Timaru, along with a silage wagon and other gear.

The Brookers’ move into contracting began almost by accident, and was mainly due to Peter’s keen interest in machinery and growing grass and crops.

They originally ran a dairy operation on their Maruia property but they mothballed the dairy shed for 15 years in favour of doing dairy support and bulls and primes, running about 1100 head a year with the help of a stock manager.

The contracting business has grown to the point where it’s now fulltime for Peter and one other driver, plus Margaret who does virtually all the baling work. Their son Tim, who is fulltime at Lincoln University, is a mainstay for them at peak times, which largely coincides with University holidays, and they also call in casual drivers.

Peter attributes a lot of their contracting success to the quality of their work.

“I put a lot of pressure on my drivers – and myself – to do the very best job that we can, and to treat every job as if it was our own” he says. “But it’s not just about having a bunch of tractors and gear – it’s the expertise that we bring as well, especially with crops and regrassing, and growing kale and swedes and drilling.”

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