REPORT: Sourcing horsepower is changing, with farmers and contractors looking for more flexibility in an uncertain industry. We hear how one contracting business makes hire work for them.
It’s fair to say contractors N D Harper have a lot on. The business offers a portfolio of services from straw grinding to muck and slurry, all aspects of grass and silage work to combining and spraying. There’s also a dairy herd on the farm near Holmes Chapel in Cheshire.
Reliable tractor power is crucial, so the business has found a solution in a bespoke hire arrangement with national plant and agricultural hirers Ashbrook Hire. “We have 11 tractors on permanent hire,” explains contracts manager, Jamie Taylor“ But can also pull in extra tractors from Ashbrook or owner-drivers as we need them.” He explains that the costs are managed – whether they need ten tractors or one – by controlling the size of their fleet so that they are not paying for a tractor which isn’t in use. “As a business we have no finance payments or servicing costs to worry about.”
From the start
Tractors have been hired since Nigel Harper established the business in 2010, hiring his first tractor from a friend. Ashbrook Hire was also getting established, initially with a fleet of John Deere tractors. “Nigel hired three tractors, and when Ashbrook went to Case IH, we went with them and haven’t looked back,” explains Jamie. Tractor numbers have increased with the workload, and purchasing has been considered along the way.
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