The rising cost of new equipment is causing many farmers and contractors to rethink their renewal policy. TJ Steele is replacing his fleet of 10 tractors with some interesting, modified machinery.
“We tried every make and bought brand new tractors,” explains farmer TJ Steele from Stinnet, Texas, USA. “We also tried both options: swapping the tractors regularly or driving them for as long as possible. None of these policies was really profitable.” With each new generation of tractors, the technical problems increased.
“The emission control systems caused malfunctions, and error codes of all kinds were commonplace.” The final straw was the total cost of around $230,000 a year to keep the last fleet of eight John Deere tractors (all machines out of warranty but under 5,000 hours) running. The farmer contractor operates as Favor 5 Ag Innovations with his wife, Rebekah, specialising in forage production making over 100,000 bales per year. In addition to several self-propelled mowers a fleet of both round and square balers is also used.
As a pure haymaker, TJ needs machines that will work a few hours a year, but can do so reliably for many years. “The new tractor models have therefore not turned out to be economical, especially for my farm,” explains the 40-year-old. “Over the past seven years alone, we have lost three and a half million dollars in value for our vehicle fleet. That made me think: For this money we can build our own, more durable machines.”
Team Terragator
A better and cheaper solution was needed. TJ recalled a previous job with a fertiliser company. There he was operating an older Terragator three-wheeler skid unit, and he was impressed with the robustness of the machine. Without further ado, TJ bought a second-hand trike so he could convert it into a tractor that would be used to pull one of the bale chasers.
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