Pembrokeshire contracting firm Sean Savage Agri, recently took up the John Deere Fuel Guarantee programme offer through Tallis Amos Group (TAG) in Narberth and the results showed their customers saved big time on fuel costs. Based near Pont-yr-Hafod, just north of Haverfordwest, Sean Savage Agri has been in business since 2002 and focusses on slurry and waste management with a choice of umbilical, tanker or muckspreading tasks within a radius of 25 miles from base. They also offer lime-spreading, plus mowing and tedding services throughout the region. In the majority of cases, their farmer customers provide fuel for the job.
Having recently purchased four new John Deere tractors from TAG, which brings their fleet to seven John Deere 6155Rs and three John Deere 6155Ms, they were introduced by TAG to the John Deere Fuel Guarantee offer, which guarantees a refund on excess fuel if you use more fuel than John Deere claims or, refunds ‘twice’ the value of fuel as a credit for any lesser amount of fuel used. The fuel usage is measured through the tractor’s on-board JDLink telemetry system and is monitored directly by TAG.
Sean Savage, founder of the contracting business explained, “We are always very conscious about maintenance, running costs, wear and tear and performing efficiently in the field. If we don’t need full power, we don’t use full power, which means we save fuel.
Typically, our tractors will clock-up anywhere between 2700 and 3200 hours per year and so potentially we are using a lot of fuel. We were delighted when TAG showed that we had saved fuel to the value of between £800 and £1200 per tractor. Careful setup and operation, combined with the efficiency of John Deere tractors meant that we had reduced fuel consumption all-round. That’s great for us, but as in most cases, our customers are supplying the fuel so it’s our customers who are the real winners - savings made directly into our customers’ pocket.”
Typically, some obvious actions adopted which could significantly reduce fuel consumption might include ensuring correct tyre pressures, removal of unnecessary ballast, avoidance of rapid acceleration and hard braking and regular servicing and maintenance.
“Some of the best fuel efficiency occurred on the 6155R with triple mowers and when we were using the umbilical spreaders,” added Sean, “with the power and reserve back-up of the 6155R, we don’t need to operate at full engine revs, so by backing the engine down, we are saving fuel and it all mounts up. We have a team of fifteen operators in our business and we have all adopted this minimum wear, low-cost attitude because it’s better for our customers, it’s better for our business and if it means saving money all-round, then everybody wins.”
Sean was one of the first customers to purchase a 6820 in Pembrokeshire and has used John Deere’s throughout his contracting business. “We love the reliability of the John Deere,” added Sean. “we have other brands of tractor which we are trading out for new John Deere’s because they just don’t come close. One particular tractor was costing more money to run and so we just had to move it on. We get great back-up from TAG, we like driving the John Deere’s, they are comfortable and more technically advanced. And now, we are getting paid because of their fuel efficiency. It’s a no-brainer - what’s not to like?”
