Wyn Jones and his son Eurig, farm around 1000 acres at Trefach, Blaenffos, Boncath. There’s approximately 600 acres of grass, plus 200 acres down to spring barley and spring wheat, and the rest made up of forage rape, swedes and kale on a medium loam soil type. Livestock-wise they run 2000 breeding ewes and buy-in store lambs for fattening, plus there’s a 450 strong herd of store cattle that includes 80 LimousinX sucklers.
Previously the arable and livestock work had been carried out by a John Deere 6210SE tractor and a 6320 - which had clocked-up some 10,000 and 8000 hours respectively. Based on the performance and reliability they had experienced so far,Wyn and Eurig swapped the old tractors in for a 6125M for arable and livestock work and a 6105M for much of the materials handling. They also swapped a 6620 for John Deere 6140R for the heavy arable work. The two smaller tractors are fitted with John Deere’s H Series loaders, and in the main are used for shear-grab work, bale silage making and feeding - as well as general duties such as fencing.
“We decided on replacing the old tractors to John Deere again because they had been so reliable over the years and the back-up service we have had from TAG at Narberth has been excellent. said Wyn Jones, “We always buy everything from them because they are convenient and always prompt when servicing or repairs are required. We have looked at other brands but always come back to TAG because of their excellent customer service.”
The farming enterprise is fairly spread out and in some places five miles from home, so it’s been important to choose quiet and comfortable cabs with cab suspension. Additionally, with so much loader work being carried out, tractor reliability is a key reason why the Jones’ chose to go John Deere again.
Added Eurig, “We wanted to be sure that the loader fitted well to the tractor, which is why we decided on the John Deere loader because it is made precisely for the tractor. Balance is all important with the amount of roadwork we do and our John Deere’s have a full-frame chassis on which the loader is mounted. That means heavy loads can be handled without causing any stresses or strains to the engine and transmission components - so great reliability all round. In addition, our tractors have wet clutches, which means they are ultra-reliable, even with the significant amount of materials handling they do. They’re a great tractor to drive!”
Buying their tractors from the Tallis Amos Group at Narberth, Wyn and Eurig took advice from TAGs branch manager, Matthew Blackburn who recommended that they considered including PowerGard extended warranty with their purchase. By doing so, it meant they had the tractors covered for any unexpected component failures, outside of the standard manufacturer’s warranty plan.
“We decided to take on PowerGard, said Wyn, “because we could pay an additional monthly fee that would cover any unforeseen breakdown through our anticipated life of the machine, which we decided would be three years. That means that as long as I have the proper servicing carried out by TAG, if anything else goes wrong then its covered without it costing me another penny. I can now budget throughout the time I have that tractor on my farm without any nasty surprises. In reality all I now need to do is to add fuel and the driver - everything else is basically covered.” he concluded.
