New Holland Agriculture displayed their blue array of quality once again at this year’s NAMPO Cape. The exhibition of equipment reflected the company’s commitment to offer all farmers, from the north to the south, the tractors they need.
The New Holland orchard and vineyard series were a big attraction for farmers in the Southern Cape area.
The big difference between orchard farming and other crop cultivation is that the crops in your orchards can have a lifetime of between 20 and 25 years. This means that fruit trees or vineyards form part of a farmer’s investment portfolio and if it receives the best treatment from the word go, it can yield dividends for many years.
It is clear: The equipment that a farmer uses in his vineyards or orchards, must perform exemplary, with as little disruption as possible that can influence future production.
New Holland’s T4.95 LP-(low profile) orchard tractor
This tractor is the largest of New Holland’s orchard range. Jaco du Preez, Marketing Manager of New Holland South Africa, tells more: “This tractor is built wider, with wider wheels, making it much more stable and suitable for orchard work in mountainous areas and against slopes, because it does not tip or fall over easily.
The tractor’s 71 kW is enough power to master slippery slopes. ”The PTO is driven directly from the gearbox, saving power (about 5%), which means you can handle larger implements compared to competitors in the same power range,” says Jaco.
T4 series
The T4 series includes a variety of models. “The T4 F series is suitable for orchards and the T4 N series (narrow) is suitable for orchards or vineyards. The narrowest tractor of the series, the T4.75 V (vineyard) is only suitable for vineyards and has an outer width of 1,1 metres,” explains Jaco.
“The New Holland T4.85-N farm tractor is the most popular of the series, because it can handle most of the implements with ease.”
He adds: “New Holland’s orchard tractors are all high specification tractors manufactured in Italy. The tractors can be customised according to farmers’ unique specifications and are available in two or four-wheel drive, as well as with or without cabs.”
TK4 crawler tractor
“This tractor is designed with iron tracks capable to clear old vineyards and level the area again. You can also clear new fields and it works easily on sloping sites.
Many farmers use this tractor for debushing, especially in fynbos areas. You can also mount a grader in front of the tractor,” says Jaco.
T3F orchard series
Jaco tells more about their range of Turkish orchard tractors: “We have a more economical orchard series coming from Turkey, the T3 F series. These tractors are available from 37 to 55 kW, with two- or four-wheel drive.
They are not available with a cab and have a standard twelve by twelve transmission. Their specifications are lower than that of the Italian models, but they are still able to do the job efficiently.”
“The T3 F’s dimensions are similar to that of the T4-Narrow tractors, which also makes them suitable for vineyard and orchard work, because they easily fit between the rows. They are also low, which makes them suitable to fit easy under table grapes vineyards.”
One of the defining characteristics of New Holland’s orchard tractors is that they are extremely fuel efficient.
“New Holland’s orchard tractors offer a variety of options. Although we provide standard specifications for the market’s needs, you can also specify the options for your imported tractor – so you can perform any farming activity you want to in your orchard with New Holland,” concludes Jaco.
Jaco invites any farmer to contact New Holland for information to improve his farming. Contact Jaco du Preez on e-mail at jacobus.du-preez@cnhind.com. Also visit our website to find out more about New Holland’s complete range of winners, or to find out where your nearest New Holland dealer is.