.png)
Mr. Bernard Krone visits NZ
Richard Houston at top
Euan Avery on steps
L to R : Hugh Lundie, Brian Faulknor, Coral Birch, Bernard Krone, Wilhelm Voss, and John Tulloch
On the 15th February 2007 we were honoured to have a visit from Mr. Bernard Krone Jnr, managing director of the Krone holding company.
He was accompanied by Mr. Wilhelm Voss general manager of Krone Machinenfabrik. Their visit to New Zealand was part of a world tour which started in the USA and then took them to Australia and then on to New Zealand.
This visit to New Zealand by a member of the Krone family now further cements our relationship of almost 30 years.
Encouraged by our continually increasing market share in New Zealand, Krone sees our farmers and contractors as very important customers.
NZ is good testing ground
Although conditions here are often regarded as similar to those of Ireland, we are different and for that reason we have a situation that is a good testing ground for Krone, affording them the opportunity to test machines to limits not found else where.
The 19th February 2007 saw the arrival of Mr. Josef Möller, parts manager from Krone Maschinenfabrik, Mr. Möller's visit gave him a good understanding of our position in New Zealand with a net result that with a few minor compromises and subtle changes to our systems we can implement some important fine tuning of our parts systems.
Einbock update
Leo Einbock
Leopold Einbock came to visit us in New Zealand from 22/10/06 to 25/10/06 to familiarise himself with the conditions his machines have to contend with in New Zealand.
Although brief, the visit was extremely beneficial for both companies. Amongst other topics, we discussed the most popular applications the various models are used for in Europe as compared with our experience to date. The PneumaticBox has its obvious multiple applications while the PneumaticStar hasthe ability to work areas more efficiently because of the reduced weight, and particularly in the hill country.
Pasture restoration is an interesting concept we will investigate, a practice very popular in Ireland.
New Model
Einbock have recently introduced two new seed hoppers for the PneumaticBox range, a 410 litre and 660 litre capacity to help increase productivity. The original box at 300 litre capacity could carry up to 4 and a half bags of seed and now the new boxes would carry just over 6 bags for the 410 litre and nearly 10 bags for the 660 litre hopper. These new options will go a long way to increasing productivity with the first 410 litre hopper being sold in February 2007 in Canterbury.
Krone sets up Infoportal
The availability of information in this day and age is very important for any organisation.
Suppliers, employees and customers know that there is a vast amount of information out there and they want it; and it needs to be readily available at the click of a mouse.
To this end Krone have recently added an .Info Portal. to their web site.
Still under development the site can be found at http://www.krone.de/en/group/index.html where you will find a host of useful and interesting information about Krone and the top quality products from their stable.
Photographic competition
Get Clicking & WIN
For those of us who are passionate about farm machines, photography is a wonderful way to capture our experiences to share with family and friends. To this end we have decided to run a photographic competition.
Guide lines are as follows:
- The main subject matter must be of any current model of the products imported by Tulloch Farm Machines.
- The product range covers: Krone, Rabe, Einbock, Fransgard, Pronovost and Supreme.
- The photograph must have been taken in New Zealand.
- The theme of the photograph should be: A day in the life of a New Zealand operator/driver (farming or contracting)
- Competition entries will be posted on our web site
- Closing date for entries will be 31 January 2008
The main prize is being negotiated and detail will be announced in the next news letter and also in the news section on our web site. Check for updates!
Grasslands trip 2008
Intrepid Journeys ...
Sign up now for May 2008
The Grasslands field days in the UK are coming up again during 21st and 22nd May 2008 and we again expect to be hosting a trip. As before, there will be limited seats so to avoid disappointment, contact us direct or enquire through your local Tulloch Farm Machines dealer.
If you are passionate about grass harvesting machines then this is the show to see. The event, hosted on behalf of the Royal Agricultural Society, expects 190 exhibitors and live demonstrations of over 100 machines.
Grasslands 2005 showing Big X in action
Big-X testing programme
The Big X demonstration program in grass, phase one, has been a huge success. The machine ably operated by Richard Houston has had a variety of conditions to contend with. Jobs were done for Andrew Tulloch Contracting and Grays Contracting in the Wairarapa. The Big X then travelled to the Manawatu where it chopped for Joyclas Farms and Forage Services.
The rain then came down and stopped play for some time. We then travelled to Hawkes Bay and chopped for Middle Hills Contracting. The weather began to clear and the road show was off to Maybe Contracting at Ashhurst; then across to Levin for a job for Graeme Bagrie Contracts. The final job in the Manawatu was for Craig Pilet Contracting at Marton.
The Big X then returned to the Wairarapa where we finished off with a job for Coltons Contracting. Without doubt the most consistent reaction from all those involved came from all of the truck drivers. They could not believe the power of the Big X because without exception they all had to step up to gears in the paddock never used before relative to the amount of crop being harvested. The Big X performed well with no problems or breakdowns. The cab and comfort although different was regarded as good . all participants bar one had Claas choppers, the one exception running John Deere.
The Fendt controller did take a bit of getting used to and some managed easier than others, but all agreed that there was a good degree of control. The grass front impressed the operators when in conditions that appeared to be troublesome . being able to feed consistently the cam-less pick up ran very smoothly.
A fair amount of metal was found and yes, the metal detector did the job. The key point though is that very seldom was it necessary to get out of the cab to clear a stoppage. The Big X is able to clear nearly all stoppages from the cab. The remote controlled castor wheels were a treat when going through gates. Initially the harvesting was done with a full set of knives (28) but was later reduced to 14. In spite of the reduced knives, the noise levels and vibration were minimal. In fact all operators commented on the good sound insulation.
Night work was little different from daytime as the lighting around the Big X and the rear camera make operating at night stress free. Phase two in maize is currently in progress and going like clock work . the report will be in the next newsletter.
Peter Brough - Service Department
Born and schooled in Lower Hutt, Peter Brough joined the New Zealand Railways to commence an apprenticeship in fitting and turning. Armed with his newly acquired skills Peter then went on to take advantage of the vast amount of opportunities and tried his hand in a varied environment, working in a saw mill, tyre manufacturer, glass factory, hospital and a car manufacturer through the next 20 years.
In 1989 Peter met Kathy and they married. They have a daughter Hana and son Korde. Outside of work, Peter and Kathy like to support their children with their sporting activities and when time allows Peter has a number of hobbies he likes to pursue from restoring vintage cars, motor cross, and classic bikes and is currently pit crew for an old school mate who runs a Harley drag bike.
In August 2005 Peter joined our team in the service department where he is responsible for assembly of new equipment and various repairs and servicing to existing equipment.
Dealer training the Tulloch way
Having a good product is not the only element to success. We continually strive to find ways to improve our existing services we provide to help you the customer become more productive at the least possible cost. Although Krone is the top selling round baler in New Zealand for the second year in a row, we know that it is not the product alone that makes it the number one choice of contractors and farmers in New Zealand - we still believe that we must find ways to do what we do, better.
Traditionally the service department hosts a service training school for all the dealers from Kaitaia to Invercargill in August/September each year. The course is a two day event and we run 2 consecutively to cater for all the participants. Last year we had to add a supplementary day to cater for a course on the Krone CombiPack for which the sales have escalated tremendously.
As a trial in 2004 in New Plymouth we ran an operators course for interested farmers and contractors. We ran 2 one day courses which covered mainly Krone balers, rakes and mowers. The courses were run by our staff in conjunction with John Hermann and his team from Agricultural Machinery Taranaki Ltd. The courses were such a success that we have now decided to take them to the next level and host them throughout New Zealand.
What we learned from these trial courses was that not only did the participants learn a great deal but the communication amongst the candidates was good - even amongst those who would not normally talk with each other. The course format, content and logistics are currently under preparation for implementation during May 2007. Contact your local dealer for more information.