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B. Miller T&T 2008 Ltd.
The Richmond premises of Brian Miller Truck and Tractor 2008
Dealings between Tulloch Farm Machines and Brian Miller go back over 30 years, when Brian worked for Brent Fergusson Motors in Richmond.
It was natural for that relationship to continue when Brian set up his own shop as a CASE IH dealer in 1985, and the strength of the relationship endured.
Brian Miller Truck and Tractor of Richmond/Nelson traded since 1987 under the ownership of Brian Miller with Brian himself as “… manager, sales, cleaner and what ever else comes along…”
Behind every great man there is a great woman and in Brian’s case it was Shirlene who looked after the accounts and kept everyone, including the slow payers and the staff, in line.
In the early days mainly Gehl products were sold into the Nelson region including forage harvesters, round balers and even a forage blower. More recently Brian and Shirlene sold a good number of Krone products and Mengele forage harvesters.
That brings us to April 2008 when the call of the golf course and sea got the better of the couple ; they decided to sell up.
This proved good timing for Ashburton Implement Services which was looking to spread its wings, so from 1 April 2008 Brian Miller Truck and Tractors is now owned by AIS, trading as Brian Miller Truck and Tractor 2008.
The staff remained the same in the workshop and parts, with Terry Thompson moving up from AIS in Ashburton to fill the role of manager. Terry has a background in automotive engineering and management, and has worked for AIS for the past three years.
Pictured above: The team at Brian Miller Truck and Tractor 2008 with Terry far right
He tells us: “This has been an exciting time for myself and the team - Allan Bryant, Brian Sumner, Wayne Mehrtens and Greg Hewison.
They are all fully qualified in their fields and with their wealth knowledge are very keen to get things going.”
Their dedication to making this a strong dealership, coupled with customer service -Terry’s number one priority - has already produced strong growth.
John Tulloch comments: “Tulloch Farm Machines would like to thank Brian and Shirlene for their loyalty over the years, and wish them good fishing and golfing. We also extend a warm welcome to Terry Thompson as manager of BMTT through the new ownership and reconfirm our commitment to working together in sales and support of our machines in the Nelson region.”
Into the archives with Dave
Founding partner D.W.Tulloch (Dave)
First silage making memories
We started making silage in the early 1950’s. We used to mow the grass with a sickle bar mower, then we would use a Patterson type buck rake to move the mown grass to the silage pit. As each layer of grass was spread out, the weight of the tractor rolling back and forth would compact the long stemmed mass.
When the stack overfilled the pit, the tractor driver would keep rolling with the tractor wheels until the formed heap was very densely compacted. In these early days no silage covers were used. This meant that quite a percentage of the silage was lost by the time feeding out commenced.
Feeding out was a terrible job. We tried cutting a face in the silage, firstly with an old hay stack 2-handed hay knife. Then we tried to sharpen 2 spades, but in the end we found the best method was to use an axe. This allowed us to fork the packed silage onto a transport tray on the back of the tractor.
In the next issue : our first fine chop silage was made in 1954…
Staff profile - Mark Burns
We welcome Mark Burns to the parts department.
Mark has a background in spare parts with a John Deere dealer, but has also worked with parts in previous jobs over more than a decade.
In his spare time Mark enjoys following a wide range of sports.
Staff profile - Jim Grove
We welcome Jim Grove to our busy service department. Jim trained as a mechanic, and has run his own vehicle servicing business for many years with over 500 clients.
Also with a background in all things electrical, Jim will be in training to work on computer controlled machines.
Staff profile - James Hannon
We welcome James Hannon in a new role as Retail Sales Representative.
James continues a long tradition of Hannon’s working for the company with his grandfather being a major shareholder and salesman extraordinaire, and also his father has worked in our parts department many years ago.
James came to us direct from college, and has now completed 2 years training in our parts department followed by 2 years as an apprentice service technician. Having completed his ticket as service technician he now moves into the sales arena, for a taste of “real life”.
Latest arrivals
The Supreme machines pictured below were imported fully assembled, however Tulloch Farm Machines also welds the tubs from kits - above is an example of one tub early in the process.
The first Krone Comprima V150XC round baler has arrived in NZ, see sample picture below.
Grasslands 2008 - TFM tour
Pictured above: The Tulloch group visiting the Schonbrunn palace in Vienna
A short resume (by Brian Faulknor)
My vague recollections of the flight from NZ to Singapore to Heathrow was of little china dolls serving out copious amounts of food, hot towels, an endless supply of movies and alcohol… all good stuff!
Then it was a Monday morning touch down in London and a bus to our hotel in the centre of the city. Two days of sightseeing and recovery time from the flights.
Pictured: A Krone Comprima CF155XC makes a bale at Grasslands 2008
The first of early starts with a two hour trip up to Stoneleigh Park. Home of the Royal Agricultural Society of England and the site for the field days “Grassland & Muck 2008“. (This event is run every three years, 2011 being the next.)
There was much to see and over a large area with demonstrations running regularly and crowds spread out, it was easy to have a good look at everything. There were 40 exhibitors on the 190 acre site with 160 acres of that in standing grass for non-stop demonstrations.
Pictured above: Tom likes his tucker at Lemmington Spa
Too much excitement for most of our lady’s on the tour, so a day shopping at Stratford upon Avon was the answer for them on the second day. The evening was spent in Lemington enjoying a memorable meal. (Better than steak, eggs and chips eh Tom G)
The following morning it was back to London to catch a flight to Vienna. On arrival in Vienna we met our Tour director Mario & driver Charlie (buggered if we could pronounce his polish name) from Globus Tours, our lives were in their hands for the next ten days.
Picture: The Schonbrunn palace gardens
Pictured: proof that John was missing his wife at Schonbrunn palace
Starting with two days in Vienna which encompassed tours of the city and the Shonbrunn Palace, an afternoons excursion to Bratislava the Capital of Slovakia with lunch at a local eatery consisting of something that resembled large foul smelling maggots but turned out to be potato pasta tossed in sour sheeps milk cheese….tasted pretty good too! There was plenty to see and we had our timing right as the city was gearing up for the European Football Cup. (didn’t want to be in town for that one)
Pictured above: Leo Einbock (far right) extends a welcome
Our next stop was for a tour around the Einbock factory and while the majority of us were being mesmerised by red shiny seed boxes, a number of the ladies disappeared off to the closest village to sample the local hospitality and came back all smiles and in fine spirits and remained so for most of the day.
Pictured: a guard at the Prague castle
Then it was onto Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. The highlights being “Prague by night’, a tour of the Prague Castle which dates back to 875 & St Vitus Cathedral which dates back to the 14 th Century.
Pictured: the blending of architectural styles at Prague Castle
Pictured: Music in a Czech pub
From the Czech Republic we headed for Deutschland (Germany) stopping at Dresden to admire the reconstruction of the city since WW II.
Pictured: Lynne, Rebecca and Susan fill their faces with SOFTEIS
Pictured : a new motorway in the former DDR
Pictured: Michael Keese, Logistics Manager at Walterscheid, Lohmar
Then it was on to the Walterscheid Gearbox factory to be warmly received, provided with a tasty lunch and then given an interesting tour around the factory. The ladies opted to hop back on the bus for shopping at a nearby town.
Pictured: The Hickey's and Elmes's having a cuppa and a cackle in Dresden
Pictured: Diesel is Euro 1.56 at Germany (May 2008)
With a quick stop at the old Soviet border between former east / west Germany we continued onto the City of Erfurt. The night was spent enjoying local cuisine & beer at an outdoor restaurant followed by an enjoyable stroll through the town soaking up the Barroc and Rococo architecture before high tailing it back to the hotel after being informed it was a neo Nazi “hotspot”.
Onto Rabe in Bad Essen with a tour of their facilities followed by refreshments. Ending the day in Rheine with a gathering at a restaurant for dinner, the speciality from the bar coming in test tubes, liked by some more than others!
Onto Rabe in Bad Essen with a tour of their facilities followed by refreshments. Ending the day in Rheine with a gathering at a restaurant for dinner, the speciality from the bar coming in test tubes, liked by some more than others!
Pictured :the Tulloch tour at Hotel Krone (centre Dr. Bernard Krone)
The next day we got the full treatment from Krone with a full factory tour & running commentary from Ryan Jackson (Krone‘s very Irish & funny, Sales Promotion Manager) this included the new painting facility, assembly, parts and dispatch area. A traditional German Lunch hosted by Dr Bernard Krone followed by a look around the retail department.
Pictured: the Krone truck trailer factory in Werlte
In the afternoon the men were off to the Krone trailer factory where they were pumping out 185 trailers per day, an impressive and busy place. The ladies headed to the local town of Rheine for a spot of shopping and sight seeing.
Pictured: the medieval feast hosted by Krone
Pictured: Big D and Pilch "ready to rip"
To finish the day Krone had organised a bohemian banquet at a small country restaurant & brewery.This was quite an experience as fingers were the only utensils allowed!
Pictured: Ryan Jackson (right) gives Alan Humphries a cuddle, (left) Martin Seggering
The last full day together started with a short trip to Amsterdam where we spent an hour of free time in the City Centre followed by a visit to the Rijks museum, a canal cruise on the “Love Boat” and a tour of a diamond factory. (where thankfully my credit card just refused to work! Despite the best & persistant efforts of the Sales Assistant)
Pictured: the Lovers Show boat tour
This was topped off with a group dinner organised by Globus. As the tour came to an end some of the party headed off to discover more of Europe while the rest of us headed for home with a few opting for a few days stay in Singapore… Then with a blink of an eye we were home with only jet lag and snap shots to remind us of our amazing adventure otherwise known as the “Tullochs Tour”.
Pictured: our Globus tour guides Mario (left) and bus driver Charlie
So a big thank you to all of you who came along and made the trip a fantastic success and to Globus (Mario & Charlie) and Karl Taucher travel ( Lesley) for organising & co ordinating a trouble free tour.
Pictured: for those who can remember "Ternimal 2" at Heathrow airport
New STAKMAX buck rake
Jeff Sutherland and Dave Tulloch of Tulloch's R&D department
With the steady increase in forage harvesting capacity over recent years, as well as extra capacity in truck crates and/or trailers, the bottleneck in the silage-making process for many contractors is now at the stack.
Is there a solution to this bottleneck…?
Is there a solution to this bottleneck…?
Pictured above: The BR400 folded out ready for work
YES, bring on the Tulloch StakMax BR400 buck rake, designed and built in Masterton.
The new Tulloch StakMax BR400 buck rake is designed with folding wings, to fold within 3m in transport, yet boasts almost 4m working width.
The new Tulloch StakMax BR400 buck rake is designed with folding wings, to fold within 3m in transport, yet boasts almost 4m working width.
It utilises the scissor principle for the push off action, which has been proven to be very effective in stacking fine chop silage. It takes just a few seconds to secure the gate extensions, and then the frame wings are folded up out of the way hydraulically.
It is built from the design base of the 3m BR300 buck rake, meaning that any existing 3m machine can be modified from a BR300 to a BR400 buck rake.
The BR300 has been tested on tractor of over 300 hp and has withstood the test of time.
The BR400 has been designed and built to the same quality engineering standards, and as you will see in the photograph above, Jeff and Dave both stand behind their design.
X-disc 6200 whole crop front
National Fieldays 2008 review
It is built from the design base of the 3m BR300 buck rake, meaning that any existing 3m machine can be modified from a BR300 to a BR400 buck rake.
The BR300 has been tested on tractor of over 300 hp and has withstood the test of time.
The BR400 has been designed and built to the same quality engineering standards, and as you will see in the photograph above, Jeff and Dave both stand behind their design.
X-disc 6200 whole crop front
The first 2 ea. X-disc 6200 whole crop fronts for BiG-X forage harvesters have arrived in NZ (pictured above).
Under the skirt are a 6.2m disc mower for cutting cereal crops, and an auger that feeds into the BiG-X forager.
National Fieldays 2008 review
Our site this year included BigPack, Big-M, and Big-X and although space was limited, all of our main product lines were represented.
Visitors to our site were up around 8% on the previous year, with a higher percentage looking to buy for the coming season.
At the end of the Fieldays our firm orders were up over 50% on last year at the same time!
Although we has forecast the lift well in advance supply may be an issue for certain machines dependind on the model.
We would like to thank customers and dealers alike for your continued support.