Nov/Dec 2008
Upgrade to TJ tractor pays off
Less slippage and better fuel economy was a major improvement for Hammer Farms of Golden Prairie, Saskatchewan, in 2006. They’re still excited about it, and other changes resulting from their upgrade to a New Holland TJ tractor.
Geoff Hammer and his brother, Greg, manage a ranch of just under 12,000 acres on some of the driest Prairie in western Canada. The ranch is located along the hilly western edge of Saskatchewan, about 30 miles north of Maple Creek. Improvements in equipment technology have gone a long way in helping the Hammers continue to live and farm where their parents began ranching about 50 years ago.
The tractor upgrade is one step in a series of improvements the Hammer brothers have been making. After a third season of seeding, the TJ450 has about 600 operating hours on the clock. This year, the pair seeded about 3,400 acres of spring wheat, durum, field peas and fall rye.
At one time, they only seeded spring wheat and durum with a 50-50 crop-fallow arrangement. Today, they’re likely to seed the no-till cropland three out of four years. Wheat and durum still dominate, taking up about 2,500 acres in 2008, but the Hammers diversified with 700 acres of the pulse crop and 200 acres of the fall-seeded cereal.
Their 2008 program included only about 1,500 acres of summer fallow. The balance of their land, about 7,000 acres, is too dry for crop production and stays in pasture or grass production.
A 400-horsepower Versatile™ 9880 four-wheel-drive tractor from the early 1990s had served the brothers well until they upgraded to a New Holland TJ450 after the 2005 harvest.
“The 9880 was an extremely good tractor,” Geoff says, “but the New Holland TJ is miles ahead of it.”
Better fuel economy
When Geoff saw the farm’s change in fuel consumption after the first season, he was glad he’d changed tractors. With the 2008 surge in fuel costs, the tractor upgrade proved to be a timely and helpful decision for the farm.
Geoff didn’t track it, but estimates the TJ450 cut the tractor fuel consumption by at least 15 percent that first season.
Tire slippage was one factor. His trade-in had duals and frame weights, both front and back, to reduce slippage. Still, he estimates, the tire slippage on his trade-in was 7 to 9 percent.
Geoff and Greg set up the TJ450 with triples from the start. They didn’t bother with adding further weight.
“We’re down to 3% slippage now, and we’ve got zero weights on this tractor,” he says.
Geoff says he’s also seeding much faster for two reasons: because he can and because he needs to cover the ground. “Generally, I’m seeding at 6 mph now. I do all the spraying before I do all the seeding, so I’m pressed for time and I drive fast,” he says.
At high speed with a 57-foot Flexi-Coil 5000 air drill, a New Holland 380-bushel air cart and narrow openers on 9” spacing cutting an inch deep or more into standing stubble and crop residue, the 450-horsepower tractor and its hydraulic system isn’t stressed.
“It’s unbelievable. Right now, going at that speed, we’re using about 65% power with 3% slip. That’s pretty good,” he says. “With these numbers and that kind of slip and the power I’m using, it’s good. I’ve got no complaints.”
When he feels he can take a little longer to seed a section, he slows down to about 4.8 mph. “There’s some better fuel economy over and above the good fuel economy I’m getting at the higher speeds,” he says.
Easy steering
After years of manual shifting through ranges of gears, Geoff appreciates the New Holland PowerShift™ experience.
“This PowerShift is unbelievable,” he says. “When you’ve got power, you can do whatever you want. You can throttle down, you can shift down, shift up and throttle down.”
Their TJ also is better for working at night. At night in this dry and open country, a tractor operator may not see another light of any kind for hours at a time. Inside the New Holland cab, he’s driving with the EZ-Steer® assisted steering system. All the controls, as well as the surrounding field, are well lit.
“We’ve got HID lights that are just unbelievable for seeding at night. It’s a different kind of light. It’s as good, if not better, than daylight shining back on the drill,” he says.
During that seeding season, Geoff usually puts in a 14-hour day in the tractor while his brother provides field support. They have achieved close to 500 acres of seeding a day.
Most winters have little snow in this territory. By the time they finish the calving season in late March, the frost is out of the ground. Two weeks later, in most years, Geoff is able to starting seeding. Geoff tries to seed into moisture in the dry, sandy loam soil. His seeding program may be interrupted by a snowfall, but he expects to finish before the middle of May.
As good as the tractor is, the New Holland dealer support has been essential. “If you don’t have the dealers to support it, you can’t sell the best machinery in the world. It’s nice to have the support that I get.