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Visitors to last week's National Fieldays were able to check out the new home for CLAAS Harvest Centre, Waikato and the parts, training and demonstration hub for the network's five other branches in the North Island.
The facility includes a six-bay service workshop, a 1,000 square metre parts warehouse and a 700 square metre showroom, administration and training centre. The centre also houses a high-tech remote diagnostics facility that enables technicians to monitor the location, operating performance and potential service requirements of any CLAAS, JCB, or AMAZONE machinery fitted with telematics in New Zealand.
Located on a three-hectare site adjacent to Hamilton Airport, the area also includes a 6,500 square metre 'hard stand' area, alongside a product demonstration and training area. The site hosts more than 35 sales, administration, parts and service staff under the leadership of branch manager, Stephen Harrison.
Landpower chief executive, Richard Wilson, says the complex will underpin increasing demand for high performance farm machinery and after-sales service and support.
"Hamilton is our largest dealership in the North Island and has developed a solid business based on forage harvesting technology," Richard says. "This expansion will spearhead the continued growth in sales of our extensive range of other lines, including tractors, cultivation, seeding, spraying, spreading and handling equipment.
"Our goal is to gear up farmers for success by providing access to some of the world's leading farm machinery brands and providing an unmatched level of aftersales service. A large part of that promise relies on recruiting, developing and retaining quality staff.
"Having a purpose-built, well-equipped workplace and being able to provide ongoing training throughout our network will enable us to meet that challenge."
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With the biannual Italian EIMA machinery Expo less than a month away, Case IH has taken out a Technical Evolution award for the Advanced Vehicle Suspension system available on its Optum 360–440 series tractors.
The Advanced Vehicle Suspension system, available on Optum 360, 390, and 440 models, responds to changing conditions, automatically adjusting how the suspension reacts to absorbs shocks and controlling vehicle movement.
In operation, sensors monitor the vibrations transmitted from the tractor chassis to the operator cabin, allowing the system to adjust suspension damping in real time. The control system incorporates key priorities, such as comfort at lower speeds and stability as speed increases, while also reacting to factors such as lower tyre pressures, where the tyres absorb more of the initial shock.
Case IH said as suspension requirements change throughout the working day, as tractors move between the paddock and road transport, the system manages suspension response in the background as tasks, speeds and conditions change, leaving the operator without the need to make manual adjustments.
Richard Hollins, Optum series tractors global product manager, said: “Pioneering technology must earn its place in the working day. Farmers and contractors will judge an investment by what it delivers, including manageable ownership costs, dependable up-time and the versatility to tackle different jobs. With AVS, we are putting intelligent control to work for comfort and stability, without giving the operator another setting to manage.”
Organised by FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the contest has been part of EIMA since 1986, with the Technical Evolution distinction awarded to products that introduce original improvements to solutions already manufactured or patented.
www.caseih.com
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