Longer lasting, better quality discs and cultivators are now ready, after a two and a half year advertising halt, says Hooper sales manager Matt Fairbrother.
Hooper Machinery owner Paul Hooper sold his business of 70 years to Fairbrother owner Jim Fairbrother in 2010 for health reasons.
Matt Fairbrother says while Hooper machinery was well known for quality products, consistency of workshop documents was less than ideal and equipment had little stress testing before it hit the field. All the same, “Hooper cultivation equipment is a trusted name in cultivation in New Zealand and we were excited by the opportunities it offered.”
Manufacturing processes have had a lot of attention at Fairbrother – seen in their Kinghitter postdriver range – and Fairbrother says they wanted to bring that experience to making Hooper cultivation equipment.
Meanwhile they put the marketing of many Hooper products on hold for two years and went back to the drawing board – developing reliable physical digital plans for machinery.
Fairbrother says they also updated some equipment for better compatibility with tractors now available. “We found that as tractors have got bigger and more polwerful we’ve had to make the discs heavier.”
The first overhauled product on sale in September was a 4.7m hydraulic disc harrows for which demand has exceeded supply, Fairbrother says. Three have sold and orders are in for two more. Another six smaller disc harrows are out with customers.
Improvements include a five year warranty, taper roller bearings, an upgraded frame, a larger box section, bigger pins, a bigger diameter bush and the use of steel-on-plastic wear pads on some moving parts. “We wanted to make them last a bit longer and users have found they are more rugged and able to stand up to a wide range of conditions.”
The company also developed an axle with bolts on each end to aid field repairs without welding or cutting gear.
Contractors tried the first machines, first on rocky hill country in Central Otago and Dargaville hills, then on flatlands in Canterbury and Waikato. They said the machine was heavy enough to cut through previously untilled soil, while still having the hydraulic compensators and a shorter wheel base necessary to provide an even cut elsewhere.
The company has been working on the Triflex cultivator and Farmer series discs, expected to be released soon; preparing the rest of the stock for re-launch might take
some time.
“We will hopefully have gone through the Hooper catalogue by the end of next year. It takes a year to sort it all out.”
Tel. 0800 476868
www.hoopermachinery.co.nz
