The business leases properties for rearing young stock and over-wintering cows, finishes about a 1000 beef-cattle and has a cropping regime that includes 100ha of fodder beet, 50ha of maize and 60ha of barley.
Choosing to keep all the work in-house, when the time came to change tractor Walker was looking for a high power, multi-tasking machine. It also had to handle a fully-mounted 6-furrow reversible plough, pull a 6m disc cultivator used with a 6.5m roller drill, yet be mobile enough to handle a triple mower combination.
Having settled on one of the first Deutz Fahr 9340 TTVs to arrive in New Zealand, Walker, who admits to being a fan of “high tech, high spec” is already singing the praises of the new arrival.
“Although we are getting an extra 60hp over the tractor the 9340 replaced, we’re using no more fuel.”
He also says the tractor is simple to operate, particularly the headland management system, when headland sequencing comes up for mention.
“You can either use it in full auto mode where actions can be prompted by distance or time, or you can interrupt the sequence at any time,” Walker explains. “This is useful on awkward shaped headlands, or when you just make a mess of a turn this helps save a lot of time.”
With its looks the Deutz Fahr 9340 turns heads: its styling is by the Italian design firm Giugiaro.
The tractor weighs 12 tonnes and has maximum output of 340hp. Power comes from a 6-cylinder twin-turbocharged 7.8L TTCD 7.8 L06 engine with maximum torque of over 1000Nm seen at 1600 -1200rpm. At least 90% is still available at engine speeds as low as 1000rpm.
The ZF-sourced, heavy duty TTV unit offers four mechanical ranges, up to 80% mechanical drive at field speeds of 7 - 15km/h and nearly 90% mechanical content at typical roading speeds.
Up front, a suspended axle gives comfort and manoeuvrability, with a novel frame design that swings freely by +/- 45mm and offers a 50-degree steering angle.
Integrated into the front axle, an external dry disc braking system provides serious stopping power.
This includes anti-dive and anti-rise technology and is complemented by an electronic park brake system.
The 3-pt linkage can lift 12,000kg and works with a 5000kg capacity front linkage; hydraulic oil flow is up to 210L/min through up to eight remote valves.
