Repair or replace? What to do when a farm machine breaks down
The last time I went about replacing my tractor was in 2005. It was after an unfortunate episode which resulted with my then machine, a Landini Blizzard, ending up in a duck pond.
The answer to the question which has just gone through your mind, dear reader, is,”It’s complicated, but it resulted in the machine being a total write off.”
I remember scouring any and all farm publications for adverts, and the internet to a lesser extent (our home internet connection wasn’t good at that time).
After a lot of phonecalls, and about half a dozen trips up and down the country to view various offerings, I settled on a Landini Gibli.
More than 10 years on, my Gibli’s main hydraulic pump packed in.
Having delivered it to Landini dealer Kilmeaden Tractors in Co Waterford for repairs, I decided after a discussion with the garage’s main mechanic to research the possibility of changing it.
I was far from convinced, to be honest, that I wanted to change, clinging to the idea that I could motor on once she was repaired.
But I began, as I had before, with all the farm papers, and progressed to our now much improved internet, and its various farm machinery sites.
I quickly began to realise that, for not a huge multiple of what my tractor had cost me in repairs over the previous 15 months, I could have a far newer, far shinier, and far more advanced machine.
My simple criteria were 100 or so horsepower, four-wheel drive, loader already attached, not an overly high cab (for shed work), reasonable hours on the engine for its age, and a maximum additional payment of €10,000-€15,000, with my own machine as a trade-in.
A week passed, and my options were expanding.
There was a 2010 McCormick CX105 with 1,900 hours in Co Meath, price unspecified. A 2008 Kubota also had 1,900 hours, but no loader.
There was a New Holland in Cashel, but the cab looked high, a Massey Ferguson in Sligo… the list, while not endless, was long.
One thing was becoming obvious though, it appeared my additional budget might have to be in the €20,000-€25,000 region! I discussed the situation with my wife.
Her attitude was simple, there was no point in paying big money if the farm couldn’t afford it.
“But, in fairness, you should buy yourself some comfort.”
When Johnny Casey from Kilmeaden Tractors contacted me to know if I had decided on a course of action with the disabled Landini Gibli, and found me still undecided, he took his chance.
“I’ve got the tractor for you, if you’re going to change.”
He told me he had taken in a Claas Celtis RX4 with a loader, as part of a deal that had seen its owner trade up to a 2015 version of the same model.
I arrived at his dealership the following afternoon, passing in the forecourt what I suspected was going to be his offering — a large machine, whose heavy framed front loader made the whole thing appear to me like a large, lime-green rectangular box, with bright red wheel centres!
I didn’t like the colour.
But I liked the way the driver’s door opened; it swung easily forward and locked safely in that position.
The conversation with Johnny centres on my Landini, and what I’ll have to spend to get it mobile.
“Firstly, it’s completely fixable, I took out the pump during the week and ordered a new one,” said Johnny.
“But the reality is you’d have to spend another maybe two grand on top of what the pump will cost to bring her up to spec; brake seals are gone, the driver’s door, you don’t have one, and the differential is frozen, and those are the problems I can see.”
We move across the yard to where some new Landinis are parked. I look enviously at their gleaming paint work, and shiny wheels. “How much?” I ask. “€65,000.” If only my Lotto numbers would come up.
Johnny steps over to the Claas, and opens the driver’s door.
It swings easily forward and then locks parallel to the engine, which means it doesn’t extend beyond the width of the tyres.
A lot of tractors have their doors open backwards, which is fine, but I’d broken my driver’s door three times.
Twice while feeding cattle in the sheds, as I reversed out the door clipped a pillar. And once going out a field gap on a warm day, when the branch of a tree snagged the open door.
Careless, or poor design?
I settled myself into the driver’s seat. Seeing that I was a little low, Johnny pressed a lever, there was a low whizzing noise as the seat rose and stiffened.
This was great, and a long way from my usual situation of fixing and re-fixing a cushion I kept in my old Landini.
Turning the key, the engine came immediately to life.
I pressed on the controls for the loader, and it rose rapidly. Under instruction, I moved gingerly forward.
I watched the front wheels turning and then locked the steering full over to the right, this gave a very agreeable result, the turning circle was very tidy, always a good thing when operating in a yard.
Johnny explained that the loader was fitted with a soft drive that helped reduce significantly loader vibrations when driving at speed or over rough ground.
Then there was the power shuttle, an orange coloured lever beside the steering wheel, which eliminated the need to clutch every time you wanted to change from forward to reverse, again very handy when doing loader work.
The gear stick setup seemed pretty standard, but had something new for me, a high-low gear splitter button which you pressed to go up or down a third of a gear, and again no need to touch the clutch pedal.
The cab, once the doors were closed, was quiet, and the radio incorporated a cassette player.
All the exterior lights worked, and were original, as was the tool box.
I reversed back to my starting position, pulled the hand brake, and turned the engine off.
“Do you want to take her out on the road for a spin?” Johnny asked.
“Not today,” I replied.
I stepped over to my car a little light-headed, I needed to get away before my head got completely turned, before I’d had a chance to really think.
But I muttered to myself, “Damn, it’s good”, as I drove down the lane.
While I might be interested, like a fish that is nosing around a piece of bait on a hook, I was still not totally convinced.
I also knew that successful big game fishermen often spool out more line until they are reasonably sure they have a bite.
Back at the garage a few days later, I got straight down to business.
“What’s the story with the Claas, Johnny? Who owned it?”
This fish had just pulled hard on the bait to see if it was real, and was now sitting waiting to see what happened next.
Johnny replied: “Seven years ago, we sold this tractor from new to a farmer outside Dungarvan. He came back into us two months ago, and traded it against a new 2015 model.
“Claas only got into tractors in 2006, when they bought a majority shareholding in Renault tractors in France, so in essence it’s a Renault in Claas colours.”
“I see,” I said.
I had already known this from my research, and had talked to a farmer who owned a 2002 Renault.
Later, as I parked up the tractor after a 15-minute drive, I’m working out my next series of questions for Johnny.
The tractor has driven well, and the loader’s soft drive facility definitely makes a difference.
I ask for the phone number of its previous owner, which is given, and then the price. €35,000, I’m told.
My own tractor?
“As is, €13,500.”
But I’m not ready to negotiate just yet. I want to talk to the previous owner.
“Not a problem,” Johnny replies, before adding that he has had another man look at it, and he’s to come back in a day or so. The fisherman has just shortened the amount of line I’ve got to play with!
I drive down the road a bit before pulling over and tapping in the phone number he has given me. I speak to the previous owner, who confirms what Johnny has told me.
“She’s 100% genuine,” he tells me. His reason for selling her is she was bought on a lease, and when the last payment was made, he decided to roll over the lease and go with the newer model.
That night, I speak with a local farmer who owns an identical model, but a year older.
When I ask what he thinks, “If I ever change, I’ll go the same again.”
The following day, we close in on a deal.
To me the tractor seems very sound mechanically and should be well capable of doing the various jobs I expect of it, but the tipping points are the comfort and space afforded by the cab, the ease of operation, and the fact the garage is local, plus the garage guarantee.
Eventually we reach a compromise; it involves my 1978 Massey Ferguson, that Johnny had asked me about previously.
It hasn’t moved in three years, a generous description would be it’s under-polished.
Johnny considers, I can see him doing sums in his head. He drops the money to a level I can manage, still not inside my original budget, but it’s enough.
“Deal done!”
