At Fulling Mill Farm, Lindfield, they like to do things a little bit different, and with some very positive results. The farming enterprise of D Hobbs & Sons, farm 800 acres of mainly grassland with a 150 head Simmental X suckler herd which are over-wintered in a somewhat unique building - known as ‘the roundhouse.’ The considered benefit to the farming business is that the ‘roundhouse’ requires only one person to feed, handle, sort and manage the entire herd, with minimal input. According to Alison Eggert-Hobbs, “The entire system reflects a highly efficient and cost-effective management style.”

For general duties and cattle-yard use, the farm has a ‘now’ four-year old John Deere 6115R tractor with loader that they bought new from Burden Bros Agri. When they acquired the tractor, they decided that looking after it themselves, with regards to servicing and maintenance, might give them greater flexibility and a closer control of costs. However, when they purchased their next John Deere, a 6215R to handle the heavy cultivations and harvest work, they were getting into a more technical product and that maybe, self-servicing wasn’t the best idea? Added Alison, “With so much advanced technology on these new tractors, it’s not so easy for us to service and maintain machinery ourselves, especially when the technicians from Burden Bros Agri have their smart tablets, which can easily identify any potential errors in the machine. They can take action and rectify an issue before it happens and therefore minimises any peripheral expenditure. We don’t have that luxury on the farm.”

Fulling Mill Farm decided to add a full PowerGard, extended warranty with maintenance programme for the John Deere 6215R covering the tractor for up to 4000 engine hours over a five year period. The tractor is now three years old and already has 3000hrs on the clock. “PowerGard is similar to an insurance policy,” Alison explained, “yes, there’s a monthly fee, but that covers all the servicing and maintenance costs which we no longer have to concern ourselves with. When the service interval is close to being reached, they get a message at Burden Bros Agri’s Service department, direct from the tractor just before the service is due. They then contact us to schedule a convenient time to complete the service and I don’t have to worry about anything else - it’s all included in the monthly fee. The technicians at Burden Bros Agri are so on the ball that it takes away the need to worry if we’d serviced the tractor or not - it’s a simple and sensible business process.”

Running two John Deere tractors on the farm has given the enterprise a direct insight into the differences between PowerGard with Maintenance and non-PowerGard arrangements. “Quite simply there has been no real difference in costs for maintenance between either tractor,” commented Alison. “the real benefit of PowerGard for us has meant total peace of mind that with a technically advanced product, we are totally covered for maintenance, servicing and any unexpected component failures. If there is a breakdown of any kind, then we don’t get an unexpected bill, it’s all covered. It’s another of our planned decisions which reflects a highly efficient and cost-effective management style.” Alison concluded.