Ride 'n' drive days road show

Geraldton McIntosh and Son took its latest New Holland machines on the road last month.

The machinery dealer held ride 'n' drive days in Geraldton on August 22 and in Moonyanooka on August 23, allowing farmers to get hands-on with the latest tractor technology.

One model which drew particular interest was New Holland's sophisticated T8390 from the popular T8 series.

Offering 390 horsepower, the T8390 has an extended wheelbase which puts more power on the ground, according to New Holland product manager of tractors Don Forrester.

"The new T8 series is big news in terms of innovation," he said.

"The long wheelbase is one of the innovations. Primarily it gives the ability to put the huge horsepower this tractor develops to the ground to pull implements effectively."

Mr Forrester said the T8390 had improved steering thanks to its sculptured engine bay which gave more turning space to the wheels.

"These modifications allow the competitive task of driving the tractor to be a lot easier on the farmer," he said.

He said New Holland had introduced a "consistent feel" throughout its new range, from cab to cab.

"We've got a lot of consistency in the cabs now in terms of the control layouts," Mr Forrester said.

"The armrest console on the right of the operator is the same from a small T7 to the T8 series, right up to the mother ship T9."

Mr Forrester said the T8390 came with all attachment components required for spraying, fertiliser spreading and transporting chaser bins.

He said the EcoBlue Tier 4 engine had the capacity to go without an oil change for 600 hours - opposed to 200 hours in older models.

Geraldton McIntosh and Son sales manager Brad Forrester said the ride 'n' drive days gave farmers the opportunity to operate the machinery as they would in the field.

"This is as close as you can get to the farm operation without having the sprayer and the tillage behind the tractor," he said.

"It's a good opportunity to see how they work in person.

"These machines have the latest technology, offering really good fuel economy, staying in line, and hopefully, better than the competitors.

"A lot of these can do operations themselves, including headland turning and operating the implement behind."