Ben Stevenson x McCormick
Knowing service from Clark Equipment is both local and reliable has made the McCormick tractor ownership experience a breeze for one New South Wales farmer.
For some machinery purchases, a simple ‘in and out’ transaction will suffice. For others, particularly major investments like a new tractor, the customer experience and confidence in the aftersales support are invaluable considerations when committing a large amount of money.
It is these factors which help to explain why New South Wales farmer Ben Stevenson talks so glowingly about his McCormick tractor purchased from national distributor Clark Equipment despite the fact he is yet to complete a full season of work with it.
Stevenson is located at Martindale in the NSW Hunter Valley and dealt with sales representative Aaron Becroft from Clark’s Newcastle branch. Stevenson admits he is a direct speaker who knew what he wanted from the transaction and is full of praise for the experience in dealing with Becroft both during the purchase and handover.
“If I didn’t like the tractor, I wouldn’t have bought it and I told Aaron that,” he says.
“I’m a pretty straight shooter and I said ‘this is what it is, this is what I’m after. If you give me a good price, I’ll buy it’ and he was really good."
“Even when he came out and did the handover with me, he came out here for four or five hours he was out here for ages with me.”
As any farmer knows, the relationship with the dealer doesn’t end when the tractor hits the paddock. With potential for even the most reliable tractor to have issues or for a farmer to need some technical support knowing that a dealer is both accessible and knowledgeable makes a significant difference. This service has already been noticeable for Stevenson, whose confidence in the tractor purchase has been bolstered by knowing Clark Equipment is nearby.
“I love the fact they’re local and I can just ring Aaron if I’ve got troubles with the GPS or anything on there,” he says.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s Saturday night and I’m ripping or whatever, I can ring him."
“It had one little issue when I first got it, just a factory thing, so I rang Aaron and he fixed it straight away."
“It was just ‘no worries, not a drama’. There was no argument with it, it was just fixed, which is what you want."
“If you’ve just spent 200-odd grand, you don’t want to stuff around trying to tick boxes and jump hurdles just to get something fixed on it, especially when I’m going to be using the tractor.”
Strong machine
Stevenson purchased the McCormick X7.690 Efficient tractor, a model that has recently been usurped in the Clark Equipment range by the X7.616 and X7.623 models. As Stevenson’s experience has shown, the discontinuation of his tractor model has not meant a discontinuation of service, nor does it mean any of the core principles that have attracted farmers around Australia to the McCormick brand no longer apply.
McCormick says the X7 series strikes the 'perfect balance of advanced engineering and top-notch components' and 'has been conceived to meet the demands of large scale farms and full-time contractors.'
The X7.690 was the most powerful in that series, boasting a 225hp (166kW) six-cylinder Iveco engine, along with a 54 × 27 ZF powershift transmission and top speed of 50km/h. The tractor also has three drive modes manual, auto or field along with independent hydraulic front axle suspension and is integrated autosteer and ISOBUS ready.
Buying with faith
While new tractor models invariably add more features and boast upgrades to the operator experience, the long-term reputation of the brand is a key influence on potential customers when they are considering what to buy. McCormick has developed a reputation among Australian farmers for providing a reliable and value-for-money option where the overall cost is lower despite the features and capability being comparable to other major OEMs.
Stevenson says this was one reason why he chose the Italian-made McCormick over other brands.
“The McCormicks are pretty much the same tractor, whereas some of the other brands are well over 100 grand dearer than what I bought,” he says.
“I just can’t justify it – by the time you work out your ROI over that, that’s a lot of crop you’ve got to put in.”
Another drawcard for the McCormick brand among Australian farmers, and part of the reason why it provides a strong value proposition, is the manufacturer’s desire for simplicity by only adding the technology and electronic components it believes farmers most need. Again, this is something which resonates with Stevenson.
“That’s half the reason I bought one too, because they’re still a pretty standard tractor,” he says.
“There’s nothing really electronic in them, there’s no DPF, there’s no AdBlue there’s still an actual tractor that you can use, you can work on, and you can service it yourself."
“If something goes wrong with it, it’s either a flat battery or it’s out of fuel – there’s really not much that can go wrong with it."
“They have an Iveco motor and they’re pretty much bulletproof.”
Stevenson’s first big job with the McCormick will be to plant a summer crop, having only deep ripped about 20 hectares of his property since purchasing the tractor. Two main features have stood out so far the tractor’s overall strength when pulling implements and the capability of the GPS.
“I’ve used a tractor with a GPS before but this one is simple and it’s easy to use,” he says.
“It’s a Topcon setup and it’s really good.”
While Stevenson has not yet worked the tractor to the limit of its capabilities, his experience so far leaves him in no doubt.
“I’ve only used it a little bit, but I reckon even if you were to use something like that all year round, in a contracting context, it would stand up and do it easy,” he says.
“They’re a good thing and I’m very happy with it.”
