Felix Blayney x McCormick
Having never owned a McCormick tractor before, one Victorian farmer’s decision to buy an X7.616 is continuing to pay dividends.
Felix Blayney is proud of his McCormick X7.616 tractor, washing it every week to ensure it remains in pristine condition. The Victorian cattle farmer has been so impressed with the McCormick’s versatility – along with the service from distributor Clark Equipment – that he is already planning to get another tractor from the same brand.
Felix and his partner Kerry operate three farms in Victoria’s Gippsland region, including 120 acres of dry land at Rosedale used as a beef cattle operation. The work he has put his tractor through will be familiar to many Australian farmers, with much of it being land preparation grunt work requiring a variety of implements. Every test which he has put the McCormick through has been passed with flying colours.
“Everything I’ve gone to do with this tractor; I haven’t had a problem. That’s all you can ask for,” he says.
Filled with features
McCormick’s X7.616 is among the manufacturer’s more powerful tractors, boasting a six-cylinder Iveco engine that produces a maximum of 166hp (124kW). The X7 series has been redesigned to be heavier and longer, conceived with the demands of broadacre farmers in mind, while offering larger wheel equipment and extended service intervals.
There is a 54 x 27 powershift transmission and a maximum speed of 50km/h, while the cabin roof has been fully restyled and the 12 work lights repositioned to provide full all-round visibility during night work. Designed and built in Italy, it is a complete package which Felix gives a glowing endorsement of.
“When you look at the package of the McCormick, everything that it’s got – all the really important stuff – is as good as you can get on any tractor,” he says.
“It’s got the Carraro front end, the Iveco motor is just a beautiful motor and they’re really good on fuel. “This tractor has got more power than I’m ever going to need, but it’s also very good for fuel economy and comfort.” Felix is an experienced tractor owner across multiple brands, and he also rattles off a substantial list of features which make the McCormick X7.616 stand out compared to others which he has owned.
“I’ve got two other tractors, and they have no shuttle shifts and no cab suspension and basically nothing in the way of creature comfort,” he says.
“You then jump into this tractor, and it’s got all of that and more – suspension cabin, suspension seat, it’s got the P6 transmission, the hydraulics, and operating the rotors is really easy. “It packs a real punch at that price point.”
Working hard
Felix and Kerry live next to Sale racecourse, and Kerry has a Racing Victoria trainer’s licence which means they are up early working their horses. These extra commitments before the farming day starts arguably makes the need for efficient, no-nonsense machinery even more important.
With a cattle breeding operation, along with some cross-bred sheep, there has been plenty of different work for the McCormick tractor to do since it was purchased. When he purchased it from Clark Equipment’s Dandenong branch, Felix opted to add a sleek black loader to the tractor, something which he says he uses “all the time”.
“It came with a four-in-one bucket, and I got them to make sure it had great big ripper teeth on the bucket so we can do everything we need to do,” he says.
“We’ve got the big square bale hay forks, and it also came with the pallet forks, and we’ve used all those implements pretty much every day.” Felix says the tractor’s work has been extensive, but the McCormick has excelled in every job it has had to undertake. “Two of our three farms are irrigation. We’ve put in a pivot on each of our farms and we’ve done a fair bit of laser grading on both of those farms recently,” he says.
“We’ve had a contractor doing all the grading for me, but you’ve got to disc it all up before you start grading and we’ve used the tractor for that. “It has been pulling a big set of 42-plate discs, and I was surprised how easily the tractor pulled it. “We’ve done a lot of jobs – we’ve laid a lot of inch-and-a-half poly. “With the laser grading, you’ve got to get rid of all the fences and troughs and then once it’s graded, you’ve got to sow it all down. “Before you sow it down, you’ve got to run new poly.” Felix enlisted the help of a mate’s “homemade contraption” for this job, which is pulled by the tractor’s drawbar and puts the poly pipe about a metre under the ground. The tractor requires “a fair bit of grunt”
to pull this contraption through the ground like a ripper, but Felix says the McCormick X7.616 “does this easy”. Felix is also already planning the next jobs for his McCormick tractor.
“We use the tractor every day and we’re in the process of looking around for a new drill, which we’re probably going to do in the not-too-distant future, so we’ll be using the tractor for pasture renovation predominantly,” he says.
Next steps
This tractor marks Felix’s first foray into McCormick machinery, but it will not be his last. While the X7.616 has proven to have more than enough power for the jobs on his farm, he jokes that he still plans to get an even bigger tractor next.
“When anyone ever buys a tractor, a few weeks down the track they always turn around and say, ‘I wish I had spent a little bit money and got the next size up’,” he says.
“With this tractor, I’m never going to say that – it’s great – although I am going to get another one probably next year and I’m going to get the 230-horsepower version of this same one. “It has a lot more power, which I’ll never need, but I’m going to get it anyway.”
Felix bought the tractor from Clark Equipment in the south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, choosing to bypass closer dealerships selling other brands to secure the McCormick.
“That just goes to show how happy I am with the McCormick tractor and the support and service that Clark Equipment in Dandenong have given me,” he says.
“We’ve found the tractor to be very reliable and the sales and support from Clark Equipment has been outstanding. “We’re very happy with the whole buying experience and the support they’ve given me. They have been great and they are highly recommended.”
Storing the tractor in the back of a shed to prevent it from getting any dew on it, cleaning it both inside and outside every week and having it serviced regularly by Clark Equipment shows how much Felix values the McCormick X7.616 and how important he believes it is to keep it in pristine condition. Choosing the right tractor is an important decision for any farmer, and there is little doubt Felix has made the right choice with his.
“For what they cost and for what you get, you can’t beat them on the value – and then if anything goes wrong, you’ve got Clark down there to support you,” he says.
“This is just a great tractor.”
