LDV Agri Contracting background

Dillon and Broadacre Contracting’s interpretation

There are a few bloody solid things here.

Especially coming from being a qualified diesel mechanic with a background on the farm and a passion for machinery.

More often than not, we see contractors with experience maintaining gear from their farming background, but it is less common to see one who also holds a diesel mechanic qualification.

Having that combination of a passion for cropping and agriculture, backed by a diesel mechanic trade and actual diagnostic knowledge of the gear, is impressive.

I do not mean to sound like a broken record over and over, but when you are a harvest contractor, or I suppose any type of farm contractor, running out the back of Tamworth in some contour country and something goes astray, having the diesel mechanic trade and diagnostic ability is worth its weight in gold.

You are not parked up waiting three days on a dealer to get out.

You are under it yourself.

I put a dollar value on what it costs to be down every hour with a Class 8 header that is on around $650 a rotor hour.

It was $1,300 an hour, and on top of that, possibly losing the reputation of reliability.

If you are keen to have a gander at that, loop back to the Talking Gear Tuesday 12 yarn with Jimmy from Pitson Contracting.

There is also another yarn I did, and I am pretty sure it was the Episode 7 write-up where we really dived down the route of mechanics and having qualified diesel mechanics as the founders with the BB Harvesting yarn.

There is a trend here through all the episodes, and we have painted it fairly black and white.

Soon enough I will start to sound like a broken record, but here I go again.

But as I say that, I think the answer is not necessarily being a mechanic as such.

It is being able to diagnose.

Anyone can be smart enough to smack some bushes out and put new ones in, but not everyone can diagnose.

So after all the preaching I have been doing, I am probably saying the wrong thing.

So here is my question to the growers and contractors reading this.

The Broadacre Contracting community is widespread, but lately we have had a lot of growers and contractors from Tamworth through to Deniliquin, Jerilderie and right across our local district, the southern Riverina, come on board with us.

For the new growers and contractors, thanks for being involved.

We are here to support you every day and solve your problems.

But for you new lot and the rest of the Broadacre Contracting community Australia-wide, I want to put this one both ways.

Growers, when you are picking a contractor, how much of the conversation is around them being able to fix their own gear in the paddock and source local dealer parts?

Contractors, when you are picking a grower to work for, how much do you weigh up where they are located, their access to parts and dealers, and whether you can actually keep your gear rolling on their country?

If you disagree, that is fine.

I would be keen to hear you tell me why.

I disagree with myself a lot, and I want to hear from you so I can learn.

Harvest gear mentioned

Dillon and Broadacre Contracting’s interpretation

A 60-foot Midwest draper on the front of a Class 9 would be getting across the hectares.

I want to take this opportunity to dive into the Midwest fronts.

If you have been around long enough, you will know Broadacre Contracting was built for the cropping and agriculture sector.

Simply put, we want to help growers’ and contractors’ bottom line.

We have a very transparent view on gear and everything.

Simply, we cannot be bought out to give a review, because we will not.

We can be paid to come out with a manufacturer and do some work, but they are going to be given the complete honest opinion.

We have spent years building our reputation and the respect we have in Australia, and we have done so by being honest and transparent.

Now I have got that out of the way, Midwest fronts.

I hear so many mixed reviews.

Some people swear by them, others would not go near one again.

I have been around one at harvest.

It was on a 9770 John Deere bullet rotor, a fairly simple platform, and we did not have too many issues with it.

That is the only experience I have with them myself.

From there I just hear about them a lot, and it is mixed reviews.

What I do like is they are an Australian company, based up in Dalby QLD I am pretty sure, and for me that is huge.

Staff costs, materials and everything else make it a serious effort.

I would love to hear your thoughts on Midwest fronts, but not just that.

I would love to know why I get such mixed reports.

I have asked people that exact question a lot, and I never seem to get the answer.

We are getting this mixed feedback not just from growers but from harvest contractors as well.

Midwest, if you ever come across this, we would love for you to get involved.

You could give us some unreal insights, and you could even get constructive feedback that could change the game.

What I will say is hats off to you for keeping it in Australia.

Okay, that was a proper Dillon side mission to the max.

Moving on.

Throwing a 60-foot front on a Class 9 is a good way to go.

Put that extra horsepower to use.

Between the Class 8 and Class 9 Case flagships, the feeder house is identical and the rotor and cleaning space are much the same.

The grain tank?

I will be honest, I have had a few different conversations on this one.

On the current 250 series here in Australia, from what I can find, the 8 and 9 actually run the same tank, around 11 tonne of wheat.

The real difference is horsepower.

Chaser bin setup

Dillon and Broadacre Contracting’s interpretation

I have a lot of people call me often looking for advice.

They are wanting to break out of the wages cycle, or have already done that but just need a bit of guidance as they increase their risk.

It means a lot really, and I bloody enjoy these conversations.

It gives me a chance to listen to their thoughts and also an opportunity to guide them.

Please note, I am not a financial advisor and will not give financial advice.

Gamble responsibly.

A lot of the conversations are along the lines of, “I am looking to buy this gear, what do you think?”

Honestly, more often than not I am hearing blokes wanting to go into real big gear straight off the bat.

That makes me real nervous.

I am talking 500hp-plus tractors with bars and bins for sowing, or new, newish big headers.

Buy a chaser bin.

They are hot real estate.

Do not let the syndrome of newest, flashest, biggest come in, because it will be the worst thing ever.

I bring this up because Lach said the chaser bins have been a really good fit, can split headers up, and can keep headers moving.

This is why chaser bins are a solid investment.

Hopefully now it makes sense why I rambled off up the top.

I want to use this time and this opportunity so the readers out there who are reading because they are looking at giving business in agriculture and broadacre cropping a crack, I can be of a positive impact to them.

If you want to talk or have a yarn around this, give me a bell.

My name is Dillon Harrison, I am available mostly from 6am to 9pm.

But if it is urgent, you are doey in the cab and the thought process about getting into business is what is keeping you going, I would be happy to help you.

Unfortunately, we used to give away thousands of dollars of trials, but we do not do that anymore.

Some businesses came in and used the $5k of free trials to get what they wanted and run away.

So I cannot help with that avenue like I used to.

I really did enjoy doing it, but it was not working.

That is irrelevant really.

It is the picking the phone up to yarn, to understand what it takes to be a harvest contractor, or a windrowing contractor, or any farm contractor really.

Well, I have to get out of this ramble because it is a proper side mission.

It is interesting to hear Lach and the LDV crew are running single axle bins.

Most people go the complete opposite direction nowadays.

So I am taking this opportunity to think about it and break it down.

Down around Finley, Tocumwal, Deniliquin and Jerilderie we have intense irrigation layouts, as Lach mentioned.

Channels, tight corners, point turns, even contours and the like.

Why single axle over a front and rear steerable axle bin?

Lach gave us his answer above.

They are a lot more operator friendly.

The trade-off is exactly what he flags.

Bigger tandem bins and larger gear need a more experienced operator, whereas these single axle 30 tonners are operator friendly.

As we all know, steerable axle bins need to be locked out before backing up or pulling out to send it up the road.

When reversing, the wheels cast right over to the stops, and if it is not locked out and you push it past the stops, you can end up with bent rams, snapped tie rods, the lot.

Jump out on the bitumen to send it up the road at speed with the steerable axles unlocked, and the thing starts to jump from side to side of the road on you.

All of a sudden you were on the road looking at the road, and then you are in the table drain.

If your client base is happy for you to run a certain breed of gear, and it reduces risk and allows you to have greener operators, it is probably a very smart business decision.

And do not forget, two fewer tyres.

Those buggers are pricey.

That ties everything right back into why the single axle suits the way Lachy runs his teams.

An easier bin to operate means he can put a less seasoned bloke in the seat, split the machines up and run smaller crews across more country.

Really appreciate Lach sharing that.

These are the insights that will get people thinking.

These are the insights that create successful businesses.

I am learning as we go through the motions of Talking Gear Tuesday.

Everyone has a unique approach to efficiencies.

Baling setup

Dillon and Broadacre Contracting’s interpretation

I have to put a laugh out loud here.

Bought a baler for our own home use and now we have three of them.

There are always little details in the lines.

Broadacre Contracting works on three core values: Respect, Reliability and Responsibility.

The reason we work on these is that they create a formula that equals reputation.

There is a little detail jumping out at me here.

They bought one baler and now have three.

That does not just happen from having the gear.

Having a baler plays a role, but having the client base to create demand for three means LDV Agri Contracting and Lachy Varley are highly respected in their home region around Griffith, Finley, Tocumwal and right through the southern Riverina.

Anyway, jumping out of the little detail and into the gear.

The 3×4 Massey Ferguson big square is a pretty handy baler from what I have seen.

From the little bit I know, the goal of the game is to get nice pressed bales.

A good dense 3×4 that stacks tight on a truck and freights well.

I have never operated a baler.

I have only been around them with the Broadacre Contracting business.

I remember on a recent Talking Gear Tuesday yarn with Cal from Newell Contracting, I said to Cal, “These things look pretty straightforward to work on.”

He just looked at me and said, “Yeah, nah mate.”

Then as I asked him to run me through it all, it clicked.

I would love the opportunity to have a walk through a production line of balers one day.

As you could already tell, Lach is a straight, honest bloke.

A straight shooter.

He has showcased it here by being honest about baling being a side avenue, not the main game.

Harvest is the passion and the bread and butter.

I reckon that is healthy.

A lot of blokes spread themselves too thin trying to be everything.

The LDV setup is diverse, but there is a clear hierarchy.

This is also where Broadacre comes into its own, by the way.

If you are a grower down around Mulwala, Berrigan, Jerilderie or Finley needing big square baling done, whether it is hay, straw or silage, and the local boys cannot get to you, post the job on the Broadacre Contracting website and someone who is available will call you directly.

See that, I have car salesman skills.

I should not say that, as I am trusted.

Moving on before I start talking about selling cars.

Windrowing and mowing setup

Dillon and Broadacre Contracting’s interpretation

Windrowers, they are a funny beast.

MacDon really have the game tied up, I feel.

And there is actually a fair reason for that.

Let us go on a Dillon side mission.

Windrowing, or swathing, was not always a standard practice in Australia.

Back in the late 1970s, it was the pioneering South Australian farmers on the Yorke Peninsula who essentially brought large-scale North American-style windrowing to the country, and they did it on MacDon gear.

So MacDon literally helped build the Australian windrowing industry from the ground up, and that has earned them generational brand loyalty.

Fathers ran them, sons run them, that sort of thing.

The other big driver is canola, the king of Australian windrowing.

The whole game over in Western Australia, South Australia and through the Victorian cropping belt is built around canola, and MacDon machines just seem to handle the tricky, lodged, uneven crops better than most.

Their self-propelled units paired with those draper fronts and their ground following are widely reckoned to be the gold standard for laying down a clean canola windrow.

Here is the bit that really shows their grip on the market.

Even when a bloke runs a John Deere or Case tractor unit, more often than not he still has a MacDon front hanging off it.

That is exactly what we are seeing with Lachy: MacDon draper fronts on the red headers.

They have made their gear so adaptable that they grab a chunk of the market no matter what colour you are running.

Then there is resale and parts.

Go to any clearing sale or jump on the online marketplaces and the used market is flooded with MacDon units.

Your M150s, M155s, 1170s and the like.

Because there are so many of them about, the dealers carry the parts, and that means peace of mind when you are deep in the window and cannot afford to be parked up.

For anyone not across the lineup, the MacDon M1240 and M155 are self-propelled windrower units.

The beauty of them is you swap the front to suit the job.

Bang a draper platform on for windrowing canola or cereals, or run the mower conditioner front for hay.

Where this yarn is useful for growers

LDV Agri and contractor details