Talking Gear Tuesday

Everything’s getting bigger these days…

But down here in southern New South Wales, the class 7s are working quite well.

They suit us in our smaller paddocks.

For this episode 26 of TGT, we caught up with Luke O’Connor down in Deniliquin, NSW, to talk about why he’s bucking the trend and sticking with his fleet of four Class 7 Case headers. 

“Innovation.

So with innovation comes efficiencies, and efficiencies are a bit like a drug for us.

We chase it and want it, and they bring great things.”

This week’s TGT Episode 25: we are back again with Ethan, chatting about how these 18m stripper setups are delivering a 20+% boost in efficiency, reducing compaction and saving diesel. Head over to the Henderson Cotton Contracting Facebook Page and give it a follow legends! We want to thank Ethan for this opportunity. Since being on this adventure and having very little to do with Cotton Dillon and the Broadacre Contracting team have learnt a lot!

“The wife said if you get enough work, you can buy another tractor.”

If you’re reading this Kate, we are feeling the pressure!

Legends, welcome to another cracking episode of TGT.
We are up to Episode 24. For this episode, we are spending a bit of time with Shaun Francis, director of Cadell Earth and Ag, based in Western Flat, South Australia.

Head over and give the Cadell Earth and Ag Facebook Page a follow legends, especially if you are dealing with non-wetting sands!

“We’re never too worried about having two machines side by side.
We can normally get them to do the exact same job.”

Welcome to Episode 23 of TGT. In this episode we are in Deni NSW.
Catching up with the O’Connor Farming Family. Luke runs a mixed farming and contracting enterprise based in Deni. We hope you enjoy this episode.

“It’s like therapy a bit for some reason.

But, uh, when it’s not going, it’ll probably send you to therapy.”

For today’s TGT Episode, we catch up with Cal for Newell’s Contracting where he talks about moisture meters, “biscuit” markers, and plunger pressure. The ins and outs of his Massey Ferguson 2270.

“So were not just looking at strippers today.”

There’s something here thats been built, not bought!

This week’s TGT Ep 21 is here!

It took Henderson Cotton Contracting two years of R&D, custom extensions, and a complete auger redesign to get it right, but now these strippers can smash through 12 units at 1.5m spacing and handle every any row configuration!

Good gear is only part of the Perry Farming story.

The other part is new tech and a bunch of team members who are passionate about ag!

Welcome back to episode 20 of TGT (Talking Gear Tuesday) We are back with a second episode with Perry Farming.

How much difference is there between the AF10 and the CR11?

Thanks to Matty Bourke from Bourke Harvesting for having us.

In this week’s Talking Gear Tuesday EP 19, we sit down for a proper yarn about the AF10, what stood out through the 25/26 harvest, and why these bigger machines could have a real place in the future of Australian harvesting.

What does the future of harvesting look like?
We are fortunate enough to have Bourke Harvesting give us a look into what the future is!

Well Episode 18 of TGT with Matty from Bourke Harvesting

In this Talking Gear Tuesday episode we jump into the CR11 New Holland with a 61-foot MacDon front and get a proper look at what the next-generation headers can do in Australian conditions.

Mate, I love what I do and I’m so grateful to all the growers and contractors who jump in our TGT sequence and allow us these opportunities. I want to take this time to thank you all! I was so pumped to see these machines and it has just reminded me how passionate I am about cropping!

“I’m a bit more, pull the trigger and let’s go”

Back for round two with Jimmy & the Pitson Contracting team, we’ve got a time machine, and we are going back to harvest time!

Welcome to Ep 17 of TGT  We ask a hard question in this episode, and Jimmy puts it on the table.

Want to know how and why Pitson Contracting became a successful operation?

The answers are here from the bloke who made it happen, so let’s dive in.

“Bit of cotton. Australian cotton. Three-ton of white gold.”

Ep16 of TGT.

From Brookstead in 1991 to modern-day Goondiwindi, the Perry family has seen the evolution of cotton firsthand.

We sat down with Henry Perry from Perry Farming to talk shop on their irrigated cotton operation.

“Blue Being Finch? Nah, Blue Being New Holland Tractors”

Welcome to Ep15 of TGT. In this episode, we had the opportunity to spend time with the Kanimbla Contracting family.

We caught up with Andy, James & Sandy Gardiner and the crew in Northern NSW over the 25/26 harvest period, and we all had an absolute ball.

These yellow headers are unbelievable.

We are not colour-oriented, but we will say these yellow headers don’t have any grain coming out the back!

We’re pumped to bring you episode 8 featuring Noonan Brothers.
The Broadacre Contracting team head to Birchip, VIC to yarn with the boys about their Agrifac SP Sprayer.

We’re pumped to bring you this episode featuring BB Harvesting The boys are one of the few major contractors in Australia who’ve built a seriously successful business. To get there, they had to: Adapt quickly, Tackle the unknown head-on & stay grateful for the knowledge they already had. In this episode, we dig into what’s driven that success including: Their purpose-built workshop, A rigorous pre-season program, Real client experience & client capability statements. There’s a lot to unpack, and it’s taken the boys many years of hard work to learn (and share) what you’ll hear today.

This week we catch up with Jack from Margetts Ag Spreading for a yarn about his truck-mounted spreaders. We dive into the gear from the spreaders themselves to the air CTI systems that help tackle wet paddocks (much the same setups you’ll see on the boys logging trucks). We break down the hydraulic pumps, spreader types, and just about everything in between. Jack’s story is a cracker: he started out shearing sheep, but through hard work and persistence has built up a tidy spreading business. These days he’s running a fleet of two spreaders, servicing growers right across the Wimmera and Mallee. On top of that, Jack and his partner Emily are also raising a young family, while managing their own cropping farm and contracting business. That’s no small feat a real testament to their dedication and drive as a family & operating business! Jack & Emily are an inspiring family & it just goes to show if we work together we can achieve what should be otherwise impossible!

This week we catch up with Shaun from Fithall Ag to yarn about his 1300c RoGator. In this episode we dive into the ag-leader GPS system, nozzle types, rates & general specs of their RoGator. Shaun’s journey has been about creating something for his young family like many of us, he’s driven by the goal of building a future and providing for them. None of it would be possible without the support of his family, and working together has been the key to their achievements. It’s a reminder that backing each other through the good and the tough times is what helps us all reach the best outcomes.

In this episode, we catch up with Jayden Pickering & Harry from Customized Spreading.

The boys provide a full precision spreading service across the Wimmera/Mallee/ Geelong region. Jayden started out 13-14 years ago with nothing more than a Toyota Dyna 2-ton truck spreader and a heap of drive.

Over the years, he worked through many truck mounted spreaders and till this day has two 6×6 truck body spreaders in the fleet, servicing a wide range of clients needs. Fast forward 13-14 years, and the team has expanded into precision spreading services running top quality bredal spreaders, along with a strong collaboration with Crop Opti Services delivering the highest standard of spreading jobs. Jump in, these boys know their gear & how to play.

In this episode, we catch up with Alex & Jayden from Noonan Contracting – Spray And Harvesting.

The boys provide a full suite of harvesting, spreading, spraying & haulage contracting services across the east & south coast.
From minimum farming country in the family to purchasing & operating a large scale cropping enterprise/ contracting business these boys have done the hard yards and can now show the results of doing so.

As Alex said, “their wasn’t much work life balance” We hope you enjoy this episode & their story as much as we did making it!

In this episode, we catch up with Glenn from BB Harvesting, a standout name in Australian harvesting.

BB Harvesting provides a full suite of harvesting services across the eastern seaboard and throughout South Australia. Their operations include trucks, headers, and chaser bins, supporting growers with reliable and efficient solutions.

The BB Harvesting team has become an icon in the industry a true leader in the harvesting sector. Their growth, vision, and the way they’ve built the company is a testament to their skill, work ethic, and forward thinking approach.

In this episode, we catch up with Lochie from North Vic Ag Contracting. North Vic Ag Contracting offers a full range of services throughout the Riverina, Northern Victoria, and beyond depending on job size and availability.

Their services include: Paddock preparation, Spreading, Sowing, Spraying, Harvesting & Hay/Silage.