Junket?
OPINION: The Hound notes that the Taxpayers’ Union recently revealed that the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) spent more than $125,000 for its presence at this year’s Mystery Creek Fieldays.
The Ram 2500 and 3500 utes have a name for big load-carrying and towing capability but come with a hefty price tag.
So the arrival of the new Ram 1500 at Fieldays should bring the brand into the scope of the high-end ute buyer, a sector that seems to know no bounds in New Zealand.
The new Baby Ram 1500 is obviously nothing of the sort: 6m long, 2m wide and just short of 2m high.
It’s powered by a 5.7L V8 Hemi engine pushing out 291Kw and 556Nm torque, mated to a Torque-flite 8-speed automatic; this ‘baby’ can haul up to 4.5 tonnes and is best in its class for power, cab size and cargo space.
The new 1500 range is offered in six configurations centred on two trim/cab formats – the Express/Quad Cab or the Laramie/Crew Cab.
The Express/Quad seats five – confusing given the title – and looks sportier and aimed at dual-purpose use.
Colour-coded grille, bumpers and headlights combine with a load bed of 1939mm long x 1295mm wide between the wheel arches; it carries a standard pallet and has a payload of 912kg.
The higher-specification Laramie also has five seats, but the rear cabin offers as much leg space as the front cabin – over 1m of legroom. Add to this leather upholstery, heated and ventilated seats (heated in the rear), a heated steering wheel, touchscreen display and lots of chrome and you’ll get the idea of the Laramie.
At the rear, the tray shrinks slightly to 1712mm long and has payload capacity of 885kg. But it retains the 1295mm between the wheel arches. Standard in the whole range are 20-inch wheels, a sprayed-on bed liner, side-steps and fog lights. Safety is via vehicle stability control, brake assist, ABS, traction control, trailer sway control, hill start assist and hill descent control.
Also available in the range is a RamBox – clever secure storage lockers built into the sidewalls of the tray and above the wheel arches. Combined storage is reckoned 243L -- in ‘rural Kiwi’ terms 140 drink cans per side.
Also in the RamBox format is a clever bed-extender frame and divider system that allows loads to be carried safely over the lowered tailgate.
All Ram vehicles sold in NZ are switched to right-hand drive at a dedicated facility in Melbourne: the cabs are removed, steering re-engineered and a host of RHD required modifications are made, all to factory standards.
A three-year/100,000 km warranty applies.
OPINION: The recent Federated Farmers / Rabobank 2024 Farming Salaries Report revealed strong growth in farm salaries over the past two years.
The low unemployment environment is one of the key factors driving on-farm salaries higher over the past 24 months, says Rabobank general manager for country banking Bruce Weir.
Fonterra has appointed a new chief financial officer, seven months after its last CFO’s shock resignation.
A seminar on rural dispute resolution has been organised at Lincoln University, Christchurch this month.
The legacy of Dr Peter Snow continues to inspire as the recipients of the 2023 and 2024 Peter Snow Memorial Awards were announced at the recent National Rural Health Conference.
One of Fonterra’s global customers, Mars is launching an ambitious sustainable dairy plan to work with dairy farmers and cut emissions by 50%.
OPINION: This old mutt well remembers the wailing, whining and gnashing of teeth by former West Coast MP and Labour…
OPINION: Your canine crusader gets a little fed up with the some in media, union hacks, opposition politicians and hard-core…