Canterbury Farmer Builds on 160 Years of Dairy Legacy
Gareth Hale is the current custodian of a 160-year legacy that saw his great grandfather dairying in Taranaki since the mid-1850s and grandfather dairying in the Waikato from the early 1900s.
Believed to be the biggest single deal ever made at the Zweibrücken plant, the businesses shook hands on 20 John Deere F9 500 forage harvesters. While it is the entry point of the new F9 Series, the 500 still offers some impressive statistics with the wider 830mm crop channel, 18-litre JD engine, pushing out 700hp, boosting to 7865hp as it comes under load.
Featuring a 1500l fuel tank, a clever driveline ‘syphons’ off around 10% of gross engine power for ground propulsion, delivered by a two-speed transmission, which offers 0-20kph in Field mode and 20kph and more in Road mode.
According to the John Deere online configurator, a harvester like the F9 500 starts at around €600,000, making the value of this deal around €12 million, before any headers or accessories are added and hopefully before any discounts are applied. One hopes that if any discount is applied, the deal still includes a new pair of overalls and a baseball cap!
Interestingly, this isn’t the first big green fleet deal for Köhl Harvest, as they previously took a trip to Manheim to purchase 50 John Deere 6R185 tractors in another big deal.
