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Demo to decision Since 1992, Lyle and his wife, Florence, have owned their own dairy operation in Rice, Minnesota. They have 250 milk cows, 250 young stock cows, 350 acres of alfalfa, 100 acres of upland grass hay and 500 acres of corn. They also do custom baling. They both work seven days a week on the farm and have three hired hands. Lyle operates the farm with a number of New Holland tractors and a BB940 big baler. "All the crucial pieces are New Holland. I never looked at anything else," he says. Lyle is proud to say he was able to buy a brand new New Holland 8870 tractor after just four years of being on his own. "I'm pretty nostalgic to not trade that in." Lyle is looking into getting a new tractor for his operation and in true Schefers' fashion, he is really doing his homework. Last year, his local dealer let him demo a New Holland TV140 Bidirectional™ tractor on his farm. He used it to make a second cutting of hay with an 18-ft. head. "When the time was up, I rented the tractor because I had the hay head on the front and wanted to finish up the job," says Lyle. He is looking for a good all-around tractor that will help him cut hay faster and that will be versatile enough to use for other chores and yard work. The TV140 would fit the bill, but, because he likes to do his homework, this spring, he is planning to demo a TJ 4WD tractor, too. All the tractors on his farm are front-wheel assist, so he thinks a 4WD would be a good addition. He wants to see what the TJ could offer to his operation, before deciding between it or the Bidirectional.
Making hay Besides tractors, Lyle also owns a new BB940 New Holland baler. It is the first in his area where custom haying is common. He bought it with a packer cutter instead of a rotor, because a lot of dairies in his area are small and can't handle the fine cut of the rotor. Because his baler is the only one around with the packer cutter, "It's pretty easy to get work," he says. In a good year, Lyle can make about 5,000 big bales. Last year, it was really wet, but he was still able to do 2,000 big bales while others lost their hay. It's just another reason he likes the quality of his New Holland equipment. When the D1000 baler came out, Lyle's dad Robert was also the first in the area to own one. When Lyle bought his BB940, the same salesman who helped Robert helped Lyle with his purchase. That kind of continuity is another thing he likes about New Holland. "To me, when you can continue on with something for 12 years and honestly say you have had no problems, that's a good piece of equipment," he says. |
