6 Challengers on 3 neighbouring farms deserves a special celebration!

In a remote part of England, near Hull in East Yorkshire, in an area bordered by the North Sea and the Humber Estuary, the Challenger seems to be taking over. To commemorate the unique situation of three neighbouring farmers who have now all moved up to 2 Challenger 765 rubber tracked tractors each, they were presented with a limited edition water colour by artist Brian Turnbull, of a Challenger at work in the borders of Scotland.

The presentation was made by Michael Peacock, Chairman of Yorkshire & Lincolnshire machinery dealer Peacock and Binnington, Les Bacon, Sales Director of P&B, and Nigel Watson, Area Sales Manager for AGCO, the manufacturers of Challenger.

The farms were represented by Ken Petch of K A Petch & Son, near Hornsea, David and Tudor Williams of J R Williams & Sons at Burstwick and Rob and Rick Buckle of Cattle Holderness Ltd at Ottringham. All were delighted to be able to get together to receive the paintings in recognition of their success in large scale farming in the area.

Each of the farmers had started with one Challenger 765 and soon realised the huge benefits to modern crop production and have subsequently bought a second.

Rob Buckle explains their reasons for the investment. “We farm 2,900 acres and have very fertile soil around here which can produce tremendous yields, but this depends on being able to complete the cultivation and drilling in a very limited time span, by mid October, to avoid the unpredictable east coast weather. After that yields can suffer from poor germination in less than perfect seed beds.”

“We had been looking at ways of maximising productivity for some time and had decided on a Challenger MT765. It immediately gave us the desired speed and work rate to cover the ground at peak times to meet that deadline. As a result we added another to the fleet shortly after,” continued Rob.

Neighbour, David Williams, added, “Four years ago we got our first Challenger 765. It was more than capable of doing all the jobs we needed, our cultivation, ploughing, drilling, power harrowing, lifting etc. It was so versatile, you could put any implement on it and it would pull at the maximum speed, giving the best productivity and fuel efficiency. We were so convinced it was the way to go that we bought a second Challenger 765 this year to cope with extra arable which has increased to over 2,000 acres. There is no doubt the Challengers are a large investment, but they are so well engineered and built that you can work them hard and keep them for a long time to get the best value from them.”

Ken Petch, who does contracting work throughout the area, had tried the Challenger owned by the Williams, and was so pleased with it that he ordered one. Ken explained, “Because of our large contracting business we have a lot of road use, and our previous 2 crawlers, had a terrible ride on the road and virtually shook themselves to bits. So the suspension and ride were vital to us, and the Challenger is built for the job. It proved itself immediately and got the job done more quickly and more efficiently. As a result we ordered a second machine and took delivery of it ready for the crucial cultivation period.”