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Colin McTagget is one of just a handful of contract harvesters remaining in Western Australia – and things couldn’t be running better. Contract harvesters ride the wave of commodity price and seasonal changes alongside the farmers they seek business from. That means the demand for a contractor’s services varies from year to year. Combine this with annual payments for the expensive machinery needed to get the job done and it can be a risky business choice. What’s more, like most sole traders and small business operators, Colin can do without the complexities, added cost and management required for employing staff to run a fleet of equipment. His philosophy is to "keep it simple" and it’s working well for him. A farmer contractor originally from Koorda, Colin has since sold up and is a full time contract harvester. He bases himself among four substantial clients at Munglinup, about 150 km west of Esperance and expects to harvest 4,000 hectares a year. Colin has one header, which runs as a complementary machine to those of the property owners, who also supply chaser and field bins. Critical to his success in meeting and exceeding these contracts are the capacity, reliability and comfort of his header. Once the harvest starts he works 12 to 15 hours straight through the heat of the day and then the cool of the evening when the sea breeze arrives to toughen the crop with its moist air. He is expected to harvest a variety of cereals and oilseeds, so machine set-up and versatility is paramount. He doesn’t want to be changing concaves and sieves or compromising sample or capacity when conditions change. That can lead to down-time or an unhappy customer. So when he considered changing out of his New Holland TR97, special consideration was made to what would keep him in the paddock harvesting more hectares, because this is what he is paid for. After attending a demonstration in the previous year, Colin’s machine of choice was the new Challenger 670 rotary. "What got me was the hyro drive rotor design that was simple with fewer belts, chains and gear boxes, but didn’t compromise any capacity when it comes to maximum hectares per hour. I was blown away by the demonstration," said Colin. In August 2004 he took delivery of the first Challenger 670 in Western Australia. The 340 hp class 7 machine was fitted with the Challenger DH36 draper front and a pick-up for canola. "What looked to be a promising season ended with a dry finish so yields were down but not the amount of straw which I think would have gone six tonne to the hectare" explained Colin. He estimated the canola average went to 1.2 t/ha, barley 3.0t/ha and wheat 3.4t/ha," he said. "Once we were up and running it was not uncommon for the Challenger to achieve capacity of 35-42 tonnes per hour in the cereals" said Colin, with an average of 30.3 throughout the entire harvest. "Buying the Challenger draper front was the best decision I made as it fed beautifully, giving me double the capacity of the TR97 and using as little as five to seven litres of diesel per hectare." Colin found he could refuel, blow down the machine with air, conduct a daily service and be up and running in half an hour. "That’s 50 percent faster than my previous machine which keeps me in the paddock making money," he said. When the first service was required, WesTrac of Esperance had a field service unit arrive to change oils, fluids and make the necessary adjustments right there in the paddock. "I couldn’t fault them. They were good to deal with, on time and had the parts in stock to keep me up and running," Colin added. "They’re highly skilled mechanics and WesTrac know how important it is to minimise downtime." What’s more, a Challenger factory specialist from Kansas (Charlie Campbell), USA helped Colin fine tune adjustments for better performance and familiarity with the machine. "After a few days in the seat Charlie showed me more functions to further refine and give me the confidence to reach the machines capacity" Colin said. "He was easy to work with and parted with his knowledge wisely…" Colin also said he was getting a great sample in all crops, unlike the farmer’s machine running alongside him. "Believe me, there was plenty of talk at the silos, and I even had a few people turn up for a look or a ride. But keeping the farmer happy is what’s most important and gets you back the next year," he said. "I cannot say enough about the machine, its comfort, capacity and simplicity". Despite an average year, Colin managed to doubled his output. A good business decision has resulted in happy customers and more money in the bank.
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