Shropshire Star

State-of-the-art combine harvesters

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A Shropshire machinery dealership has supplied four new generation Massey Ferguson combine harvesters to customers in the area. Based near Shifnal, Keith Davies Agricultural is a dealership for Massey Ferguson products – harvesting machines in particular – serving farmers in Shropshire and parts of the West Midlands.

Interest has focused this year on the MF 9380 Delta rotary combine and the MF 7380 Centora conventional machine.

Common to both models is the state-of-the-art Skyliner cab that sets new standards of operator comfort, visibility and machine control.

The top-of-the-range Delta is a hybrid featuring two rotors and a conventional drum – a combination that provides market-leading output and unequalled crop quality – while the latest Centora combine, with its proven eight straw-walker design and uncompromising build quality has been generating strong demand among UK growers.

So, how have the new owners of these substantial investments been faring this harvest?

Richard Maddocks runs a mixed farming business near Newport, Shropshire, and was initially not quite sure that a new Delta would be the answer to his various needs. He said: "I was a bit concerned that the straw quality from using a rotary combine would not be good enough for the livestock, but it's turned out to be excellent," he says.

"With its nine-metre table, the machine's output is also excellent, the grain quality is much better and the whole combining process is a lot faster with the Delta. I've had Massey Ferguson combines now for more than 20 years and they just keep getting better."

Over at Chorley, close to Bridgnorth, farmer Edward Green agreed. "They've done a lot of work on them," he says of the new generation of MF combines. The harvesting process here, where Edward runs the combine over a total of 650 acres – 400 owned, 250 contracted – has to cope with steep banks, so with this in mind, his new MF 7380 Centora AL machine was specified to include automatic table levelling and four-wheel-drive.

"I'm very pleased with it," he said. "They've really beefed it up compared to the Beta model I had before. The massive return system handles 100 tonnes an hour and it's so easy to operate, really user-friendly."

In Shropshire, John Hayward, who farms at Cleobury Mortimer, had been waiting for the weather to improve in order to make a proper assessment of his new MF 9380 Delta's capabilities. At time of writing, he had only managed five days in the field with it, completing less than a quarter of his 800 acres of cereals. "All I can say at the moment is so far, so good," was his interim verdict.

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