For fifth generation West Australian grain farmer Rhys Brown, the availability of spare parts and fast and efficient customer service are key considerations as he prepares his operation for the 2024 harvest.
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Rhys and wife Khalia crop 4000 hectares per year including wheat, barley, and canola at their farm Glenora, 15km south-west of Tambellup, in the Great Southern region of WA.
Mr Brown operates a CR10.90 combine, his third New Holland combine.
He has owned a CR9070, and a CR9090 before upgrading to his current CR10.90 in 2022.
"The CR10.90 is a reliable machine with fantastic handling and grain cleaning," he said.
"My approach is prevention is better than the cure, we like to get inspections done right after harvest then get everything done that McIntosh & Son recommend.
"Their service is second to none. I've fortunately not had a lot of issues, but for the small problems that I have had, they will do their best to get out here.
"I remember ringing them up at 4:30pm and they were able to come out later that afternoon.
"The support McIntosh & Son and New Holland provide has always been the deciding factor for me. They provide the best support in our area; they carry a huge amount of stock and very rarely do you have to wait for parts."
Ensuring farmers don't have to wait for parts or repairs is a key focus for McIntosh & Son as the group ramps up 2024 harvest preparations across its 12 Western Australian dealerships.
Anthony Ryan, general manager of McIntosh & Son Cunderdin, Geraldton, Merredin, Moora and Wongan Hills, said most post-harvest inspections were completed with pre-season maintenance and servicing well underway.
"Now is a great time to get maintenance booked as New Holland have got a 0 per cent finance program for combine repairs," he said.
"This allows customers to have their repairs done early, with payment due post-harvest.
"We want farmers to get their maintenance booked now, so we can spread repairs out to accommodate everyone, and the New Holland finance program essentially carries them through into next year."
Mr Ryan said McIntosh & Son offered a mixture of mobile technicians who could work on farm as well as their own trucks to bring machines into the workshops.
"We've put a lot of investment into our facilities, that allows us to have multiple combines in workshops at our dealerships," he said.
"We also run the McIntosh Training Academy, which is a registered training organisation, with just over 100 apprentices that we train on New Holland products.
"Later this year we expect to graduate 15 to 20 agricultural mechanical technology and automotive air-conditioning technology graduates."
