Farmer John Gawne grows wheat, barley and canola on his 1618ha property in Grong Grong near Wagga Wagga, NSW and sticks to Flexi-Coil products to sow his crops.
He says his decision to purchase the Flexi-Coil PD 5700
precision hoe drill for his sowing needs came after an expensive
seeding bar he bought from another manufacturer broke in half.
The unfortunate incident had him looking around for another
option and his eyes rested on Flexi-Coil.
“With the amount of steel in the machine and the quality of the
workmanship I can tell it won’t crack or break,” he says.
“I know it will last, which gives me peace of mind.”
On top of managing his property, Gawne also does contract
seeding up to 60 km away, hence the need for an easily
transportable yet durable drill.
Gawne says the size and height of the machine makes it easy for
him to tow around.
“With other machines, the height was often an issue when we go
under electricity lines in towns, But the PD 5700 is only a little
over five metres high, so it fits without any trouble,” he
says.
Gawne divides his property into around 800ha for wheat, 400ha
for canola and 240ha for barley. His yield depends on rainfall and
he is able to sow into moisture most of the time.
“Accuracy is the big thing when seeding. You need to know that
you’ve got every seed where you wanted it to go,” Gawne says.
“The sheer size and quality of the machine, as well as the
accuracy, means I’ll be more productive at seeding time and
hopefully will see full, even germination.”
When comparing the competitor models with the Flexi-Coil PD
5700, Gawne says it was clear they were chalk and cheese.
“Just the look of the PD 5700 was enough for me to see that it
was built to last. Then we saw that it folded up so tidily – much
more so than the other 60-foot machines,” he says.
“That was really important to us since we travel so much.”
To date John has sown approximately 600ha with the new drill and
says he can already see that it will deliver results according to
expectations.
According to Gawne, the setup was simple and the PD 5700 is easy
to use which was a bonus for him.
“It was a bit daunting at first because everything is controlled
by the onboard computer,” he says.
“But actually it was really simple to use and there was no
reason to be worried – even for a bloke of my age who’s not that
familiar with computers.”
Gawne encountered minor issues when setting up the PD 5700 with
his Flexi-Coil 3850 air cart but that was quickly resolved with
some help from his local Flexi-Coil dealership, Norwood Farm
Machinery.
“The service we’ve had with the machine has been amazing.
Norwood has been just sensational. The few little hiccups we had
were fixed fast,” he adds.
“We’re now looking forward to seeing what the PD 5700 can do
over the next few years.”
For more information about Flexi-Coil’s PD 5700 precision hoe
drill and its other products, visit www.flexicoil.com.au