Farm Trader Tractor Showcase 2024

Lisa PotterSeptember 6, 2024, 1:20 pmSeptember 6, 2024

Nine tractors from nine different brands lined up as part of the Farm Trader Tractor Showcase 2024

While the tractor industry was riding out a definite slump and the post-COVID effect responsible for yards full of stock around the country, Jaiden Drought meanwhile was overflowing with optimism and enthusiasm. Hot on the heels of purchasing the much-loved Farm Trader brand and keen to kick off with something fresh and significant while also supporting the industry and dealers, he decided to pull together a dedicated tractor event to create the ultimate buyer’s guide for 120hp+ tractors with a loader.

Grandly titled Farm Trader Tractor Showcase 2024, the concept was equally grand. Invite all of the major tractor brands to submit a tractor in this category and deliver it to a dairy farm on the outskirts of Hamilton for four days of tomfoolery (carefully thought-out, planned, and approved testing) with a trio of judges.

If you’re waiting for the punchline of the joke, there is none. Overwhelmingly backed and supported by nine tractor brands, for which we’re eternally grateful, the tractors started rolling, in with the judging team decked out in their sharp, new customised Kaiwaka overalls.

Jaiden was keen to get the old band back together to immerse themselves in every aspect of the tractors for the week. Joining him were Brent Lilley, an experienced tractor and machinery reviewer for Farm Trader for more than a decade, as well as an award-winning beef farmer and agricultural contractor, along with Dan Reymer, who comes from a strong lineage of family ag contracting business and has years of international experience driving every machine and tractor imaginable. There’s not much this trio don’t know about tractors between them, and with each having different preferences for features they look for on a tractor for everyday work, there were plenty of lively discussions and debates.

With a support team that included me (aka general lackey and coffee/pie provider) and jacked-up-to-the-gills on Berocca videographer Peter Young (Night Owl Productions) and Chris Kent (videographer/photographer), as well as speed demon drone videographers Play Creative (Dan & Nicky Franks), we had a solid plan to capture footage of all the action.

Armed with official clipboards and check sheets, the judges took copious notes and got stuck into the finer details of every aspect of each tractor, before getting behind the wheel for a variety of tasks on a private farm in the rolling Waikato hills.

Also on-site was a trio of Hustler equipment (PX110 trailer, LM100 bale grabs, and Switch Hitch), DPS Dyno team, Central Tractor Pull sled, and plenty of bales to cart around.

“The idea was to put each tractor through the sort of things they’d have to handle regularly with the day-to-day running of a farm or contracting business,” says Jaiden,

“We not only wanted to showcase each tractor for its specific strengths but also to put together a high-value buyer’s guide for anyone in the market for a tractor of this size but perhaps unsure about the ins and outs of each brand and which one would best suit their specific operation.

“With a full review article on each tractor, as well as a comprehensive video overview detailing the specs and showing the machine at work, it’s all there for them to watch and read and make an informed purchasing decision.”