R & J Thompson & Son

R & J Thompson & Son in Goole, East Yorkshire took delivery of their Premium Proven 2013-build Agrifac Condor III last year, which arrived to farm with 7,600 hours on the clock. After almost a year with the machine, we revisted them and spoke to their sprayer operator Paul Huddlestone to find out how they have been getting on with their new sprayer and how they found the Agrifac Premium Proven process when searching for their next used machine. 

“We previously ran a 24m trailed sprayer here on the farm, but wanted to move to 36m tramlines to increase efficiency and get the timings better for applications. To enable us to do that we have started running a 36m self-propelled Premium Proven Agrifac Condor III. 

The tractor that we were using with our previous trailed sprayer was coming up for renewal so it made more sense for us to go self-propelled, meaning we could eliminate the need for a tractor. We came across an Agrifac Premium Proven machine at an event and thought that the attention to detail was really good, which made us look into the option further as it appeared to offer a viable option to help us move to 36m and self-propelled.”

“We looked at other second hand self-propelled sprayers but the Agrifac seemed to offer the best value for money. The level of detail that went into the refurbishments of the Premium Proven machines swayed our decision making. We went to see a refurbishment being carried out in the workshop and were amazed at the amount of work they actually do to the machines which gave us confidence that we wouldn’t be buying a used machine that was traded in and just washed down.

The machine we saw was stripped down to nothing – they really didn’t leave anything left unturned. Anything that needed replacing was replaced. You’d have to look twice to notice that it wasn’t a brand-new sprayer now. It genuinely looked like a new machine when it arrived on farm. It was very reassuring that we were buying a machine that had been fully checked over and everything that needed doing to it had been done before it was delivered to us. As well as this, they offered a warranty package with the sprayer too. “

“The level of service and backup we have had from Agrifac UK has been second to none. They don’t treat us any differently because it’s a second-hand machine compared to what they would with a new one – the service is spot on. Agrifac provided us with all of the operator training we needed. The level of service we get from our local Service Partner Yorkshire and Humber Agri Ltd is impeccable too. You can’t fault them at all. They are very clued up about the products. They’ll normally deal with you the same day that you phone them – they really go out of their way to look after you. We didn’t really have any service concerns before making the decision to go with Agrifac because we had spoken to a lot of other people who run their machines, and they all gave us the heads up that the service was pretty good.”

“I would recommend the Premium Proven program to anyone looking for a second-hand self-propelled machine, it’s extremely good value for money. I don’t think we would have taken a gamble with buying a second-hand self-propelled sprayer without it being a Premium Proven machine – without all of the checks it’s a huge risk if you’re not confident in what you’re buying. Plus, with Agrifac knowing the full history of the machine being the manufacturers, they know exactly what it has had done to it since new and have all the knowledge of its previous history. 
 

When we went to have a look at the machines that were going to go through the Premium Proven program, there were five to choose from – some of which were newer than this one, but we thought that this one fitted in better with the spec that we wanted. Even if we didn’t find a sprayer in their stock that fitted the bill, Agrifac would have gone out of their way to refurbish it to the spec that we wanted which isn’t always the case when purchasing second hand.  
 

We feel that we have got pretty much all the features of a new machine apart from the price tag. Overall, the whole experience from choosing the machine, watching it go through the process of the Premium Proven program and finally getting it delivered went really smoothly. We are chuffed with our new Agrifac sprayer!”