LIVERPOOL Plains father and son, Don and Todd Finlay, have got a fail-safe plan if their harvesting contractor ever fails to show up.
As proud owners of two of the oldest working Claas Dominator 106 harvesters in Australia, they say they’d have no hesitation in putting the mint-machines back to work if necessary.
One of the machines is ready to go at a moment’s notice and the other could be readied within hours.
“We’ve been using a contractor for the past five years so we haven’t used them for a while, but mine is always ready to go, just in case,” Todd Finlay said.
“We charged the battery this morning and it started first pop. I could have this in the paddock and harvesting 20 tonnes/hour within an hour.
“Now that it’s out, we might rip into the wheat for a bit of fun.
“As for Dad’s machine, it would probably take more time to get it out of the shed than to service it."
Don and Todd Finlay plant about 2000 hectares of sorghum and 800ha of wheat each year on their properties, "Gli-Don" and "Marlo", just outside Mullaley in northern NSW.
Don purchased his first Claas harvester, a Matador Gigant, boasting a 64 kW six-cylinder diesel engine, six-metre front, 4.2 square metre straw walker area and a 2700 L grain tank, in 1963.
He then upgraded it to a Dominator 105 in 1977, which in turn, was replaced by Dominator 106 in 1984 with specs including a 147 kW engine, hydrostatic drive, a 7.62 m front, six straw walkers and a 6200 L grain bin.
It was one of the first harvesters to feature an air-conditioned factory-fitted cabin, suspended seat, electronic controls and importantly, a wireless and cassette player.
“Back in the 1980s, this was the best technology available,” Todd Finlay said. “You couldn’t buy a bigger or more productive combine harvester.
“It doesn’t sound much, but it had an electronic control for ‘up’ and ‘down’ and a reverse button for the feeder house. Some modern machines still haven’t caught up.”
All told, Don and Todd have chalked up more than 35,000 harvesting hours on their four machines.
“We did something like 17,000 hours in the Matador, 8000 hours in the 105 and 7000 in the 106 before we put it in the shed about 15 years ago,” Todd said.
“The only reason it was retired was because Todd purchased his own 106 and I was relegated to driving the truck.”
Todd is equally enthused about the reliability of his 106. “I got this at a clearing sale with only 3000 hours on the clock, so it was virtually brand new,” he says.
“I’ve done another 2500 hours and the only thing we’ve done apart from routine maintenance is to fit a reconditioned engine.
“It would be interesting to see how many of the new harvesters from today will still be around in 40 years.”
