In search of more power, better reliability and a higher travel speed to replace his 1980’s classic IH 956XL, Somerset contractor Jamie Harvey opted for an ex-demonstration M6-142 to move his business forward.
Supplied by Lister Wilder with a five-year, 5,000-hour warranty package, the M6 has exceeded expectations for JH Contractors based at High Littleton, though it wasn’t the contractor’s first choice.
“I was drawn to the larger M7, as I thought it would have better stability with my hedgecutter and be more in control of my 18-tonne dump trailer,” explains Jamie, pictured. “But having an extended demonstration from Listers, who has been great with service and support, meant I saw the M6-142 as a more cost-effective purchase.”
“And now that I’ve put 1,800 hours on the M6 in little over two years, I couldn’t have picked a better tractor for the business,” he adds. “The M6 is agile, with great manoeuvrability, and that 6.1-litre engine is extremely gutsy.”
JH Contractors’ workload is split between agricultural contracting and construction work. With the former centred on hedgecutting, and the latter on groundworks, husband and wife team Jamie and Becky Harvey takes to the controls of kit as required.
Both have spent time at the wheel of the M6, with Becky often moving soil with the dump trailer as Jamie carries out excavations with his backhoe loader.
“A lot of the groundworks we do is on-farm, so the majority of our business is agriculturally biased,” he says. “We also keep 30 head of beef cattle too, so I guess farming is my passion.”
“The M6 is a tractor that keeps delivering,” he adds. “And the Bi-Speed turn is the best feature I’ve ever had on a tractor. This lets me get tight into field corners when hedgecutting, with the security of being able to pull the front end out of a corner using the Bi-Speed function. Given the banks and gradients we work on, this feature is brilliant.”