Interview with Richard Ivatt from A & R Ivatt Contractors

27.03.2019

Agrifac UK recently caught up with Richard Ivatt from A & R Ivatt Contractors in Lincolnshire, to find out how they are getting on with their newly purchased HOLMER Terra Dos T4-30. The family run business farm approximately 700 hectares of land themselves, alongside offering complete contracting services also. On average, Richard lifts about 1,300 hectares of sugar beet per year, so it is important that he has a machine that is reliable and meets his needs season after season.

 

After using a smaller machine previously, Richard decided that they needed to upgrade to a larger, more robust harvester once the contracting side of the business started to take off. It was a friend of Richards that originally recommended HOLMER to him, describing the brand as the Rolls Royce of beet harvesters.

 

“This is the fourth HOLMER we have had”, explains Richard, “We’ve had two Terra Dos T3’s and this is the second Terra dos T4 we have had.” Richard continued: “This machine has more features on it than our first HOLMER. It has an extra roller in the roller bed which gives us more cleaning of the beet. We haven’t really needed it much, but the shears are that extra bit further forward because of the extra roller, which means you have a better view of the crop and topper from the cab - a feature which I really like.”

 

A week before Richard agreed the deal on his new Terra Dos T4-30, he had another brands’ beet harvester on demonstration. After comparing the two, he admits he would now never move away from a Holmer machine, and commented: “These machines are so easy to drive - everything is where you expect it to be. When I drove the other machine, I found it hard. I was struggling to get my head around the simple things which didn’t seem to be as easy as they are on this machine. They’re ever so easy to drive. You just dial in what you want, click on it, and it’s there - it’s simple!”

 

Richard continues: “The fitters from Agrifac that come out to us know the products like the back of their hands - they are very good. I am very happy with the support that I get from Agrifac UK. It’s great to deal with a firm that you can get on with!”

Richard Ivatt with his new Terra Dos T4-30.

“These machines are so easy to drive - everything is where you expect it to be"