Luke and Lloyd Furse have been putting four mid-horsepower tractors through their paces over the past year. So far we’ve looked at the Case Puma 210 and the John Deere 6930 Premium. Today it’s the cheapest of the group, the 135hp Landini Landpower.

In its first year the Landini notched up 1,700 hrs on the clock and it’s fair to say none of these were particularly hard graft. It spent most of its time on summer verge-trimming duties and did a bit of grass rolling and mowing, all of which it handled with ease, says Luke.

“It’s a perfectly comfortable and pleasant tractor to drive and for lighter running around duties you don’t need sophistication. It’s basic, simple and any fill-in drivers can hop on and get going. If I put them on the Fendt there would be at least two phone calls before they managed to move it.”

The tractor is very well specced and the standard fitment air seat, air conditioning, front weights, Michelin tyres and Dromone pick-up hitch are impressive given the relatively low price, says Luke. “We looked at the Zetor and Kubota as well, but they didn’t come close to the standard spec of the Landini.”

Likes

• Simple to drive


• Good spec for price


• Reliable

Gripes

• None, considering the price

Tomorrow: Fendt 718 Vario

The Landini had four dealer visits in its first 12 months of duty and all of these were minor niggles, says Luke. “It had a problem with a brake pipe one evening, but the dealer came out and fixed it straight away.” Other than that, the running expenses have been virtually nil.”

A two-year warranty was offered as standard, which was considerably better than most and the dealer’s service has been faultless, says Luke.

The Landini Landpower clocked up 1,700 hours on the following tasks:

• Verge trimming


• Mowing


• Grass rolling

During its lengthy stint trimming grass verges, the Landini averaged 7.69 litres/hr. Rolling grass with a ballast roller consumed 6.91 litres/hr while light mowing work used 8.5 litres/hr.

The test: Each driver recorded the number of litres used per hour for every task they completed with the machine over the 12 months. Clock readings were taken before starting the job and the tractor would always go out with a full tank of juice. At the end of the job the driver would come back to the yard, brim the tank, record the amount of fuel used and engine hour they clocked up.

The small print: These fuel tests were not scientific and because the tractors spent more time on some jobs than others the averages have been worked out over different amounts of work. The tractors will also have been working in different conditions and soil types. However, they give a useful guide to the sort of consumption figures you could expect from each machine on these specific tasks.

This is how the four contenders measure up:

In the red corner: Case Puma 210

• Power: 210-223hp


• Spec: Multicontroller, 50k, air brakes, front PTO, mid mounted valve, AFS 300 screen, ACI guide ready. Front tyres 540/65/R30, rear 650/55/R42.


• Basic price: £96,199


• On the clock: 2,700 hours

In the green (and red) corner: Fendt 718 Vario

• Power: 180hp


• Spec: 50kph, front PTO, air brakes, front tyres 540/65/R30, rear 650/65/R42


• Basic price: £133,341


• On the clock: 2,800 hours

In the blue corner: Landini Land Power 135

• Power: 133hp. Spec: 40kph, Front tyres 480/65/R28, rear 600/65/R38. Basic price: £49,617


• On the clock: 1,700 hours

In the green (and yellow) corner: John Deere 6930 Premium

• Power: 180hp. Spec: 40kph AutoQuad Front PTO, front tyres 540/65/R28, rear 650/65/R38


• Basic price: £81,822


• On the clock: 2,700 hours