McCormick MC135 Power 6[135hp]

It has been pretty much a run-of-the-mill harvest on Peter Howell’s Norfolk farm, which has seen his McCormick MC135 Power6 on grain hauling duties.

When we last spoke to Mr Howell the tractor had been on the farm a matter of months and had not been too busy, but has now racked up about 400 hours and is set for an even busier time as soon as the cultivations get under way.

“As soon as we can get on the land the tractor will be pulling a 4m set of discs which should test it a bit more,” says Mr Howell.

Most of the hours clocked up this summer have been hauling a 14t grain trailer, which is a job Mr Howell feels it coped with admirably. In terms of fuel usage the tractor is economical he says, and despite not monitoring it closely he reckons he was getting about three days out of a tank on grain carting.

The only breakage to report was when the machine needed the pto sensor reprogramming, as it was delivering a power surge and breaking shearbolts on engagement.

“That was a simple task that was carried out by the local dealer in a matter of minutes, so we’re not overly bothered,” adds Mr Howell. Another small gremlin has been occasionally rearing its head in the transmission department.

“Sometimes you have to have a second go at gear selection when using the powershift function, it’s a small niggle, but one we can cope with,” he says.

Mr Howell says the engine was using a small amount of oil at the beginning, but that seems to have rectified itself now. “These Perkins engines need a few hundred hours work to settle in properly in my opinion,” adds Mr Howell.