68 | RURAL SERVICES » Harris Contracting Creating efficiencies for its clients The company provides services in round and square baling, fine-chop harvesting, loader wagon silage and precision planting. Russell Fredric Investing in modern high-capacity machinery is one of the ways Harris Contracting is creating efficiencies for both the business and its clients. Harris Contracting is a family owned and operated rural contracting business operating from Tinwald in Mid-Canterbury, with the capacity to undertake a wide variety of work according to seasonal demand. The company provides services in round and square baling, fine-chop harvesting, loader wagon silage and precision planting. Completing this work within the seasonal windows and to a high standard requires a significant investment in the type of equipment that can get the job done quickly and efficiently. Its fleet includes a McHale Fusion round baler, two Class Quadrant 5300 Evolution square balers, two loader wagons, two Class Jaguar choppers, and last season a Case LB 436 high-density square baler with a capacity of 80 bales an hour was added to the line-up. “It’s been a big game-changer for our business, and we added a brand new Class 960 forage harvester last Christmas.” The Case baler provides two significant advantages: a capacity of baling nearly 40 tonnes per hour and to produce cereal straw bales of up to 500 kilograms and rye grass up to 600 kilograms “It’s getting 40 kilos of dry matter more per bale, every bale. They have a longer chamber and a faster stuffing cycle and are bigger all-round. In silage, with the Claas balers they are around 800 kilos, with the Case they are 900 kilos to a tonne.” Making bales of these sizes means there are less to wrap which means less plastic is used and less cartage. “There would be a 10% efficiency gain. We did just over 60,000 bales this season of silage.” During autumn, the Harris Contracting team were busy harvesting maize, usually starting the first week of April. This season just over 1100 hectares has been taken off. “The maize harvest would be half of our season’s income; it all happens in five weeks. It’s a big part of the business.” The investment in the new Jaguar was not taken lightly but has proven to be a huge efficiency gain during the maize harvest. The new six cylinder engine has averaged around 25 litres less fuel per hour than the previous V8 machine and has handled the 10-row header with ease. This season’s average of 23.5 to 24 tonnes of dry matter per hectare of maize was great considering the less-than-ideal cooler growing season, Andrew says. The business employs five full-time permanent staff and 25 seasonal workers, three of which were PHOTOGRAPHY experienced workers who came from overseas for the past season. Having four truck and trailer units in its fleet, Harris Contracting also offers general cartage services, and this winter has a considerable stock of straw and silage available for sale which it can deliver to purchasers. With such a large amount of machinery to service and maintain, the company has now employed a full-time mechanic to do this work in-house which, as well creating efficiencies, including for call-outs, is a considerable cost saving.
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