STAIRWAY TO heaven

This time, our expedition led us to the bustling metropolis of Temuka in South Canterbury, New Zealand where Grant Kinsman and his team run Kinsman Contracting, operating a large fleet of tractors, trucks and choppers.

While potatoes are the specialist crop that extends the harvest season for the crew, we were there to check out the machine that dominates the grass harvesting season – an all-Claas affair, the Xerion 4500 tractor with the Claas Disco triple mower.

As many tractor operators already know, you can have all the power in the world but if you can’t get it to the ground, then the whole exercise is useless. Luckily, the Xerion uses its sheer mass and large diameter equal size tyres. If I remember my physics class correctly, weight (16.5 tonnes) + power (490hp) + large tyres (2.15 metres)