Beep – Press Button “A” to Purchase your Kubota Tractor

The Goulburn Post recently carried an article bemoaning the lack of human interaction in some sales environments.

This came about because the reporter concerned had been into a Canberra store and found that nobody was around to make the sale. Apparently all you had to do was pick the article up, wave your phone and its app around somehow in the air and the transaction was then complete. You just walked out without speaking to a soul.

So, are you likely to come and see us in Goulburn sometime soon looking for say, some Krone hay equipment, only to find that the team have all been replaced with permanently smiling robots serving coffee? All you’ll need to do is to enjoy it, then wave your phone around aimlessly in the air to make purchases?

For more details, please visit - https://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/340-beep-press-button-a-to-purchase-your-kubota-tractor.html

Top Tips for Selecting Quality Agricultural Tools

If you’re in farming, then budgets are likely to be tight and you’ll often be looking for economies. That’s virtually “business as usual” in agriculture.

However, one area you might not want to cut spending corners in is that of your tools. There might be little point in purchasing prestige items like for example Krone hay equipment if you then put that at risk by trying to maintain it with cheap tools.

So, here are some top tips for selecting quality tools.

1. Look for recognised quality brands.  If they’ve been around a long time and have a reputation for quality, then they’re clearly doing something right. Be prepared to pay a little extra, if necessary, for that reassurance.

2.  Learn a bit about metal descriptions. For example, if terms such as “HSS” or “Chrome Vanadium” don’t mean much to you, you should research them and other such technical designators. That’s because tool producers often use such designations to describe the quality of the metallurgy they use. Note that metal hardness isn’t always necessarily the only criterion behind selection – read up on that too.

For more details, please visit - http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Tips-for-Selecting-Quality-Agricultural-Tools&id=9831597

So, You Need a New Set of Tools?

During one of our recent chats with a visitor, they commented that they’d purchased a new socket set recently.

They also said just how cheap it had been and it all sounded really good. Their joy at their bargain lasted right up until about the third time they’d tried to use it when various parts of the set had started breaking under stress. Apparently, the ratchets gave up first then bits of the main metal parts started to shear or “round”.

Now you can probably see where we’re going with this because we’ve blogged on it before (socket sets in particular seem to arise commonly in this respect), albeit a long time back. Even so, we’ll offer our thoughts again.

Generally speaking – cheap tools are a bad idea! OK, if you’re able to buy a quality second-hand branded set at a bargain price then good luck to you. That’s different. Read more So, You Need a New Set of Tools?

Tree Cutting – Be Careful

Now a lot of our great agricultural equipment and Kubota tractors themselves, can play a part in tree cutting. That’s great and most people, with a little practice and experience, can master the safe operation of a chainsaw.

Problems often arise though in one of three areas:

trees or branches falling on the person who has just cut them down (or bystanders/helpers);

people falling out of trees;

accidents due to inappropriate or absent safety equipment.

So, here are a few friendly safety reminders.

1. If you can afford it, get a professional in. If you can’t, question if the work is REALLY necessary right now;

2. Take trees down in manageable top-down stages if you can. It’s safer.

3. Using ladders whilst wielding a chainsaw is simply an accident waiting to happen. Don’t do it. Read more TreeCutting – Be Careful

Kubota in Australia

After 40 years in Australia, Kubota’s reputation for reliability, engineering excellence and innovation keeps growing. As orange lovers all over thecountry will tell you, “once a Kubota owner, always a Kubota owner.”

With a range that sets the benchmark for the industry, there’s a Kubota to suit just about every application, right up to our flagship, the mighty M7-1, Kubota’s most powerful tractor ever. With our special 40 month / 40 year anniversary finance offer, now’s the time to join the celebrations!

YES- its official huge changes at White’s Tractors!!

We have out grown our site … and we are moving.

We passed full capacity… Something had to go…things had to change…

1^st change:

We have stopped doing diesel pump and injectors and repairs to trucks and 4 wheel drives because the demand on the Kubota side of our business is so big…

…and Kubota is our passion…

 2^nd Change:

We have increased our staff…Our staff now consists of

Andrew and Myself

Mitchell our Son sales and service

Noel Henderson – new service manager

Darrin  -senior mechanic

Evan – mechanic

Noel Holding– assembly, deliveries

Jackson- 2^nd year apprentice

So to fit everyone in… we needed a bigger shed…

We will have 2 more opportunities for…

New passionate staff Too join us… once we have moved

1 to join me in the office and a mechanic to join our team on farm and in workshop…→

 3^rd change

The best news is the new shed is 2 doors down…

50-58 Robinson st Goulburn 2100m2 with 600m2 awning (Our dream shed)

We have always driven past it and said it would be perfect for us.

The plan is to move in September.

The whole team is really excited and pitching in to help set up… the expansion will allow us to serve you better, more efficient and to increase our stock of everything…

As you can imagine we have thousands and thousands of spare parts to move…

so we may need an extra smile and wave or toot if your passing by as we carry it down the street…

also…we feel the building of curiosity…  on what we are creating…

Stay tuned for our opening date!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers

Michelle White

PS we will confirm moving date to 50-58 Robinson St as soon as the paint dries…

White's Tractors Pty Ltd, a team of highly trained professionals who know their way around all areas of the agricultural industry and agricultural machinery. We have a wide range of kubota tractors, kubota mowers, utility vehicles, hay equipment in Goulburn.

How to Sterilise Soil

This is a question we’re asked regularly. It’s usually from gardeners who keep looking at that old discarded compost pile and wondering what to do with it.

Well, let’s leave to one side those issues to do with Green approaches for the moment or feeding the compost again. The chances are, if you have such a pile, you might want to dig it in or use it in your pots but not if the result is going to be lots of inherited weeds strangling your beloved plants or nicely nurtured bugs chomping on them.

So, here are a few ideas - though none of them include Kubota Tractors for once!

1. Bake your compost. Make sure it’s in oven-proof containers and stick them into the oven at about 80-100C for half an hour or so.  HEALTH WARNING – unless you want to find yourself swinging from the rafters, make sure that whoever is normally considered to be ‘in charge’ of the kitchen and appliances (if not you) is either kept fully in the dark or consulted in advance.

2. Place your proto-compost into microwave-proof dishes and simply zap them at full power. The tricky bit here is time because a lot of advice varies on this one. Look this up on the net and form your own view. You’re also unlikely to be able to produce big quantities this way. HEALTH ADVICE – as above!

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/337-how-to-sterilise-soil.html

Photos of a White Kangaroo

Many ‘old timers’ have quite a few stories to tell about strange things they’ve seen while out and about in the countryside.

We’ve certainly heard tales about the white kangaroo and maybe smiled but recently up in WA, somebody has seen one and this time caught it on camera.

This isn’t the first time that farmers have been laughed at when reporting strange sights. In many cases, unfortunately, they’ve had to put up with it for the rest of their lives because they just didn’t have a camera available to back up their version of events. However, with the mobile phone, that’s now all changing.

No doubt some of these fantastic stories can be attributed to perhaps having had one too many at the local or an over-active imagination but the world’s a strange place. The mobile phone’s camera might start to prove that more and more in the years ahead.

Anyway, while we were pondering this, it gave us an idea for our newsletter. Read more http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/336-photos-of-a-white-kangaroo.html

Your Lawnmower Won’t Start? Top Tips

We get the odd call along these lines – usually from someone who hasn’t purchased through us.

OK, we’re bragging! Apologies…

If you’re in this position though, here are a few top tips about things to consider or try:

1. do you have fuel? Please don’t find this patronising – it’s actually surprising how many people try to start a mower when the tank’s dry. On a related note, if your engine has a fuel line switch, check that’s set to ‘on’ as well;

2. check your spark plug – if your system uses such. If it’s dirty and corroded, then replace it;

3. is the fuel new or new-ish? Starting up with a tank full of “last season’s” fuel can sometimes be a problem. Drain it down, replace and try again;

4. if you have a manual choke, is it working? Trace the cables and pull them to see if it is;

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/335-your-lawnmower-won-t-start-top-tips.html

Nutty Talk

We’ve seen a lot of talk in Australian farming circles recently about how to better market nuts.

Now let’s forgo all the obvious jokes, well, apart from the title of this blog (apologies for that!) and get down to business - and this is nothing to do with tractors for sale, Goulburn or elsewhere!

Apparently, a lot of the discussion is about trying to do two things:

1. market them more effectively to what people call the “Millennials”, which seem to be those youngsters that are about 16-18 right now and;

2. reduce or put into perspective, those concerns about allergic reactions etc.

In terms of the first point above, it seems as if young people see nuts as brain food – something that can directly stimulate the cognitive processes.

The marketing people want to pick up and expand on this, reasoning correctly that younger people aren’t worried about their cardio-vascular systems and the health benefits of nuts in those respects. They think that’s an issue for old-timers. They are though, more receptive to the evidence that eating a sensible quantity of nuts on a regular basis can help stimulate aspects of your grey cells and what they’re up to.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/334-nutty-talk.html

Spotlight And Offer – M7

M 7-1 series 0% p.a. promotional interest rate

Take advantage of Kubota’s competitive finance rate of 0% p.a. on M7-1 series tractors for a limited time only! See details below.

DETAILS

Term 36 months

Repayment frequency monthly

Minimum deposit 20%

Minimum financed amount $4,000

Credit criteria, terms and conditions apply

Offer expires 30/06/2017

Offer is only available for ABN holders who are using the equipment predominantly for business purposes. Credit provided by Kubota Tractor Australia Pty Ltd ABN 72005300621, Australian Credit License Number 442007. Terms, conditions, fees charges and credit criteria apply.

Specifically designed for the farming professional who wants a versatile and hard-working tractor, the M7-1 is powered by a next-generation 6.1 litre, four-cylinder diesel engine, incorporating Kubota’s clean-air technology and available in 130HP, 150HP or 170HP variants.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/spotlight/333-spotlight-and-offer-m7.html

Do You Exercise Enough?

Once again, we suspect our title here has caused a few people to blink twice.

How can anyone working in farming not get enough exercise? Surely the idea’s ridiculous?

Well, maybe not.

Let’s be provocative for a second. We’re not saying it’s the same thing as driving a family car but if you’ve just spent more or less the entire day behind the wheel of a tractor then you might not have got a lot of exercises.

Climbing in or out of the cab a few times to check something or have lunch, doesn’t quite count. It’s also possible you’ve just spent a lot of hours ‘doing the books’ or repairing/cleaning equipment. That’s two more examples of time-intensive work on a farm where exercise isn’t involved.

There might be many others too.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/332-do-you-exercise-enough.html

Top Garden Lawnmower FAQs

Here are some of the most commonly heard FAQs covering domestic lawnmowers.

What are the advantages of electric rotary cutters?

Typically, these are nowadays encountered in smaller domestic environments.

As their name suggests, they’re usually an electric motor driven by a lead connection to the mains supply. The motor drives a circular rotating blade or sometimes a plastic cord.  

Their big plus points are usually that they’re light to manoeuvre and can be quite effective mowing at steep angles. They’re also usually fairly simple in design and maintenance terms.

On the downside, they’re not usually considered viable for larger areas and trailing electric cables can be a concern both in terms of range and safety (use a circuit breaker when using one of these).

Are zero turn mowers dangerous on slopes and uneven ground?

No – this reputation goes back to some teething troubles back in the very early days of this type of mower. That was a LONG time ago now!

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/330-top-garden-lawnmower-faqs.html

Some Worries About Beef

Yet again, it’s slightly uncertain times for our domestic beef production. We’re also speaking here about Australia as a whole and not just NSW.

Apparently, the latest statistics show a widening gap between the price of beef, in retail circles and that of some of its main competitors such as chicken, lamb, pork and even vegetarian food. That’s leading to some concerns that consumers might be driven away from beef onto other cheaper protein sources.  

To make matters worse, the spectre of US imports is on the horizon. The economics are puzzling given Australia’s abundance of cattle but for whatever reason it looks as if US beef could be heading our way – subject to tariff quotas etc.

The third wave of concern being expressed is over a combination of increasing drifts away from red meat for health reasons (whether you agree with those concerns or not, is does seem to be happening) plus the changing demographics of Australia. Read more http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/329-some-worries-about-beef.html

A History of Roundabouts

Now some of you might be rubbing your eyes at the title of this one!

Maybe you think we’ve clearly ‘lost it’ or have far too much spare time on our hands. Well, nothing’s further from the truth (we hope)!

Here’s the explanation….

As you probably know, we’ve recently had some modest inconvenience locally because of the roadworks and construction of the new roundabout in Goulburn. We’ve kept everyone informed in the monthly newsletter and we think the now finished result is a big improvement.

During the works, somebody actually asked who invented the roundabout and where. It's a simple enough question but do you know the answer? We didn’t!

So, here’s the information you’ve all been desperately waiting for.

It seems that circular traffic systems of ‘circuses’ go back to at least the 18th century and England.  They started to be used for larger traffic volumes in the earlier 20th century with arguably the first real traffic system roundabout appearing in the USA in 1907 shortly followed by one a couple of years later in the UK.

Now it’s important to note that these weren’t modern roundabouts as we know them today. They were essentially just a round traffic island and something of a free-for-all going around.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/328-a-history-of-roundabouts.html

Kubota Spotlight - Kubota MX5100

With impressive power, outstanding versatility and reliability you can count on the MX5100. Combining the power of the M-series with the usability of the L-series makes this a do it all tractor. It also incorporates a new Turbo Charged Engine and Synchro Shuttle Transmission.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/spotlight/326-kubota-spotlight-kubota-mx5100.html

What does Brexit Mean for Australian Farming?

A lot of international news time has been taken up by the UK’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) – the so-called ‘Brexit’.

As always when big political change is in the air, the politicians are queuing up to make epic speeches. Of course, this is very much a British/European issue that doesn’t directly involve us as such politically – but it might do in the longer term where trade is concerned.

Why?

Well, anyone older than about 55-60 should be able to remember the days before the UK was a member of the EU. Back then, the UK was a huge market for Australian and New Zealand agricultural products and indeed the political and social ties between the countries were probably stronger and closer than they are today. Read more http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/325-what-does-brexit-mean-for-australian-farming.html

Thought of The Month - The Seed of Honesty

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.”

The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. “I am going to give each one of you a SEED today – one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/324-thought-of-the-month-the-seed-of-honesty.html

Spotlight On – The Kubota BX25

OK, those huge Kubota tractor workhorses are marvellous machines and super-impressive. As you might expect, we love them to bits.

However, even we’ll admit that they might be a bit ‘out of scale’ for domestic situations – unless you REALLY want to impress (or maybe amuse) the neighbours!

That’s why we’re also so fond of the BX25 range.

If you’re not familiar with them, they’re the sub-compact model that’s earned itself a fantastic reputation since it was introduced back in 1999 (before I was born of course). They’re great for tasks as diverse as mowing the lawn to helping to lay a driveway.

In fact, the BX25D comes with a backhoe and front loader as standard.

You get some great power plants with them too.

The BX25D comes with 18- and 23-horsepower diesel engines, while the BX2670 packs a new 25.5-horsepower diesel engine under the bonnet.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/spotlight/323-spotlight-on-the-kubota-bx25.html

What does 2017 hold for Agricultural Machinery?

Well, 2017 is here and the pundits are busily forecasting this, that and the other – as they always do!

We were, as you might expect, particularly interested in the global forecasts for the sales of tractors. Some reports are estimating a growth in global sales of around 6.6% for tractors specifically and that’s attributable to technological advances in tractor design and their near unique capabilities to operate as ‘jacks of all trades’.

Apparently that demand is likely to be relatively ‘flat’ in the USA and Europe but far stronger in the Asia-Pacific region, which includes Australia.

Of course, forecasts are sometimes notoriously inaccurate.  Many commentators confine themselves to speaking about macro forecasts covering vast areas of the planet, such as Europe, whilst avoiding getting into too much detail for a given country or in our case, individual states.

From our own perspective, 2017 looks bright for the sales of Kubota tractors. The new models that came on-stream in 2016 are still generating a lot of interest and the enquiries have been a pleasure to deal with. Read more http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/322-what-does-2017-hold-for-agricultural-machinery.html

Bees – A Global Discussion Underway

In truth, it’s not commonplace for environmental scientists to be in complete agreement about anything.

They may agree on generalities, such as that human activity is probably a contributory factor in global warming but oftentimes the specifics can prove to be more of a problem.

However, recently scientists from all around the planet have warned again that the global decline in bee populations is or should be, grave cause for concern.  That’s not only an issue in terms of losing species but also because of the critically important role that bees play in pollination and therefore some farmers’ livelihoods.

Apparently, the best brains are now fairly sure that the decline is caused by three main factors:

1. a parasitic infection that fortunately, so far at least, seems not to exist in Australia;

2. the destruction of their natural habitat leading to food shortages;

3. the use of pesticides (killing bees as an unintended by-product).

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/321-bees-a-global-discussion-underway.html

Strange Farming Accidents

We happened to be looking something up the other day and something relating to “odd farming accidents” caught our eye.

Now at first glance, this didn’t seem to be likely to be amusing. Far too many people continue to be injured and killed on Australian farms for this to be a subject for giggles but in fact it turned out to be a series of photos of ‘situations’ rather than accidents. We have to admit that some of them made us smile and you couldn’t help wondering “just how on earth could that have happened?”

One of our favourites was actually from the UK. It consisted of several large tractors (none of them Kubota Tractors we hasten to add) which were bogged down in a rain-sodden field almost up to their cabs.

A lot of guys were standing around scratching their heads and there was a large long-jib crane parked on the nearby road, reaching over trying to pull the tractors out. The legend explained that the ‘jam’ had come about after a first tractor had got bogged down and others went to its aid.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/320-strange-farming-accidents.html 

New Year

It probably won’t have escaped your attention that we’re approaching the festive season.

Now we mention this because recently on TV there was a programme talking about how a lot of office workers start ‘easing up’ in the run in to Christmas and continue that through to New Year’s Day.  Well, we smiled at that and couldn’t help saying “nice work if you can get it”!

Now we’re not knocking office workers or city industries. Those guys work long and hard too but in farming the idea of a ‘quiet day or two’ at this time of year is amusing. We get around Goulburn and its surroundings quite a bit and you don’t see too many farmers gathering together to talk about Christmas decorations or just how many days they can take off before the holiday so they can spend some quality time shopping.

OK, that goes with the territory in farming we know but it does introduce our usual Christmas and New Year message.

We know you’re busy and running those Kubota tractors flat out but do try and make some effort to find some time for the season’s festivities and meanings.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/319-new-year.html