Ryder Lestrud – John Deere 4020 – Vintage Tractor Restoration

Vintage Tractor Restoration - Ryder Lestrud

When you see the freshly painted 1972 John Deere 4020 "High Crop,” it almost looks brand new. The shiny green exterior and new Continental tires make it hard to believe the tractor is nearing 50 years old, built on September 29, 1971. 

“What I learned from this restoration was hard work, determination, meeting a deadline, but also speaking” explained Ryder.

New Claas 440 Arion with wider Continental Tractor70

’Safer’ with wider tires - Aubrey Evans

Court Gilbert Farm has been in Aubrey’s family for three generations. The farm extends to approximately 1000 acres of hilly pastureland near Brecon, in the county of Powys. Aubrey and his brother carry out daily farm tasks, and their parents are still involved in the day to day management of the farm.

“I didn’t feel safe on the narrow tires that are offered with many new tractors. I wanted another Claas but I also wanted wider tires,” says Mr. Evans.

John Deere 6150R with Continental TractorMaster

Favored for road use - Alan Thow

Alan Thow farms 2,500 acres in partnership with this brother Norman, with their sons heavily involved, too.  Denside is a mixed farm beside Auchenblae, Laurencekirk with farmland spread over a 20-mile radius that includes 400 beef cows, 1400 breeding ewes, 2000 finishing cattle and 6000 lambs, 600 acres of cereals and 100 acres of turnips and fodder beet are grown for feed.

The premium brand tires specified on the 6150R needed to be replaced so Alan started looking for an alternative.  “Because of the amount of road work we do I wanted tires to be quiet and comfortable on the road, but I also expected premium brand tires to wear well and to get all the tread wear without cracks and punctures.”

Simon Codemo – Owner – Codemo Machinery Services, Australia 

Machinery Services - Simon Codemo

Not only the temperatures are extreme in Australia, but also the agricultural and soil conditions, especially in the Reverina region. Simon Codemo faces challenges in his daily work in his business "Codemo Machinery Services". He is therefore very pleased with the return of Continental and the wide range of agricultural tires in this segment: "The relaunch of Continental Tires to Australia is a great experience for us."

Mario and Nathan Arcifa - Owner of Arcifa Brothers vineyard

Tire relaunch down under - Mario Arcifa

Mario Arcifa manages the family farm “Arcifa Brothers vineyard”. The soil conditions there are challenging, this means for Arcifa that they must work on a variety of different soils. "When we used the Continental Tractor85 on our farm, we found that the tires had a minimal effect on the soil surface.” Mick Carbone, owner of “Agriculture Tyres and Wheels” also particularly appreciates the wide range of products Continental offers him. "It's great to have Continental back in our market!”

Richard Hutchins, Sales Manager, Continental Agricultural Tires. Tudor Jones, Fron Farm. Paul Hamer, Salesman, Pontesbury Tractors

Dairy farming - Tudor Jones

His family have held the same tenancy at Fron Farm for 72 years on the hillside above Weston Rhyn near Chirk on the border with Wales. The farm is positioned 700-1,200 feet above sea level and stretches to 145 acres of mixed hill ground.

Tudor’s previous Case covered 3,000 hours in just under three years. Whilst this is not uncommon, Tudor was surprised that, after just two years and a little under 2,000 hours, his tires wore out. “I do quite a bit of road work, pull a tanker and work in quite arduous conditions going uphill along rough tracks, but I didn’t think the tires would wear out so quickly.”

Peter Alderslade - World Ploughing Championship 2019

World Ploughing Championship - Peter Alderslade

The summer sun is burning in the bright blue sky above the fields of Minnesota. The smell of recently harvested hay and grain still fills the air. The continuous purring of engines breaks the silence. Stubble and grass are being turned into furrows so straight that you might think they had been drawn by a ruler.

Antonio Mora, Coschadoras and Agroservicios del Sur

Cosechasur - Antonio Mora

“We need efficient machinery and reliable materials in order to perform well and do everything at the optimal moment. We need huge efficiency in our work and therefore we are always looking for products that can go hand in hand with that. When we are perfoming at 100%, we can not allow ourselves to have something that doesn’t work. We search for quality in all of our products – both in machinery and in tires,” explains Mr. Mora.

Theo Gültlinger, operations manager for the Thurn and Taxis estate management team in Hellkofen

Thurn and Taxis Hellkofen - Theo Gültlinger

“We have been extremely happy with the Tractor85,” says Gültlinger. He is one of 55 test customers throughout Europe – from Portugal to Finland – that Continental has supplied with the standard tires of this new premium radial tire portfolio since the beginning of 2017. Since then, the estate management team in Hellkofen has been using this tire on its tractors both when harvesting grains and tubers and when spraying crop protection products on potatoes, beets and onions.

Continental tires kinder to grass - Patrick Brolly

Patrick Brolly farms at Foreglen in County Derry. The farm is between 700 and 900 feet above sea level and stretches to 120 hectares of grassland and 60 hectares of hillside. Patrick has a flock of 320 Cheviot Mule ewes with 100 ewe lambs and a further 80 pedigree Beltex ewes. He also has a small herd of 30 cattle, a mixture of Herefords and Simmentals. 

When he bought a 2007 New Holland TM 155 tractor the tires were almost worn out, so he was left with the unenviable task of finding suitable replacements.