“In summer, we’re transiting balers at 50km/h in 40-degree heat,” Mr Stecher said.
“That’s punishing on gearboxes and hydraulics. The fact we’ve never had a failure says it all.”
Operating near Seymour, Richard runs a 4000-hectare broadacre cropping operation, a successful hay and harvesting contracting business, Stecher Ag, and a beef cattle enterprise.
His fleet has grown over the past two decades to include 15 John Deere tractors, two S-Series harvesters and two balers, and has clocked up more than 250,000 machine hours. He says some tractors are pushing 10,000 to 12,000 hours and still running strong.
“We’ve never had a major transmission failure or tractor split – ever. That’s over a quarter of a million hours,” he said.
Mr Stecher credits much of the reliability to a strict maintenance regime, and the use of premium-quality lubricants including John Deere’s Plus-50 II engine oil, Hy-Gard transmission and hydraulic oil, GL-5 gear oil and Cool-Gard II coolant.
“Twenty years ago, when I bought my first John Deere tractor, the salesman at Haeusler’s had been a well-regarded technician and spoke very highly of the lubricants, so I started using them, and we’ve stuck with them ever since,” Mr Stecher said.
Haeusler’s Group aftermarket manager Jason Hannig said customers could use a simple online calculator to see how Plus-50 II engine oil and filters compare to competitors’ products.
“It’s really quick and easy to use, and it gives you a simple number that shows how much you would spend each year on oil and filters in three different combinations — all genuine John Deere oil and filters, all non-John Deere products, or a mixture of the two,” Mr Hannig said.
To try the oil calculator, visit haeuslers.com.au/lubricants
