EDITORIAL – Small Farms.
When they bought an APOLLO tractor in April 2008, Lisa and Paul were particularly pleased with SOTA Tractor’s after-sales support. “We didn’t know much about using tractors, so when we bought a brand new one we turned to SOTA for phone support” says Lisa. “Tom and Tony are just excellent – they answered all of our questions and walked us through how to do things. It was very helpful to us.”
Lisa and Paul wanted a reliable purchase which would allow them to do regular maintenance work such as slashing at their two properties in Reid River, Townsville. “Since we have 120 acres, we wanted a tractor with a higher horsepower so it could manage all the work,” says Lisa. “We bought a slasher, a trencher, a post hole digger and a rotary hoe. Since our purchase, we’ve run 400m of irrigation using the trencher, used the post hole digger to put in fence posts and re-seeded with the rotary hoe.”
“When we researched buying a tractor, lots of people told us that Chinese tractors were a bit iffy. My father is a tobacco farmer and he was doubtful about it all. But when he saw our APOLLO he was impressed with the quality of it and thought we’d got a good deal for our money. He also mentioned that it was easier to maintain as it had better access for mechanical work.”
Three days before Christmas, heavy rains bogged the APOLLO. “We phoned SOTA Tractors and Tony walked us through getting it out of the bog,” says Lisa. “He also arranged for a mechanic to come and assist and reimbursed us the costs, as per the warranty. We’re very happy with the assistance we’ve been given.”
Lisa and Paul plan to fix their dam using the front end loader and continue clearing vegetation and slashing with their tractor. “We’re extremely satisfied with our APOLLO. There’s not many places that offer a 50 horsepower tractor for an affordable price. A couple of people have asked us where we got our tractor and we of course, are happy to tell them. The after-sales service is excellent and it’s reassuring to know that Tom and Tony are there for us when we need them.”