Beet harvester pioneer stays loyal to Vervaet

20 years ago John Orford helped to revolutionise beet lifting in the UK when he became the first tanker harvester owner in the UK.

Two decades later, G J Orford & Partners of Hill Farm, Fersfield have taken delivery of  their seventh Vervaet 17 tonne, 6 row machine. Whilst there is now a relatively wide range of machines to choose from (and John has had several demonstrated on his farm) he sees no reason to change from what he considers simply the best machine on the market.

It’s all down to family values. The Vervaet family delivered the first machine and spent days assessing how it met UK conditions. They concluded that the only real difference was more abrasive soil conditions. “They were amazed how much quicker shears wore out!” says John. “They returned a month later to see how the machine had performed and to see if any other changes needed making. And it’s been like that with subsequent model. They always listen and implement design changes accordingly”. The result has been an evolving machine that has improved step by step. Today’s machines are more fuel efficient, driver comfort is greater and there is more computerisation.  Vervaet have improved the beet flow and provided greater space between the turbines and the gates. But the basic design is still straight forward and simple.”

Similarly John knows he can rely on first class service from another family business:  J Riley Agri.

“Jeremy Riley has helped us from day one. On the rare occasion that something goes wrong, the parts and service only have to come an hour from Norwich and his engineers know the machines inside out. Also Jeremy knows everyone in the beet industry. This has made trade-ins simple as usually he has someone lined up for our old machine.”

John has never been tempted to upgrade to a 25 tonne machine. “They cost a lot more and weigh a lot more. We operate a two man team, the second man driving our 18 tonne Bailey ‘Beeteaper’. We lift 2000 acres in a season and in 90% of cases, there is plenty of time for the trailer to return to the harvester before the hopper is full. In the rest, the delay is so minimal it causes no problems. So the machine is only fully loaded for a few minutes, minimising soil compaction and fuel consumption.”

“You read about tracked machines being highly manoeuvrable but the four wheel drive on the Vervaet is extremely easy to operate and gives excellent stability. I would image tracks also mean more mud on the road.”

The key to successful beet lifting is matching the equipment. “We start with an 18 row seed drill which matches the 6 row harvester which matches the 18 tonne trailer.”

“After our side delivery harvester we thought our first tanker was wonderful” concludes John “and Vervaet continue to impress us with simple machines that get the job done.”