Across nations, there is such a thing that most of the equipment either for domestic or commercial use tend to wear out in the shortest time possible. This of course has been informed by a number of aspects ranging from individual sentiments and general stereotypes by a certain section of people. To cut the narrative, we spoke to one of our customers owning a Massey Ferguson 240 which is an equivalent of TAFE 45DI, primarily used at Kyandondo Rugby club for all internal operations such as slashing among others. This tractor which is over 60 years old, has had our thoughts to re-think, and provide ample advice to the stakeholders who may primarily have developed a negative bias toward the longevity of farm machinery.

With the simplest mechanism of operation, the MF 240 is seen to have the same technical specifications as a TAFE 45 DI such as; gear combination, manual steering, hydraulic system, Power Take Off, Clutch type, Engine type among others. This makes maintenance of the equipment easy due to readily available parts compartible with TAFE Tractors.

But, how can a tractor be maintained and sustained for a significant period of time?

Ddumba Rogers, a Senior Tractor Technician at Engineering Solutions said that for a tractor to be maintained for all these years and more, it has everything to do with a disciplined line of maintenance. Most of the tractors in the region and across, are faced with Quick lapses in operation because the culture of sustainable maintenance of the machinery has been dropped off their schedules, he added.

Ddumba also advised that for such mechanical tractors, having them do the job they are supposed to do is very easy like abc, but reluctancy of either owners or operators will breed breakage.

Ddumba advises all operators to very vigilant while dealing with tractors because it is not about the model of the tractor, but entirely the mode of care and support given to it.

The case of Massey Ferguson 240, is a replica of a TAFE 45DI which is manufactured in Chennai India. The very spare parts that are used in the repair and maintenance are swiftly carried on to suite the purposes of Massey Ferguson. However, not all Massey Ferguson branded tractors are of good Quality, there are those that have been reconditioned (referred to as Millat Tractors) and mostly paraded in the bond yards.
On this note, we caution all our farmers who are interested in acquiring farm machinery to be vigilant not to be trapped in the purchase of non-genuine equipment. Farmers should take time off to research about the products, they need to buy.

The best Qualification for a good tractor should be informed by good aftersales support, available spare parts, affordable maintenance costs or cost of labour, fuel consumption levels, the workload capacity of the tractor among others. In our assessment in agro-mechanization, we highly implore farmers to appreciate the standard benefits of the products first before taking serious decisions.

During our subsequent trainings of operators, we often teach them about proper handling of the equipment. We are cognisant of the fact that the life of agriculture equipment is solely dependant on how competent the operator is.

Key things to consider;

1. Good maintenance of the tractor is key
2. A good operator
3. Following service schedules.
4. Analysing the cost of spares & maintenance
5. Quality of aftersales
6. Fuel management systems