The Farmers Mart Feb/Mar 2016 - Issue 44 | Page 21

RFS Open Day 2016
The open day is as much a thank you to all
its many loyal customers as an opportunity to
strike those all-important early year bargain
deals.
Walking round the main machinery hall
every manufacturer’s support staff or RFS team
members were all busily engaged talking to
farmers – there was no one standing about
waiting for people to come to the stands.
This year’s special guest, taking pride of
place among the many other John Deere
products on display was the new John Deere
9RX, a combination of power, performance
and intelligence all wrapped up in tracks. Kuhn
showed off their range of bale wrappers which
are proving very popular. Bunning also put
on an impressive display, debuting their new
Lowlander 175 HD Spreader. There were new
drills on display from Horsch & Great Plains as
well as the ever popular trailer manufacturer,
Ifor Williams, bringing along their luxurious
Eventa – offering living accommodation and
herringbone travel for horses.
RFS always tries to include something that
bit different for the Open Days – this year they
excelled with Steve Tonkin and the Truncator
Saw Horse, a brand new invention of two years
ago that actually featured on “Dragons Den”.
Barry Brown introduced me to Gregg Owen
of Wessex International who were launching
exclusively at the event the all new Wessex
HLS-100 horizontal log splitter - an amazingly
powerful and versatile piece of kit for the
serious forester.
In the same part of the hall, the
Timberwolf 3333 was on display. This is a
phenomenal heavy duty chipper that has
full manouverability including retractable
tracks to fit in the smaller access areas. Full
H and S operational training is now supplied
if required. Already Calderdale council rent a
number of these machines. Available to buy
or rent, these really are significant pieces
of equipment. Next to this was another of
RFS’s innovative machines, the OREC ride-on
brush cutter which provides a welcome and
versatile alternative to dragging a flail cutter
up and down banks etc. At the far corner
were the Hannix Diggers which are growing in
popularity and again Ripon forges forward as
they now have a dedicated demonstration and
technical expert in-house which really helps
when purchasing.
All in all, this was an extremely well
organised, well run and well attended event
with a great buzz and optimistic atmosphere.
We wish Geoff and his 230 strong team the
very best for 2016.

www.farmers-mart.co.uk Feb/Mar 2016 21