Mark Conder Contracting Ltd

Mark Conder Contracting Ltd, Lancashire

Mark Conder operates a contracting business from his family farm in North West Lancashire.

Starting out using the farm’s Massey 390T tractor, Mark now operates an impressive fleet of modern machinery. Recent years have seen a full line up of John Deere tractors, as well as the purchase of two new John Deere forage harvesters for the 2019 season - an 8500i and the flagship 9800i.

“We had a John Deere forager demo during the summer of 2018 from Cornthwaite Group. Having never tried one before, we were all interested to see how they performed. The demo went well and after doing a lot of research from other contractors operating JD foragers, who’d previously operated other brands too, I decided to swap my harvesters for two new John Deeres.

Dealer back up is key when operating these machines. I had full confidence that Cornthwaite Group would look after me and I cannot fault the service I’ve received - from the salesman, service, parts and technical support – it’s clear to see they’re one big team!

Both machines are fitted with the HarvestLab sensors, which really impressed both me and my customers on the demo. The ability to know exactly what tonnage has been harvested, what constituent values are within the crop yield maps, as well as the accurate dosage of inoculant depending on dry matter, is a great tool to have.” - Mark Conder

“I’ve now put almost 300 hours on the 9800i and I really am impressed! Having driven competitive brands previously, I can honestly say this forager is in a league of its own. Both driver comfort and cab visibility are excellent, which is crucial when doing long days. I love how you can configure the joystick to carry out certain functions and the touch screen’s really easy to navigate.

When it comes to daily maintenance, the John Deere forager is definitely the best I’ve worked on. There are very few grease nipples and most greasing points are taken care of by the auto lube. Checking the knives and cleaning down is also very quick and simple - I can have the pickup removed and feed rollers swung open within a matter of minutes. We’ve been chopping some very heavy, lumpy first cuts this season - yet the 9800i has coped with ease.”- Operator, Joe Olde

“I’m really happy with how everything’s going with these machines. Both foragers are performing really well in some of the worst conditions I’ve seen. I feel the John Deeres are steps ahead of the competition with both performance and reliability - it really is the full package. I would highly recommend both the John Deere foragers and Cornthwaite Group to anyone.” - Mark Conder