BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

Fo r m o re t rave l i d ea s v i s i twww.DiscoverWildlife.com/Directory THEDIRECTORY

PRODUCTS

O

neMondaymorningtheManaging

DirectorofSiromertractorswalks

LQWRWKHR￿ȑFH ZLWKD VPLOHDQGKDQGV

mea pairofredoveralls.LouiseHoward

GHFODUHVWKDWLW LV WLPHWKDW, EXLOWP\ȑUVW

tractor.I ammorepractisedinhandlingthe

busystreamofphonecallsthanbuilding

a compacttractor,butI acceptedthe

challenge.Thetractorinquestionisa 254,

25hp3 cylindertractor.

I wasencouragedbythefactthatno

onehasevernotbeenabletobuilda

6LURPHU￿ODWSDFNWUDFWRU, KDYHEHHQRQ WKH

receivingendofmanyvictoriousphone

callsfromSiromercustomerswhohave

completedthetaskandarekeentoletus

knowabouttheirexperienceandtheir

completiontime.FarmerFredSharmanof

ReppsinNorfolkcurrentlyholdstherecord

atanimpressive 4 anda halfhours.

Knowingtheteamofmechanicsthat

wouldbehelpingmealsomadethewhole

processfeelmoremanageable,butI was

amazedathoweasythebuildwas.I have

heardmanytimesthesalelineof‘Youcan

seeit,buildit,repairitandserviceit’andit

wasgreattoseehowaccuratethisis.

Theestimatedbuildtimefora Siromer

compacttractoris 10 hoursand 10

steps,butwiththepractisedhandsand

knowledgeofthemechanicsweknewit

wouldbemuchquicker.Acomprehensive

manualissuppliedtoallSiromercustomers

alongwitha basictoolbox.Thechapsinthe

workshopworkfastasyou'dimaginewith

alltheexperiencetheyhave,butslowed

downtoexplainthepartsandtheprocesses

WKH\￿O\ WKURXJKRUGLQDULO\7KH\UHJXODUO\

buildthecratedtractorsforthecustomers

thatwouldratherthetractorbebuiltinour

workshopsanddeliveredreadytouse.

7KHȑUVWVWHSZDVWRXQSDFNWKHFUDWH

DQGOD\RXWWKHGL￿IHUHQWFRPSRQHQWV

includingthemainskid,exhaust,wheels,

battery,rollbar.WithitalllaidoutItwas

hardtoimaginethatina fewhoursthis

wouldbea shinynewtractorthatI could

driveoutoftheworkshop.Themainskid

ZDVOL￿WHGRXWRI WKHFUDWHXVLQJD IRUNOL￿W

buttrolleyjacksandaxlestandscanhandle

thistask.Itisworthrememberingthatthe

tractorshavealreadybeenassembledonce

inthefactorynorthofShanghai,run,tested

andthendisassembledandcratedfor

shipmenttoSiromerHQ.Oncethewheels

havebeenboltedontherollingchassis

LV ORZHUHGGRZQWR WKH￿ORRULW LV DOUHDG\

startingtolooklikethetractorsI know.

Wethengottoworkwiththebody

work,therearmudguards,therollbar,the

bonnetandenginecowlingareallthen

fitted.I canseehowlogicaltheassembly

is,eachpartfittedseemstoleadtothe

nextandalthoughtheguysontheteam

havehadlotsofpractiseI canseehow,

withthehelpoftheconstructionmanual

andanextrapairofhandsanovicelike

myselfcanputthistogether.Withthe

tractorreallytakingshapenowitwas

timeforabreakwhereI sawthatSiromer

tractorsarebuiltonfuelmadefrom bacon

sandwiches and cups of tea!

7KHHOHFWULFVDUHWDFNOHGD￿WHUD VKRUW

break,attachingtherearlightsandthen

the8 electricalcables,themechanics

showedmethediagramsoftheseand

again,a logicalvisualisgiventohelpwith

theprocess.Thethree-pointlinkageisthe

lastofthemainconstructionelements.This

isthepointwhenI willgetanoccasional

FDOOLQ WKHR￿ȑFH IURPD FXVWRPHUPLG

build.Theyarealwaysabletospeakwith

a mechanicandtalkthroughanyqueries.

Thetractorisnowreadytobegreased.

Lubricantsandcoolantsareadded,andthe

GLHVHOWDQNLVȑOOHGXS7KHPHFKDQLFVWKHQ

tighteneverynutandbolt,especiallythe

RQHV, KDGȑWWHG

Oncethebatteryisconnectedandthe

injectionpumpprimedthemechanics

JUDFLRXVO\JDYHPHWKHNH\VIRUWKHȑUVW

startup.Sucha senseofachievement

hearingthetractorthatbeganlifeina crate

URDULQWRDFWLRQ$￿WHUDOO WKHSUHGHOLYHU\

inspectioncheckswerecarriedoutandthe

paperworkcompletedformetotakeback

WR WKHR￿ȑFH , ZDVDEOHWR GULYHWKHWUDFWRU

outoftheworkshop.

I canseewhysomanypeoplechooseto

buildtheirowntractor,itgivesyousucha

greatworkingknowledgeofthemachine

andthisissurelywhySiromerhavemadeit

FRPSDQ\SROLF\IRUDOO VWD￿I PHPEHUVWR JHW

thechancetocompletea build.Butalso,the

taskofconstructionandtheachievement

ofputtinga tractortoworkthatyou

builtyourselfisincrediblyenjoyable.The

challengetoconstructthisdurableand

versatiletractoristhereforyouifyouwish,

butourcompetentmechanicsareonhand

ifyouwouldratherreceivethetractorfully

EXLOWR￿IHULQJWKHEHVWRIERWKZRUOGVQ

ÁŐ ̄×ŐvÁÜÎÒ￿μ ̈ŐńŐŐõÎÒ×Ņ× ̄»￿ÎōÒ©Ü ̄￿￿×Á￿Ü ̄μ￿ ̄¼©ŐŐøμ×Ì￿³Ő×Î￿×ÁÎŐ

0 ￿μ￿¼ŐFÁ￿μ￿Őõ¼￿ÒŐÁÜ×Ő­Áæ

For more information on the complete range of tractors and equipment visitæææĮÒ ̄ÎÁ»￿ÎĮ￿ÁĮܳ or call01253 799029