Agricultural engineer Andrew Downing has realised a long-held ambition to represent a major international tractor manufacturer – his dealership has been selected to handle the McCormick range in Cambridgeshire.
From premises at Gorefield near Wisbech, he is now supplying McCormick tractors to farms from the Wash coast above Wisbech and Spalding, southwards past Peterborough to beyond Chatteris, bordering established dealers Robert H Crawford, Stamford Tractors, Johnsons of Fakenham and Catley Engineering.
“It’s been an ambition to become a new tractor dealer for many years and now it’s happened I couldn’t be more pleased,” says Mr Downing. “The response has also been great, with many more enquiries than I expected at this stage.”
Better still, those enquiries have already resulted in two sales – a 25hp McCormick X10.25 for horticulture and a 110hp X60.40 for turf production.
Andrew Downing runs his agricultural engineering business with his two sons: Charles works in the service department and George is involved in the specialist haulage arm of the business.
“Charles is a skilled technician who won the prestigious City & Guilds Gold Medal as the top student worldwide on the Land Based Service Engineering course he took at Brooksby Melton College,” says Mr Downing. “He has a natural talent for anything mechanical and runs our busy workshop, where Joe Brooks is our second-year apprentice.
“We put a high priority on customer service,” he emphasises. “We’ll work on a machine into the early hours if that’s what’s needed to get it going again.”
Andrew Downing’s own career started in the workshop as a technician at an International Harvester dealer. He then diverted into teaching as an agricultural plant and engineering lecturer at King’s Lynn technical college before returning to commercial business as a dealership branch service manager.
When that business closed 23 years ago, he set up on his own as ‘one man with a van’ and the company has grown ever since.
“The specialist haulage side developed after we bought a lorry to bring in tractors and other agricultural equipment for repairs,” Mr Downing recalls. “My younger son George is now experienced in transporting agricultural equipment, including grain driers, which is a bit specialist, tracked and wheeled machinery, rollers, tank vessels, factory equipment and high-value vintage vehicles.”
As for tractor sales, Tim Lawrence of national distributor AgriArgo UK points out that it is a perfect time to become a McCormick dealer because the line-up is being transformed with up to eight new ranges following a big investment in R&D by McCormick manufacturer Argo Tractors in Italy.
“We’ve already launched the X50 livestock tractor and bigger X7 Pro Drive models, and the smaller X4 series 90-107hp tractors were unveiled at the Cereals Event,” he explains. “In future, we’ll be getting the first McCormick tractors with stepless CVT drive and bigger tractors up to 300hp.”
That will only enhance the current range of McCormick tractors that caters for farming, fruit and horticultural enterprises in Andrew Downing’s territory.
“We cover a very varied area, with some beef and also sheep on the wetlands around Ely and Welney, extensive apple and pear orchards in the Wisbech area and high-value arable and horticultural crops throughout the rest of the patch,” he notes.
“Argo Tractors is one of the top manufacturers of fruit and orchard tractors worldwide, with the McCormick F series having a deserved reputation for strength and durability,” he points out. “For arable operations, the new McCormick X7 Pro Drive tractor is a thoroughly modern design with fingertip controls that operators like but without being too complex for inexperienced or seasonal drivers.”
It will take time to re-establish the historic McCormick name in the locality but Andrew Downing and his team are clearly up for the challenge: “We’re already stocking genuine parts and consumables for existing and McCormick heritage tractors, and carrying out repairs and routine servicing,” he points out. “We’re enthusiastic about increasing the McCormick presence in our area with a good range of products and professional back-up service.”
