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 SALEM,
Ore. - More than a century ago central Oregon’s fertile Willamette
Valley was the pot-of-gold at the end of the rainbow for those making
the long trek up the Oregon Trail. Today, its rich brown earth and verdant
crops continue to reap rewards for those who till the soil. Case in point
is the Weeks Nursery, a 200-acre berry farm located near Salem, Ore. The
Weeks Nursery has been in the family for five generations, and here Brad
and his father, John Weeks, grow and ship blackberry, strawberry, blueberry,
gooseberry, currant and raspberry plants to commercial nurseries and to
more than 1,500 retail garden centers throughout North America.
Their pool of farm
equipment includes three Kubota tractors, the oldest (purchased new) being
a L5450 that has been on the job for 15 years. “Like the Energizer
Battery commercial on television, this L5450 just keeps going and going”,
Brad Weeks told Kubota Country. “It’s been a workhorse since
the day it was delivered.”
Using a farming method
called “raised bed” cultivation, a process that pulls the soil
together into a mound of earth 8” tall and 20” across, it’s
essential there be adequate clearance between the tractor and the berry
plants. Purchasing a new Kubota M9000 Mudder last June that features a
clearance of 36” from Oregon Vineyard Supply in McMinnville, Ore.,
Weeks Nursery accomplished a couple of important things. First, the M9000
Mudder provides the clearance necessary to protect the plants during harvest
when a lifter is being used. Second, during the summertime when they’re
running a normal operation, the Weeks use the Mudder and a 150 gallon
Mitchell spray rig to spray the raised bed rows, again doing so without
any concern about
damaging stock.
The Weeks are intimately
familiar with the Kubota pedigree and know what they can expect from it
in terms of service and reliability. That’s why this Mudder is the
Kubota M9000.
But they also have a third tractor, also an M9000 with a front-end loader.
This one they use to lift field pallets and do all the plowing and heavy
field work (they pull a 12’ disc, a three-bottom switch plow and
a 12’ wide furrow with this unit). They’ve been using this M9000
day in and day out for the last five years. When they began shopping for
a Mudder they relied upon the personal experience they garnered by using
the M9000 with a front loader. “It boiled down to this,” Brad
explained, “The M9000 is significantly quieter than what the competition
offers. It is user friendly to operate and it develops the horsepower
and torque required to effortlessly do any job it’s called upon to
do.”
For the Weeks Nursery
it is imperative that they work with a dealer who provides superior technical
service. Kubota Country asked Brad to sketch what he and his dad think
constitutes a good service shop. “For us, it’s a shop like Oregon
Vineyard Supply that takes good care of our Kubota tractors, but who can
also provide excellent tech service/support for the other two tractors
that we use in our ag business.”
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