ZETOR is helping a slovak cooperative with its hard work

Tractors are used in various ways. Devio cooperative in Nove Sady in Slovakia operates four PROXIMA and CRYSTAL tractors. We spoke with the cooperative chairman Igor Jakubička and operator Dušan Jančovič about their experience with tractors and about ZETOR during our visit.

The DEVIO Nove Sady Cooperative operates on 4,600 hectares north of Nitra, Slovakia. The properties lie in nine different land registry areas, which is unusual. DEVIO cultivates crops and raises cattle. “Our crop production includes 2,000 hectares of grains, 700 hectares of corn, almost 660 hectares of malting barley, 670 hectares of oil producing plants and we are also one of the largest sugar beet producers in Slovakia. In terms of animal production, we have 890 dairy cattle, 480 beef cattle, 1,300 calves and heifers, 4,000 pigs, of which 265 are sows,” says Chairman Igor Jakubička about the cooperative. The company’s history dates back to 1972, when nine independent cooperatives were combined. Today, in addition to extensive animal and plant production, the cooperative has its own concrete mixing plant.

The fleet includes more than 70 tractors and dozens of other vehicles of various types. “In addition to ZETOR, we use two other brands. One is a competing tractor producer and the other is a telescopic handler producer,” says the cooperative’s operator Dušan Jančovič. “Our goal was to not experiment with too many other different manufacturers – if a brand proves itself, we stick with it. This isn’t nostalgia. It’s about the advantages in maintenance and service and the fact that our tractor operators don’t have to learn how to work with new technologies,” adds Jančovič.

Out of the 70 tractors, almost 50 are ZETOR. Many of them are historical UR I and UR II tractors with 70–160 hp.  Last year the cooperative decided to renew their fleet and bought a PROXIMA PLUS 100 and two CRYSTAL 150 tractors. Based on their positive experience with ZETOR, the cooperative bought a PROXIMA POWER 120 towards the end of the year.

“We decided to buy ZETOR because of the good price, low operational costs and low fuel consumption. In addition, they are easy to handle and operators find them comfortable,” says the cooperative’s operator. “The PROXIMA PLUS 100 ran over 1,000 hours of engine time over the course of the year without a single problem. The tractors are operated 5 days a week, 8 hours a day with a 10-ton feed tank that they distribute to various stations,” adds Jančovič. Now the PROXIMA POWER 120 has taken over this job and the PROXIMA PLUS is hooked up to a feed trailer at the dairy farm.

In addition to the PROXIMA tractors, the farm has a six-cylinder CRYSTAL 150. “We have two of them and we’re very happy with them. They have worked approximately 500 hours of engine time, and we use them mostly for crop production in combination with a large-volume silo trailer for sugar beet and storage tank jobs. The new CRYSTAL has great towing power, a great view and comfortable cab and in comparison, with its green predecessor it has better operational costs and lower fuel consumption,” says the cooperative’s operator.

“ZETOR has made great strides forward over the past few years. It is the clear leader in price-performance comparison and has low operational costs and fuel consumption. The operators like the comfortable cab, air conditioning and good view. It is too bad, though, that ZETOR doesn’t have tractors with a performance range over 160 HP, we are interested in tractors in that range,” adds Chairman Igor Jakubička in conclusion.