The Right Equipment
Work on the farm is handled by six Massey Ferguson tractors.
Terry Jones and his MF4255.
Like many Massey Ferguson customers, the Joneses have taken good care of their machinery, and that equipment has responded by giving them reliability for decades. The day-to-day workhorses on their destination fruit, vineyard, vegetable and Christmas tree farm are six Massey Ferguson tractors.
Three of them are MF285s: One is for haying, another is a utility tractor and the third’s wheels are spread 88 inches on center for use in the strawberry fields. The oldest is about 35 years old, according to Jamie Jones, who manages the day-to-day duties on the farm. “It’s been here as long as I remember.”
Each piece of Massey Ferguson machinery at Jones Family Farm does double- and triple-duty. “The three-point-hitch system is simple and works well as we switch them between many different implements, often several times in a single day,” says Jamie.
Much of their vineyard work is performed using a MF174, purchased in the late 1980s, which was designed for work in narrow rows, while their heavy-duty fieldwork is completed with a 13-year-old, four-wheel-drive MF4255, with an enclosed cab. “This is our beefiest tractor,” says Jamie of the 95-horsepower model, used for discing, spraying or even pulling the occasional customer’s car out of the ditch. Additionally, a 20-hp MF205 is used to mow in the farm’s sales area, as well as in between rows of blueberries.
“The Masseys are always functional on the job and reliable,” says Jamie. It doesn’t hurt that they are only 10 minutes away from “very good” longtime dealer Al Preston’s Garage Inc., in Shelton. “That’s why we stay with them and have never had a reason to change.”
