The Massey Ferguson 8727: Joe Eder Knows Horsepower

For more than a decade, Joe Eder has run Massey Ferguson tractors in his North Collins, N.Y., farm businesses. “It started out with the Bookmiller family at Java Farm Supply” in North Java, N.Y., Eder says. “It’s a family-run business, and you call them on a Sunday afternoon, they’re there for you,” he says.

Mike Bookmiller with Joe Eder

“We’ve had the 8650 the past couple of years, and we didn’t think they could get any better,” he says. But Eder has just taken delivery on two brand-new Massey Ferguson 8727s. He says he and Karla appreciate the speed and comfort. “It does 32 mph on the road—very quiet … just really nice to ride in.”

In the mulch business, the MF8727 pushes material, and he and Karla use it for mowing, merging and fieldwork in the custom harvesting business. “Going up the steep slopes of this mulch [mound] requires an immense amount of traction and power to ground,” Eder says. “And other ‘colors’ that don’t have this transmission, they’re not putting the horsepower to the ground, meaning there’s slippage.

“The CVT transmission and the horsepower in these big-frame tractors is the ultimate combination,” says Eder, who knows something about horsepower and chassis design. “It’s the same idea as 12,000 HP in the chassis design we produce” with Eder Motorsports, he says, which has built 92 pulling tractors for teams around the world. “I don’t care if one is 225 horse and another is 12,000 horse; you have to get it to the ground,” Eder says. “That’s where this transmission and motor combination is paying off.”

<< See the full story, “Full Pull: On The Job and On The Track With Joe Eder”