Imagine having such a versatile loading tool on a farm that it not only has interchangeable attachments but can also be used to draw trailers when normal agricultural tractors are used for essential farming-related tasks.

This is the happy situation Alec Pieterse has on his family’s farm Pienaarsfontein in the Schweizer-Reneke district where he undertakes a multitude of tasks with his JCB 541-70 Loadall.

“I joined my dad, Ferdie Pieterse, on the farm in 1994 after studying mechanical engineering and I’m the third generation on this land that was first farmed by my grandfather, Ferdinand Alexander (Sak) Pieterse, after whom I was named,” Alec says. “Our main crops are maize, sunflowers, and soya beans and we have a herd of Simmentaler cattle.”

“Keeping up family traditions, we have since my grandfather’s time done a bit of alluvial diamond mining on the farm, but we nurture this land and rehabilitate it immediately after mining.”

Referring to their small-scale diamond mining, Alec recalls that they first bought a JCB JS205 Excavator in 2017 from Johnny Scholtz at JBJ Machinery in Schweizer-Reneke for use on the mine. This machine is still being used mainly for the rehabilitation of the mined areas and it has some 7 850 hours on its clock.

“Johnny and I know each other from our schooldays so it was like dealing with an old friend when buying the JCB JS205 Excavator,” Alec says. “Then in 2019 we bought a larger JCB JS305, 30-ton Excavator from Johnny as we were mining slightly deeper to about two metres and we were dedicating the older JCB JS205 Excavator to the important rehabilitation of the mined areas.”

According to Alec, both JCB Excavators have multifunctioning uses as they are used for bush clearing, taking out tree stumps, and digging and backfilling trenches for irrigation infrastructure, all of which makes them valuable assets on the farm.

Like many modern farmers, Alec also believes that mechanisation is the way forward, and giving credence to this belief, he in 2017 bought a JCB 541-70 Loadall from JBJ Machinery to further enhance this mechanisation effort.

“This machine is simply amazing, and it works throughout the year,” Alec says. “Like many specialised tools, once you have it, you don’t know how you had survived without it before.”

Pienaarsfontein’s JCB 541-70 Loadall is used to unload pallets with essential supplies into storage and bulk bags of feed into the feed mixer for the cattle, using the easily detachable fork attachment. Switching to the bucket in mere minutes, maize from storage bags is loaded into a big debulking trailer.

“We have an extension on the seven-metre boom which increases its length to 11-metres that we use to lift down the gears of a windmill when repairs are necessary and we’ve even used the machine to hoist up sick cows onto trailers before transporting them to a recovery camp,” Alec tells us. “This machine has a blade attachment available for grading our farm roads which makes it a super multitool.”

But there is more. Alec tells that often after their maize has been harvested and his agricultural tractors are occupied with essential tasks, he has used the JCB 541-70 Loadall to haul trailers containing up to 10 tons of bulk bags with maize stalks for animal fodder. This turns the machine with its powerful 63kW JCB Dieselmax engine into an additional haulage machine which he considers a real bonus.

“We’re also really happy that Johnny Scholtz and his business JBJ Machinery, are now in the Bell Forestry and Agriculture dealership chain as that gives us the assurance of sustained parts availability, not that Johnny has ever not looked after us in that respect,” he adds. “JBJ Machinery’s prompt attention to detail is legendary and as a farmer himself, Johnny understands our business and appreciates the challenges we face.”

When asked about his policy on machine replacement, Alec is circumspect in saying that advice from his trusted accountant is that as soon as repair and maintenance charges exceed the interest amount on the monthly instalment of any equipment, it’s time to consider a replacement. But as Pienaarsfontein’s JCB equipment keeps clocking up the hours without running up repair costs, it seems a while before this hardy equipment will be replaced.

Johnny Scholtz of JBJ Machinery (left) with Alec Pieterse from Pienaarsfontein Farm.