Hawaiian tractors...

Eldon (WA)

Well-known Member
Some pics I took on the north shore of Oahu a couple of weeks ago. The islands are not kind to tractors...
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Man , that's a real shame seeing how they value their equipment . That 4x4 wasn't a cheap tractor & seeing it's condition makes me sick . Sure wouldn't wanna lend any of them my tractors . God bless , Ken
 
Incredible photos. Thanks for posting.

Boy, they look about as tough as some that I find in junkyards.
 
looks about right...
equiptment has a rough life out that way.
the climate...as nice as it is...can't be great for it.

parts have to be a bear to get and pay for...

when we were out there, a tour guide was showing us a lot of
the old sugar cane plantations that have since been bought up
by the pioneer seed company..
i guess they do a lot of corn and soy research and
hybridization with those fields.
he said they get 3 or 4 (memory is probably not accurate on
the number) growing cycles a year out of it which makes
hawaii an ideal location for experimentation.
 
We went to Kauai recently- had been there about 10 years ago, and spent considerable time on the "dry" side of the island because the "wet" side was so, well, wet. Dry side is where the sugar cane used to be. Thats gone now (the sugar industry moved to Idaho, and went underground), and the ag on the several thousand acres of flat farm land was pretty spotty.

Now, all I saw was corn! Was wondering what they did with it all, when I came upon the Pioneer facility, then the Syngenta facility. Lots of cars in the parking lot, so I assume they hire quite a few people. As said, its great for research because they have pretty stable, favorable temps for corn, and 3 or 4 life cycles per year, rather than one.

Irrigation is pretty easy- the area is adjacent to a mountain top which is the wettest place in the US- over 400" of rain a year.

As far as the machinery, that red dirt is like a dye- just about impossible to get off. The houses without rain gutters are red about 2 feet up (the splash line). That, and the humidity, take their toll.
 
hey mike
thanks for confirming what i remembered...it is quite an operation they put together....
what suprised me most...was pineapples...i always thought they grew on trees...

kauai was, and still is, the best place we have ever been to....
we did a week on kauai and a week on the big island...someday we want to go b ack to kauai and maybe maui with another week.

it is a long flight...but totally worth it.

kauai, in addition to teh beauty and fun thins to do, was a very relaxing place filled with very nice people.
 
It probably has to do with the difference between an owner/operator farm and a farm where all the owner cares about is the money coming in and hires inexperienced help for minimum wage. The workers there won't care about keeping the equipment in shape and looking decent.
 
I've seen quite few tractors o0n various Caribbean Islands over the years. Most looked like they had been used pretty hard, probably by disinterested drivers.
 
I have been on all the Islands and farming is just different over there. About 12 years ago there was a pretty good size Massey dealer on the big island as well as a good strong Cat dealer.
The salt in the air takes it,s toll but the soil is like plowing in ash , real abrasive. Sugar is about gone but corn is coming on that is for sure. I spent two days at the Pioneer site.
 

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