Canadian combine parts long relegated to the junk yard will get a new
life on Malaysian farms.
Gratton Coulee, an Alberta used parts company, shipped a container load
of used New Holland combine axles, straw walker cranks and radiators to
Malaysia in March.
“We’re keeping another country, not as well off, going with our parts,”
said owner Joe Glover of Irma.
A Malaysian parts company searching for used combine parts contacted
Glover through the internet. The two companies negotiated the price and
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parts needed and the deal was settled.
“We’re getting rid of a lot of stock and they’re getting parts they
need,” he said.
Included in the shipment were 41 complete table lift cylinders. On a
good year Glover would normally sell two or three of the units to
Canadian farmers from the long rows of combines parked in his salvage
yards behind the main building.
“Some of this stuff is not fast moving stuff.
“It’s a way of making old machinery worth having.”
Most of the parts, the earliest from a 1979-built combine, would have
likely been collected for scrap, he said.
Before the equipment could be loaded into the containers, it was steam
cleaned to remove dirt and weeds. The container was trucked to
Vancouver and loaded onto a ship to Malaysia.
Glover has shipped parts from late model tractors and combines to
Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Mexico, France, England and the United
States, but it’s the first time he’s shipped parts to Malaysia.
He still doesn’t have a clear picture of how the equipment will be used.
“Maybe they’ll build the machinery around the parts,” he said.
“I pictured them using poles and sticks to harvest their rice.”
