Professionally increasing fuel economy and performance along with fault finding on agricultural machinery are now integral services offered by Sam Gibson at SGG Agricultural Services, as new machinery prices and long lead times are prompting farmers to make existing machinery last longer.
Mr Gibson set up his business in 2016 after years of working as a service technician for a JCB main dealer. His experience and contacts, built up over a decade of keeping Loadalls, excavators and Fastracs running, meant he has developed a solid customer base. However, over two years ago, he noticed an increase in demand for professional remapping services to increase power and reliability on a variety of agricultural machines, which was when he contacted Avon Tuning Agri and Plant about the services they offer to dealers and engineers, as he explains.
“A couple of my larger customers were experiencing regular issues with machinery that was causing reliability to suffer. Through daily conversations with farmers, I noticed they were keeping machinery longer and wanted to increase fuel economy and raise performance levels from existing tractors. I could see that having the tools to remap any brand of tractor or machine would allow my business to grow.”
Business changes
The market has developed rapidly for professional remapping services and Mr Gibson became an Avon Tuning Agri and Plant authorised agent in December 2020. He saw the need to offer his customers the full package, which meant being able to diagnose and fix software faults along with increasing machine performance, if they required it. Since the business started offering the remapping, the service has grown significantly, as Mr Gibson explains.
“Around 80% of my work now consists of remapping, which has been a remarkable growth in only two years. From a turnover perspective, the business is still at the same level, but I’m not buying as many parts and tools as I was previously. For software upgrades, all I need is a laptop and the Genius remapping tool. This means my business takes on less risk and my profit margin for remapping work is greater.”
The change in workload has meant less time fixing machinery with spanners, although this is still part of the business, the demand for remapping has been greater. Due to his Facebook advertising, jobs have been carried out as far afield as Essex, and Mr Gibson’s background as an agricultural engineer means he can explain to farmers in detail about the changes being made.
“I still believe one of the key reasons for the remapping growth in my business is that I understand the mechanics of a machine and I can explain this to the farmer. I’m not there to detrimentally change a machine’s characteristics, as my business reputation is on the line with every job, and I want to be able to have repeat customers for years to come. I would rather leave a farm having not fitted a remap to a tractor if I know the work will negatively affect performance in the long run.”
Having the support and backup from Avon’s UK based technicians means any issues when Mr Gibson is on farm can be sorted out quickly. Avon Tuning Agri and Plant’s remaps have been comprehensively tested to work within the safe parameters of the machine. Each map is tailored to the specific tractor considering the different parameters, such as transmissions and running gear, and the company have been providing its agents with remaps for over a decade.
Variety of machines
Such is the demand for the service, Mr Gibson has carried out work on all major tractor brands, with increases to reliability and fuel economy being key requirements for farmers.
“Reliability is one of the biggest issues for farmers, so if we can solve this on any brand of machine through software tweaks, then this will save them money in the long term through costly parts.”
A recent remap on a Case Puma 165 not only increased power but managed to bring a significant saving in fuel use. “The Puma was running a set of triple mowers and the owner wanted it to have more power. These tractors are common for remaps as they are very conservatively set from the factory, so by changing where the power was delivered meant the tractor didn’t have to work as hard to achieve the same output.
The result of the Avon Tuning Agri and Plant remap meant the tractor could handle the same set of mowers at the same output, but returned a 25% fuel saving over the standard settings.
Although the business has grown since the remapping service has been offered, the nature of the work means when enquiries come in, Mr Gibson must react quickly to avoid losing the jobs. “When the phone rings, I have to say I will be there soon otherwise the customer may ring another company to get it sorted.”
As the demand for professional remapping work continues to grow, Mr Gibson’s business is well placed to keep customers’ machines running regardless of the issue.