With the 170-acre farm in the Westbury area Dave Riordan and his wife Andrea was about to buy having soft ground conditions, he decided to do something about it.

After undertaking a requirements analysis, he discovered he would need machinery "with the flexibility to load hay bales onto trucks; tow a trailer with tools and implements; run a slasher/mulcher; operate a PTO drive; pick up and move timber; load palletised firewood and supplies and carry out a myriad of other farming tasks - but without making an impact on the soft ground."

"After seeing a Takeuchi TL8 tracked loader that had rippers fitted to the back, I realised that modification of some equipment attached to the ripper bar would make this machine ideal for what we needed," Mr Riordan said.

"A tow bar fitted to the ripper lets me tow the trailer loaded with implements to where needed and carried back to the shed at the end of the day.

"In addition, we wanted an air conditioned cab and a reversing camera: the latter already paying for itself by preventing damages from reversing into other equipment."

Mr Riordan's specialised machinery uses bale grabs and bale forks for loading, which spreads the ground pressure and he can operate it in the wet.

He admitted he was initially cautious about the non-traditional approach to farming equipment.

"The machine and its attachments have been a wonderful solution to all the handling issues we face on the property," he said.