Episode 112

COUNTAX: BEGINNING AND END OF A BRAND with Chris Biddle and Harry Handkammer

AriensCo, the US parent company of British lawn tractor maker, Countax have announced that the production of both Countax and Westwood tractors at Great Haseley in Oxfordshire will cease by the end of 2023 –the Great Haseley site will be used as a sales and service operation for the home market only.

The Ariens statement suggests that there is no future for Countax or Westwood garden tractors made in the UK, or anywhere else - and have confirmed that there are no plans to use the Countax or Westwood brand names in the future.

In this episode I look back over the extraordinary + 30 year history of Countax which started in 1990, and includes extracts from an interview I recorded in October 2021 with the founder Harry Handkammer

Countax UK

AriensCo

Episode produced and edited by Chris Biddle

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INSIDE AGRI-TURF
The farm and grass machinery business

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Chris Biddle

Chris is an experienced journalist specialising in the farm and grass machinery market. He has worked for a major tractor manufacturer and been a managing director of a farm and grass machinery dealership in the West Country.
In 1988, he launched trade magazine, Service Dealer followed by TurfPro in 1998, selling both titles to Land Power Publications in 2015.
He was editor of Landwards, the professional journal of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE) from 2008 until 2019 and is the recipient of the 2020 IAgrE Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Land-Based industry.
Chris lives in Salisbury with his wife Trish, and is an avid cricket fan and member of the MCC for over 55 years.