Using tracked equipment and direct drill practices has helped Gunnedah farmer Allan Riordan, "Durantee", do just that.

"I’ve used tracked tractors for a long time and our country is a lot softer because of it," he said.

"I was just waiting for the right tracked combine."

Mr Riordan farms 2000 hectares across three properties south of town on the Liverpool Plains; primarily durum, canola and sorghum, with sons Andrew and Ross.

In the second week of December he took delivery of the first 2012 New Holland SCR9080 on tracks in Australia.

The class 9 combine has rolled gently onto the market following the Claas Lexion and Case IH tracked machines.

The SCR 9080, with a 12.2 metre comb, runs triangle tracks as a $100,000 (approximate) option that reduces soil compaction considerably.

A header with a full tank of grain and a 13.8 metre comb can weigh 35 tonnes, but tracks can spread the force of this weight considerably.

The NH Smart Trax system delivers 84 kilopascals (12.2PSI) through its footprint compared to 283kPa (41PSI) through 900/60R-32 tyres.

Mr Riordan wished he had a tracked machine last harvest.

Harvesting last year’s crops caused compaction right across the farm and left wheel tracks as deep as 30 centimetres.

"As a result we had to work quite a bit of country with the chisel plough," Mr Riordan said.

Compaction was again a big concern for Conservation Farmers Incorporated (CFI), given the wet harvest.

CFI executive officer Michael Burgis, Toowoomba, Queensland, said it was "quite sad" to see the damage done while harvesting.

"Compaction is an even bigger issue in the wet," he said.

"You’re doing a lot more compaction with a header than a tractor because it’s not just the weight of the machine, it’s the grain too."

The self-mulching black soils of the Liverpool Plains are known to be quite forgiving - years of tillage were repaired only a few years after direct drill was adopted - yet compaction is not something growers like Mr Riordan take lightly.

"Last harvest has caused compaction below the surface that will take a few years to rectify itself," Mr Riordan said.

By utilising a tracked combine Mr Riordan could be doing the next best thing to controlled traffic farming.