Shannon Valley Group, the civil engineering company owned by Mick English, has purchased Ireland's first 552hp Fendt 1052. The 14t tractor was bought from Farmworks Machinery, a Dublin-based dealer that described it as the largest Fendt in the country.
The machine is powered by a 12.4-litre, six-cylinder MAN engine producing 2,650Nm of torque. English said he upgraded to the 1052 after first seeing it at Agritechnica. The company had run a 1050 for three years and put 4,000 to 5,000 hours on it, and English said it had been happy with that tractor.
English said Shannon Valley Group had used Fendts for seven or eight years. Explaining the loyalty, he said that a Fendt is a Fendt. He also said he takes advice from the manufacturers of the attachments he uses when buying tractors, and that they consistently recommend the brand. He described Fendt as the Rolls-Royce, adding that the view came from the equipment makers rather than from him.
Heavy attachments and demanding work
The 1052 will carry a 3.5t weight on the front and a 9t hybrid stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation machine on the rear. English rejected the idea that large tractors are only for show. He said the tractor is on its limit when working in the ground to mill limestone boulders and hard clays, with the whole machine being pulled down. In his view, more power makes the work easier on the tractor.
From Massey to Fendt
English, who is from Co Leitrim, has 35 years of earthmoving experience and, like most contractors, has been involved with tractors from a young age. His father started in 1976 with a Massey 35 and later a Massey 165, machines that English remembered having no cab. He said that in 1970s Leitrim, a Massey 165 was the equivalent of today's Fendt 1052.
He recalled climbing onto the 165 at the age of three when it arrived in the yard and jumping off again crying because of the noise when the throttle was pulled. He still has those tractors. The family business began in London in 1966, when English's father bought new JCB 3C diggers, before moving back to Leitrim in 1970 with the JCBs and other equipment.
Fleet and next purchase
Shannon Valley Group now has more than 200 diggers, including a 75t Hitachi Zaxis 690-7 bought in 2020, which at the time was the first of its kind sold in Europe. English said he will probably buy another Fendt 1052 next year.