Mick English, owner of civil engineering company Shannon Valley Group, has bought Ireland's first 552hp Fendt 1052, a 14t tractor supplied by dealer Farmworks Machinery. The Dublin-based dealer described the 1052 as the largest Fendt in the country.
The machine is powered by a 12.4L six-cylinder MAN engine producing 2,650Nm of torque. English said the power output was a main reason for upgrading after he first saw the model at Agritechnica. His company previously bought a Fendt 1050 three years ago and has put 4,000 to 5,000 hours on it. He said the business was happy with that tractor and had run Fendts for seven or eight years because, in his words, a Fendt is a Fendt.
In work, the 1052 will carry a 3.5t front weight and a 9t hybrid stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation machine on the rear. English said he takes advice from the manufacturers of such attachments when buying tractors, and that they consistently recommend Fendt. He described the brand as the Rolls-Royce of tractors, attributing that view to the equipment makers rather than to his own assessment.
English rejected the idea that a large tractor might be only for show. He said the machine is at its limit when working in the ground to mill limestone boulders and hard clays, with the whole tractor being pulled down. In his view, more power makes the work easier on the tractor.
Based in Co Leitrim, English has 35 years of earthmoving experience and, like many contractors, was involved with tractors from a young age. His father began in 1976 with a Massey 35 and later a Massey 165, machines that lacked the comfort of a cab. English recalled that the 165 was a mark one model with round axles and a small Perkins 203 engine. He remembered climbing onto it at three years of age when it arrived in the yard and jumping off again in tears because of the noise when the throttle was opened. English said he still has those tractors.
When asked whether he had expected to own one of Ireland's largest tractors, English said that in the 1970s a Massey 165 was the equivalent of today's Fendt 1052 in Co Leitrim.
Buying new machines has been part of the family's approach. English said his father started the business in London in 1966, where he bought new JCB 3C diggers, and moved it back to Leitrim in 1970 with the JCBs and other equipment. His father was among the first in Ireland to have JCB machines, according to English.
Shannon Valley Group now has more than 200 diggers, including a 75t Hitachi Zaxis 690-7 bought in 2020, which was the first of its kind sold in Europe at that time. English said he will probably buy another Fendt 1052 next year as well.