2022 saw a dramatic decline in the registration of used tractors according to the latest figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

All brands suffered to some degree, with Massey Ferguson recording one of the steepest drops, while its stablemate, Fendt, was the most successful, bar Kubota, a company that has shown remarkable consistency over the last three years.

Used tractor registrations by brand

Make202020212022
Case/IH310341270
Claas1019073
Deutz848666
Fendt162827
JCB8211775
John Deere347444343
Kubota313130
Landini624329
Massey Ferguson348529330
Mercedes Benz362
New Holland1,0251,277904
Renault131213
SAME (SDF) 474422
Tumosan000
Valtra549968
Zetor133317
Other makes110160110
Total2,6463,3402,379
Second-hand tractor registrations. Source: CSO Ireland

The overall decline in used tractors is far greater than the 5% drop recorded by the CSO for new tractors in 2022.

This may suggest that the overall spend on machinery was affected by the rise in other input costs, far more than has so far been realised.

Looking forward, few dealers are confident enough to predict a livelier 2023, there is a palpable lack of uncertainty in the trade as it becomes appreciated that higher prices for milk and grain do not automatically translate into increased machinery sales.

Used New Hollands in demand

The relative performance between brands mirrors that of the new tractor sales charts, with John Deere suffering slightly less than the others, while New Holland did not enjoy its greatest season.

However, New Holland still remains at the top of the popularity board by a wide margin, with 561 more used machines registered in Ireland than John Deere, its nearest rival.

This reflects the sentiment among dealers that there will always be a buyer for a New Holland, and being a well understood and popular marque, service and parts are readily available throughout the country.

Bucking the trend

The success of Fendt is a notable achievement for a brand which carries the stigma, albeit diminishing, of being only for the more well off.

The number imported dropped by just one unit from last year, a performance matched only by Kubota.

Other makes which fared better than average were Claas and Case, but one of the worst performers was JCB which suffered a 36% decline, suggesting a severe drop in construction activity during the year.

Oddities

There is one puzzling entry and that is the consistent number of second-hand Renaults which appear to be imported each year.

Renault has not made a tractor for 20 years, so quite where these are coming from, or going to, remains something of mystery.

Other anomalies exist in the figures, for instance, a Scania was registered as a second-hand tractor in 2020. Again, how this came about is unknown, maybe it has been modified in some way to be classed as a tractor, the CSO figures leave it as an enigma to be wondered at.