Nearly 90% of new tractors have in excess of 100hp

The trend towards higher-powered tractors in the Irish market is continuing.

That’s according to the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA), which has released its latest batch of registration data.

The figures show that 89% of all new tractors (registered so far during 2018) have in excess of 100hp.

54% of new tractors have over 120hp. Interestingly, 27% have over 150hp.

Image source: Shane Casey

It’s worth noting that 1,697 (new) units were registered during the first 10 months of this year (January-to-October inclusive). That’s down just 1% on the same period of last year.

Also Read: Nearly 1,700 new tractors registered so far this year

The FTMTA also compiles registration data and statistics for other (self-propelled) equipment.

Telehandler registrations

Telehandler registrations, to the end of October, indicate that demand for this category of machine is continuing at the “strong levels seen in recent years”.

34 new telehandlers were registered during October – a substantial increase on the 20 units in the corresponding month of last year.

The October figure brings the overall level of telehandler registrations for the first 10 months of 2018 to 358 units. That represents a year-on-year increase of 28%.

It’s also significantly ahead of the full-year total for 2017 (303 units).

Backhoe loaders have witnessed somewhat of a resurgence during recent years. From a low of 40 (new) units in 2015, 52 backhoes were registered in 2017 and 69 have been registered thus far in 2018 (to the end of October).

Wheeled loader data

Wheeled loaders have also experienced a high level of activity; 106 (new) units were registered to the end of October, versus 85 during the entirety of 2017.