The Kingdom County Show in Co. Kerry this year saw the sun draw a large crowd to the two-day event, which encompassed the usual equine activities along with a good deal of support from local businesses.

There was also a strong showing of machinery – both contemporary and vintage – at the event, with some noteworthy exhibits on both sides as dealers and collectors came along in support of the show.

Amongst the dealers’ stands was an early sighting of the new Claas Axos 3 in Ireland, brought along by Nolan’s Garages Ltd, the local dealer for the brand.

Delivery delay

Launched earlier this year, the latest Axos range is designed to appeal to farmers who are looking for an everyday tractor that is easy to operate and can cope with the multitude of tasks involved in running a stock farm.

Claas Axos — The Axos 3 is a budget-orientated tractor that is totally suited to the Irish market and has now arrived here.

It appears that the tractor may be a victim of its own success, for this particular example arrived two months after it was promised, with the delivery date being constantly revised.

Yet now that it is here, Nolan’s see a good market for such a machine in the area. On the day, it was matched with a Volto 55 tedder, a typical task for such a tractor.

Farmers buying again

Shane O’Connor of O’Connor’s Tractors, Knocknagoshel was in upbeat mood as he welcomed old friends and customers to his pitch.

O’Connor believes the tide has recently turned and, speaking for his business, he noted that farmers have suddenly started looking to buy machinery again, with the company enjoying a busy few weeks of late.

Valtra T215 at Kingdom show — This Valtra T215 comes with front hitch and Valtra unlimited paint job to lend it an air of distinction

O’Connor has been selling Valtras for a while now, and his enthusiasm for the make is still growing as it becomes more strongly established as a mainstream brand in the area, resulting in him not being afraid to pitch them as a premium machine.

Hedgecutter success

RT Sales Ltd of Castleisland hit the ground running last year with the launch of its new hedgecutter, which won Machine of the Year at last year’s National Ploughing Championship.

The success has not let up since, with sales greatly exceeding the original production capacity, leading to other local engineering companies being roped into helping to produce the machines to meet demand.

RT Sales hedgetrimmer — The Kerry show is local to RT Sales, so they brought a hedge trimmer along in support

Padraig Teahan, founder of RT Sales Ltd along with his father, John, puts the demand for the hedgecutter down to the simplicity and ease of mounting the machine, which rests on the tractor’s hitch, eliminating the need to crawl around under the tractor.

Padraig also feels that dissatisfaction with current hedge trimmers on the market – which are all imported and rely on parts operations based outside of Ireland – is another big factor in the good fortune enjoyed by RT Sales, and the fact that it is made in Ireland also counts a great deal.

Zetor birthday bash

Away from the contemporary machinery at the Kingdom County Show, the vintage and classic section had put a call out for Zetor and JCB machines, both of which are celebrating their 80th birthday this year.

A good selection of Zetors had turned out, ranging from the pristine to the well-used and all those in between, all of which have earned their keep on Irish farms over the years.

Despite the knocking they got from competitors of the time, Zetors were by no means delicate flowers.

Zetor at Kingdom show — The 23hp 2511 was made between 1968-1972 – though this one looks a little worn at the edges, it is still far from retirement

Rugged, simple, and fixable would sum up the make and this was exemplified by the tractors on show. These ranged from the mighty Zetor 16145, which boasted 161hp – a big number for the late 80s – to the diminutive 2511, which gave just 23hp from its two cylinder engine.

Deutz Intrac at Kingdom County Show

Over the years, there have been many variations of the standard tractor format, with many of these originating on the continent where the range of tasks varied from what we know here in Ireland due to a greater emphasis on root and vegetable crops.

This led to the development of tool carriers and system tractors, which were not built as plough tractors but instead were to be used for interrow cultivations, spraying, and spreading.

Deutz Intrac 2003 — Looking very modern for its age, the Deutz Intrac was a machine for the vegetable and specialist growers market

Deutz produced the Intrac series of machines to serve this market, and one of them from the late seventies as made its way to Ireland in the form of the Intrac 2003, owned by Brendan Ferris.

This variant was a two-wheel drive model powered by a 60hp, KHD air-cooled diesel that still runs as sweetly today as it ever did with just 3,000 hours on the clock.

2,300 of the Intrac 2003 were made which, for a specialist tractor with what was said to be a hefty price tag at the time, was probably not a bad sales record.

Engineering oddity

Restoring and maintaining a tractor in its standard form is never quite enough for some and there are those who always want to go further – quite a bit further in some cases.

Articulated Ferguson 35 — How the Massey Ferguson 1200 could have looked if thought of 15 years earlier

One such case is that of a Ferguson 35 that has been adapted to four-wheel drive, not by the usual method of bolting a stray Land Rover axle to the front, but by adding a second rear axle to to the back to form an articulated unit.

This impressive and tidy feat of engineering had obviously absorbed a good deal of time and thought in order to produce something rather unique in the classic tractor world, and it was good to see the Kingdom County Show attract such machines.

Delivery delay

Farmers buying again

Hedgecutter success

Zetor birthday bash

Deutz Intrac at Kingdom County Show

Engineering oddity

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Axos 3

Oddities, originals, and optimism at Kingdom County Show