AgriLand paid a visit to Ballybrophy in Co. Laois – to see Moynan Agri at full pelt harvesting beet.

John W Anderson spoke to Robert Moynan (pictured above) – to find out why the business relies chiefly on Deutz-Fahr tractors and, also, to find out how Moynans’ two Armer Salmon beet harvesters are holding up.

Robert explained: “We’re here pulling beet with a single-row [harvester] – pulled by a Deutz-Fahr Agrotron 150. There’s also a twin-row harvester – an Armer Salmon as well – pulled by a [Deutz-Fahr] 6210.

“We’re drawing away with a Deutz-Fahr Agrotron 165 with a Kane trailer; and a [New Holland] T6030 with a Thorpe trailer. There’s also a TM135 drawing way.

“The first tractor we had, when we started off, was a Deutz-Fahr DX 6.50. It was air-cooled; the newer ones are water-cooled.

“They’ve come a long way – with front suspension and [overall] comfort. The 6210 we have is a very comfortable tractor. So is the 150, with its air-suspended cab – a big improvement over the 165 which only has the [mechanically] sprung cab.”

Speaking about the 150 in particular, Robert said: “We use it most of the year. It pulls the beet during the winter. It spreads fertiliser most of the time during the summer; it also mows grass.

“We put the row-crops on an odd time to spray the corn. Either that or the [Ford] 7610 we have at home does the spraying. The 7610 does it when we’re busy and don’t have time to take the 150 off the mower.”

Turning his attention to the larger, newer 6210, Robert explained: “It pulls the beet during the winter; it ploughs in the spring.

“We bought the 6210 with a front linkage and PTO because maybe, down the line, we’d said we’d put a front mower on it. Or, even if we sold the tractor in the morning, it would be more valuable.”

Talking briefly about tyres, Robert noted: “We’re getting a lot more value out of the Trelleborgs than any other tyre that we’ve had; we’re getting about 8,000-10,000 hours out of a set on a tractor.”

In terms of reliability, he explained: “We’re very happy with the 150; up and down it has given a few niggles but nothing too bad.

“The 6210 has thrown up a few sensor faults but nothing mechanically bad either. It pulls a JF [FCT] 1060 silage harvester during the summer, which would be hard enough [on it] picking 20ft swaths.”

He also commented on the beet harvesters, saying: “On the Armer Salmon, belts can come off; they’re not maintenance-free. Bearings can go, which have to be replaced at the end of the season. There’s a lot of things to run through on them.

“It probably takes a couple of days every year to go through each beet harvester – just to make sure everything is right.

“The single-row is handier to use; a lot of lads use two single-row [machines] together.

“However, we find that there’s less [overall] compaction after the twin-row.” That’s presumably due to fewer passes up and down the field, despite the twin-row machine’s greater weight.

We saw it here one year, where we pulled one half of the field with the single-row and the other half with the twin-row.

“When we went back out during the winter, the water was lying where the single-row had run. Where the twin-row had been, there was no water on the field.”