Cross Agricultural Engineering, based in Rathangan, Co. Kildare, held its annual open day (machinery demonstration) event on Sunday (October 8).
The key focus of the event was the company’s own equipment, which is manufactured at its factory in Rathangan, Co.Kildare.
However, the event also played host to several outside companies; one such company is Farmworks Machinery – a relatively new addition to the Fendt dealer family here in Ireland.
Also Read: Video: Machinery punters ‘beet’ a path to working demoAgriLand spoke to Ciaran Tierney, who heads up the business – which is based in Ballyboughal, Co. Dublin.
He explained: “The business was founded back in 2010 – initially just doing service and repair work. It started to grow over time. My own workshop training was on Fendt equipment, so a lot of the work naturally came from farmers and contractors running Fendt tractors.
Discussions started with AGCO around 2014; from then on we operated as a Fendt sub-agent – handling some service and repair work in our own immediate area – for Flynns of Mullingar.
“Early last year, we were appointed as a full, franchised Fendt dealership. That means we’ve had to grow; we now have three full-time staff in the business. Service and repair jobs still account for most of our work, but we are now actively selling new tractors too, as well as trade-ins.”
Image source: Shane Casey
According to Tierney, Fendt sells significantly fewer tractors than, say, its AGCO stablemate Massey Ferguson, but it should be borne in mind that the typical Fendt is considerably more powerful and better equipped than the average Irish tractor.
Image source: Shane Casey
He explained: “The most popular Fendt here in Ireland is typically a 200hp 720 or 240hp 724 – in either Profi or ProfiPlus specification.
“A 720, with all the bells and whistles, is a different proposition to a livestock-spec tractor that might be a ‘bread and butter’ product for another manufacturer.”
He did say that there is a push on – from Fendt – to broaden its appeal, by selling greater numbers of its smaller tractors – from its 300 Vario and even 200 Vario line-ups.
These tractors come in at the higher end of their respective markets – in terms of both specification and price. That’s not surprising; every tractor that Fendt builds is now fitted with a Vario (stepless) transmission.
Tierney also expects to see more Fendt-branded implements and machinery come on stream next year. “We already have some Fendt mowers, tedders and rakes, thanks to AGCO’s acquisition of Fella.
“I think we’ll start to see round balers [current Welger models] next season; we might have to wait a bit longer for [Lely] silage wagons.”
Plans are afoot at Farmworks – and Fendt – to hold an open day in November. For further details, watch this space.
In the meanwhile, Fendt has had a busy time of late, launching a plethora of new products. There may be further surprises in the run-up to this year’s Agritechnica show in Germany. In any event, stay tuned to AgriLand.
