AgriLand spotted an eye-catching (tractor) convoy just outside Cork city last week (Thursday, November 14).
The convoy – comprising five new tractors from five big-name machinery dealers in Co. Cork – was organised to launch the upcoming Kilbrittain Tractor Run.
This year, the event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, December 29 – during an especially “festive” period. Over 400 tractors took part last year.
Also Read: 436 tractors take part in mammoth Cork tractor runThe target for this year’s event is somewhat higher; the organisers are hoping to attract 500 tractors.
In this video (below – shot by AgriLand’s own Kevin Farrell), we spoke to just two of the many dealers that are involved in this fund-raising initiative.
First up was Stuart Hosford – from Lynch & McCarthy (Little Island). He said: “We’re here to launch the Kilbrittain Tractor Run. Last Christmas, they had over 400 tractors and [they’re] hoping to improve on it this year.
“It’s fitting that this event is on in Cork, as it’s one of the most important counties for tractor sales in the country.”
He’s hoping to bring the tractor featured in this video (above) along – or one very similar to it. He explained that a tractor of this size is now “very common”.
He noted: “Go back maybe 10 to 15 years ago; this would’ve been a massive tractor and we’d have sold very few.
“It shows the trend towards bigger tractors…and the way people are using more horsepower to use bigger implements to get work done quicker.”
‘We started in 2013’
Next up was Jim O’Mahony – from Farm Power (Cork and Castlelyons). Jim is actually one of the organisers behind the event.
He explained: “We started [this tractor run] in 2013. It all started [when] the local school was raising money for the autism unit.
“I came and I thought about it. I spoke to my wife Anne and we said that we should try to do something for the school.”
Jim continued: “Tractor runs were ‘on the go’ at the time, but we said we’d try to do something special and something different. We had the Wild Atlantic Way; we had the main road for the whole route and we had good car-parks on solid ground – so no tractor would get dirty.
These tractors cost a lot of money and, as I say, we like the people to go home safe and clean.
“We started off in 2013 with 287 tractors. To date, our last figure [in 2018] was 436. That’s because – really – we have people coming from as far away as Carlow…but mostly from the four points of Cork county.”
He concluded: “The most important thing is that it’s not all about Farm Power and John Deere; it’s about all the dealers.
“It will be fantastic to see all the dealers, contractors, farmers and anyone else involved come on December 29 to Kilbrittain between 10:00am and 1:00pm.”
