AgriLand paid a visit to Co. Fermanagh to check out three stunning MF 300 Series tractors – lined up side-by-side at McCullagh Machinery.
We spoke to dealer principal Lloyd McCullagh to find out how this trio of sought-after classics – a 390T, a 398 and a six-cylinder 399 – were brought together.
In this video (below) Lloyd explained: “Here we have three very classic examples that we have recently refurbished. It’s very rare to find [them] in condition like this.”
He continued: “The first tractor in the row is a 390T. A customer had asked me for a considerable length [of time] to get this tractor refurbished for him.
“It’s a very highly sought-after model; he obviously felt it was well worth refurbishing.
“This tractor has been finished about 10 days [at the time of filming] and has been left out on our forecourt – not for sale. In that 10 days we have been asked on numerous occasions the price of this tractor…and if it could be sold.”
Skipping on to the six-cylinder model, he said: “The 399 has a similar story. This particular customer told me that he had been requesting people to do up this tractor for over five years, which he couldn’t get done anywhere.
“We took it in and we have refurbished it. The man came in last Friday; he couldn’t believe that it was the same tractor that we had picked up on his farm – four weeks prior.
“220 to 230 hours of man-labour have gone into the refurbishing of this tractor, which has been all cosmetic – not mechanical.”
He continued: “The third tractor is a 398 [pictured above in the middle] which, again, was a very popular model. It’s basically a 390T with a heavier back-end.
This tractor is different [from the other two]. I purchased this tractor for our own stock. I bought it from a man in the UK that I purchase six-to-eight very special tractors per year from.
“The exterior is original. Its previous life was on a vegetable farm. It came in on narrow wheels; we put brand new rims and used tyres on the tractor.
“The other day we were doing a group photo of these three tractors together; a guy walked in and bought it. Unfortunately, it is no longer for sale. Again, [it’s a tractor] that’s impossible to find like this.”
Lloyd went on (in the video) to describe what McCullagh Machinery does, saying: “I’m not aware of many others that run a retail machinery business in the same manner.
“We have a fair number of staff that put the machines out the way that I personally want them going out of this yard. Every machine that comes in is completely mechanically checked through; it is brought up to a standard that we can sell the item with full warranty.”
He concluded: “I am very, very fussy on how something is presented. Everything must leave here the way that I would personally want it for my own use.”
