Co Leitrim earthmoving contractor Mick English has bought Ireland’s first 552hp Fendt 1052 for his civil engineering company, Shannon Valley Group. The 14-tonne tractor was purchased from Dublin-based dealer Farmworks Machinery, which described the 1052 as the largest Fendt in the country. It is powered by a 12.4-litre, six-cylinder MAN engine producing 2,650Nm of torque.
English said the power output was a major reason for choosing the new model. The company bought a Fendt 1050 three years ago and has put 4,000-5,000 hours on it; satisfaction with that machine led it to order the newer 1052 after English saw it at Agritechnica. He said Shannon Valley has run Fendts for seven or eight years, and its continued preference comes down to the brand itself.
Heavy rear-mounted equipment
The 1052 will operate with a 3.5-tonne front weight and a 9-tonne hybrid stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation machine mounted on the rear. English said he takes advice from the manufacturers of such attachments when specifying tractors, and that those suppliers consistently recommend Fendt. He described the brand as the Rolls-Royce of tractors, while making clear that the comparison reflected the attachment makers’ view rather than his own alone.
English rejected the idea that a tractor of this size is merely for show. He said the machine is at its limit when working in the ground to mill limestone boulders and hard clays, with the whole tractor being pulled down by the load. In his view, more power makes the work easier on the tractor.
Earthmoving background
English has 35 years of earthmoving experience and, like many contractors, grew up around tractors. His father began in 1976 with a Massey 35 and then a Massey 165, machines that lacked the comfort of a cab. English recalled that in the 1970s, a Massey 165 was the equivalent of today’s Fendt 1052 in Co Leitrim.
He remembered his father’s 165 as a Mark I model with round axles and a small Perkins 203 engine. He also recalled climbing onto the tractor as a three-year-old when it arrived in the yard and jumping off again in tears when the throttle was opened because of the noise. The family still has those tractors.
Company history and expansion
Buying new machinery runs in the family. English said his father started the business in London in 1966, where he bought new JCB 3C diggers, and moved it back to Leitrim in 1970 with the JCBs and other equipment. Shannon Valley Group now operates more than 200 diggers, including a 75-tonne Hitachi Zaxis 690-7 bought in 2020. At the time, it was the first machine of its kind sold in Europe.
English said he will probably buy another Fendt 1052 next year as well.