The event brought out silage enthusiasts from across the country to one of the most impressive such events of recent years.

The live working demonstration of classic and vintage silage harvesting machinery was staged against the perfect backdrop of an impressive farm by the Melleray Vintage Club that is one of the youngest in the country.

The event attracted over 70 working silage harvesters to the Castle venue, where field conditions were as near to ideal as you can get for such an event. The grass crops were even and clean and that meant that the machines could operate without a hitch.

One of the high points of the day was the attempt at blowing grass from five double chops into an articulated truck trailer (photo above). The five machines started well but although not all could maintain the momentum, the attempt was impressive in its own way.

There was a great display of all types of silage harvesters from the ’70s and ’80s, matched in many cases to suitably aged tractors. The double chops dominated the display, with brands such as Taarup, Kidd, New Holland and Tullow all represented in varying numbers.

There was a very good single-chop display, with models from JF, UG, Massey Ferguson and Taarup in action. The precision chop working display was dominated by flywheel machines from Pöttinger, with a Mengele and Taarup machine in support. The superb condition John Deere 3765 trailed precision chop machine (photo below) attracted a lot of attention, as it was so well matched to tractors of its 1980s era.

The day included vintage tractor display and some challenging tractor pulling where the club chair Ned O’Rourke took an active part. Ned told the Irish Farmers Journal that the fledgling vintage club was very appreciative of the support from silage enthusiasts such as Kieran O’Donaghue and Jimmy Cotter from other local clubs as well as the Border Counties Grassmen, and the many participants who all helped in the effort to make the event such a success. The superb site at Lismore Castle farm will surely put farm manager Jerry Twomey under pressure to repeat the exercise in what are superb farm and grass crop conditions.

View more images from the event in our gallery above

One hundred years of John Deere tractors will be on show at the

The John Deere 50 Celebration and Heritage Event will take place at Langar near Nottingham, England, on 24 and 25 September when John Deere Limited publicly celebrates its 50th anniversary in the UK and Ireland.

John Deere customers and fans are invited to join the anniversary celebrations by registering their attendance on the John Deere website at www.JohnDeere.co.uk/50years, with a chance to win special 50th anniversary merchandise in a prize draw.

As well as trade stands, static machinery exhibits and working demonstrations of tractors and implements, this special free outdoor event will feature activities and entertainment for all the family. These will include archery, laser clay shooting, falconry and skydiving displays, synchronised kite flying and live music. There will also be a range of local food and produce as well as a licensed bar.

A parade of 50 vintage, classic and modern John Deere tractors and machinery will start with a 1916 Overtime Model R tractor, belonging to Lincolnshire farm manager Malcolm Robinson. This will also include the iconic 4020 tractor, marking the beginnings of John Deere Limited at Langar in 1966, and represent every decade up to the present day, finishing with John Deere’s new flagship 620hp four-track 9620RX.

The Overtime tractor was given credit for helping the World War I effort by putting in many hours of overtime producing food for the war zone and the home front. Harry Ferguson was an Irish agent for Overtime at that period and sold more than 500 of the tractors in Ireland.

John Deere’s first step into tractor production worldwide came in 1918 when the US company bought the Overtime’s manufacturer, the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company in Iowa, who also made the Waterloo Boy. This machine’s simple two-cylinder design became a feature of John Deere tractors for another four decades.

Later in the 20th century, John Deere three-wheel, high-clearance tractors came into East Anglia from America at the end of the Second World War under the Lend-Lease deal. Some of these tractors were also imported into Ireland.

For a short time in the early 1960s, a few dealers sold large John Deere tractors such as the 4010, the UK and Ireland’s first 100hp tractor and 5010. These were imported from the USA by Lundell (Britain) Ltd of Edenbridge in Kent, who initially pioneered the use of large horsepower tractors in the Britain and Ireland. The company was bought by John Deere in 1962.

John Deere Limited started trading from Langar in January 1966, and the original premises is still in use today as the company’s visitor centre and national parts distribution centre. Of the original dealers who continued with the new company from that date, two are still John Deere dealers today and are owned by the same families – Ben Burgess in Norfolk and LE Tuckwell in Suffolk.

“Aside from the historic two-cylinder John Deere tractors on display, the main focus of the event is to gather together examples of John Deere tractors and machinery sold through John Deere’s UK and Irish dealers from 1966 to 2016,” says heritage event organiser Peter Leech.

“At the moment we have registered tractors for every decade from the 1940s, but we would still love to hear from anyone with more recent machines, especially classic models from the 1980s and 1990s – even up to the modern 30 Series tractors. It’s an event for everyone, so tractors of all ages are welcome.”

Owners of old and new John Deere machines who would like to attend the event should submit an application form, downloadable from www.JohnDeere.co.uk/50years.

The website also features more details of the history of John Deere Limited in the UK and Ireland, together with a timeline of key dates.

Get ready for Moynalty

Forty-one years after the first steam engines blew their whistles to herald the start of the annual steam threshing festival in the beautiful village of Moynalty, the sound will be heard once again this weekend as this gigantic machine of a different era leads the parade of pride of bygone days through the village down to the impressive Steam Threshing Park.

This year there will be over 13 steam engines in the park, a phenomenal sight on their own. The event is celebrating 50 years of the Cortina MK 2.

Focus on Deere in west Cork

Michael Ryan (087-259 6078) of West Cork Vintage Ploughing & Threshing Association has been in contact to tell us that the seventh Annual Charity Working Day will feature the John Deere brand and will be held on Sunday September 11 at Argehane, Clonakilty, Cork. There will be live demonstrations of grain cutting, silage cutting as well as vintage displays of all makes and models to include a John Deere line-up of new and old tractors. This year’s event will be supporting the ASD units in Kilbrittain NS, Gaelscoil Chloch na gCoillte and Aspect AS Support Service.

Irish Farmers Journal Vintage Diary

*Dates are subject to change. The Irish Farmers Journal does not take responsibility for date or venue changes. Please contact each event before you travel.