Donal Browne runs a substantial agricultural contracting business from his base in Mountcoal outside Listowel, Co Kerry. He took over the business from his late father Jimmy Browne in the mid-90s, who himself started contracting nearly 70 years ago with a grey Ferguson. Jimmy’s legacy is strong, with his grandson now also involved.
Donal has greatly expanded the operation, offering the full suite of agricultural services, alongside continuing to run the family dairy farm.
“We have seven full-time staff and a good crew of seasonal staff for silage time, along with myself and my son Danny,” he says. The Brownes are piping slurry for nearly 30 years and today they have four slurry umbilical systems on the road, with three running constantly once the season opens and the fourth outfit for peak periods or as a backup.
A need for change
So how did a PistenBully 400 snow grooming machine end up mounted with a 12m Mastek umbilical system and travelling across fields around north Kerry? “I guess it really started with February 2024 being so wet. Once ground was suitable for spreading, we had to get out as soon as possible as farmers were coming under pressure for storage, but most importantly they wanted to minimise soil compaction. We have wide tyres and dual wheels but with certain fields, softer areas and hilly ground started to prove challenging pulling the bigger pipe, so I felt it was time to do something different,” Donal says.
Having looked at converted tracked dumpers and tracked tractors, Donal felt they weren’t the solution either.
“A massive focus for me was comfort, as I wanted a man to be able to stay on this for 12 hours a day or longer.
“I spoke to another contractor who was operating a converted tracked dumper, and he said you’d be well rattled from it after four to five hours inside the cab and comfort was basically non-existent really.” This required thinking outside the box and Donal started searching and investigating alternative machines.
“We chose the PistenBully because I felt wheeled tractors were never really designed for tracks and while they do work, track conversions are time consuming and very expensive, often around €100,000. I first encountered the PistenBully brand on a skiing trip years ago, but didn’t know much about them until I started looking for an alternative tracked machine.
“What I like about the PistenBully snow grooming machines is that they are designed from the ground up for some of the toughest conditions known to man. Its compactness and comfort can’t be matched either, as it’s built for extreme cold, for grip on very steep gradients and with low ground pressure in mind.”
The machine’s tracks run on independent torsion bar suspension giving superior comfort unlike a tracked tractor or tracked dumper that have rigid under carriages with little to no flex. With the modern operator now used to front axle suspension, and cab suspension in modern tractors, Donal felt that a comfortable machine was a must. This is something that PistenBully has nailed.
“The first day we were putting it up on the low loader, I noticed how much movement there was on both the drive rollers and the guide rollers, and it just glided up across the low-loader effortlessly. For instance, a typical track machine such as a digger must be loaded differently and held with the bucket a bit, as the rigid track unit tends to slam down once the centre of gravity moves over the top of the ramp, but not this machine.”
In the future Donal plans to upgrade the 12m dribble bar to a wide 18m model.
Drivetrain
Like most track machines, the drivetrain is fully hydrostatic and can smoothly move across a field at up to 25km/h.
“We were told that the drivetrain on our machine which is a 400 model can take up to nearly 800hp. It has a very strong chassis and compact design, which allowed us to adopt it for our job relatively easy.”
The machine is a 2012-built PB400 (400hp) model and was bought with 6000 hours on the clock. Noting that it was bought for a price similar to a good second-hand tractor, Donal has since put nearly 500 hours on it during the 2025 slurry season. Like a tractor, it too was designed to carry different types of attachments on the front and rear, like grading blades, winches, snowblowers, cranes and much more.
“There are different models within the PistenBully range, with some being smaller and some being bigger, but I felt this size machine ticked all the boxes for me. I suppose 400hp is big for the job it’s doing, but it has been very good on fuel usage, as it’s not under any load most of the time and I’d say, genuinely, it’s about on par with a tractor or very close doing this kind of work,” Donal explains.
Sourcing the machine
Donal sourced his machine direct from a dealer in the Czech Republic.
“We flew into Prague about October time in 2024. We met with a contact over there who we knew having had worked in Listowel. They came along to the dealership with us to help overcome the language barrier and play the role of translator. The dealer, to be fair, was very good and gave me great confidence too. The backup since has been good too. Last year we needed a particular bearing for a roller, which we sourced through them and had it delivered quickly.
As far as Donal is aware, prior to his machine, no others in the world had been modified for slurry purposes. However, since converting his machine, the dealer he dealt with has informed him of another machine that has since been converted for slurry spreading somewhere else in the world.
“I’m blessed with the lads I have with me; to be fair, they will dig in anywhere, none of them are afraid to pick up a spanner and help repair something if needs be.
Given that the front linkage was designed to be hydraulically adjusted from side to side to angle the snow blade, it means that the reeler can be angled when reeling in hose.
“My nephew Jason is great with machines too and I have other friends, neighbours and cousins who are mechanics or can fabricate, so that gave me confidence too when it came to buying the PistenBully.
“Maintenance-wise I’d say it’s like an excavator, it needs oil and grease, daily checks, but it doesn’t need anything unusual,” Donal outlines. “It’s actually a very simple machine when you break it all down. There is a mid-mounted diesel engine under the cab. This is married up to the hydraulics and the hydrostatic drive which are all very well laid out. The cab folds forward like a truck, leaving it very easy get at stuff then.”
The machine is currently running with a 12m Mastek dribble bar, which folds back for transport.
“It’s running two macerators, which certainly need a substantial oil flow, but this machine has great hydraulic capacity and there are plenty of quick couplers front and rear to pull oil from. We made up a conversion plate for the front, and this then has a standard ‘A’ frame fitted to pick up the reeler.
“The 12m Mastek dribble bar is built onto the rear platform and folds back when in transport position. Given that it is transported on a low-loader from farm to farm, we wanted to keep the overall transport height low for bridges. It can all be easily demounted and retrofitted back on a tractor if ever needed.
“The pads on the tracks had been staggered, which made the overall machine nearly 12ft wide, but we realigned all these to reduce its overall width to 10ft for road transport.”
The 12m Mastek dribble bar folds horizontally to keep transport height low.
Operating the machine
Danny does most of the spreading and says it’s a very easy machine to drive and operate. He noted that it is seriously comfortable, well balanced and offers great vision given that the cab is forward mounted.
“The weight of the dribble bar is fixed in the middle and not hanging off the back like a tractor. The reeler on the front can weigh nearly two tons and you could mark a field with a tractor when setting out but it doesn’t matter where you go with this machine,” he says.
Another advantage too, he says, is that the front reeler can angle left or right as the heavy-duty front headstock was designed to angle the snow blade.
This means that the machine can be stationary when reeling and instead the reeler angle can be adjusted via the joystick, which means no ground is damaged and it helps keep the lay flat pipe neat and tidy.
On headlands, the Brownes take a wider turn and back up a bit and that’s it, it would ‘turn on a dime’ if you wanted it to, but are mindful of turning sharp on headlands to avoid scuffing the ground. They use GPS guidance and a flow meter to get the best performance when operating it in the field and for good even slurry distribution.
Inside the cab, the Brownes run the PistenBully on GPS and use a flow meter to monitor slurry applications rates.
Customer feedback
“Customers are absolutely delighted with it, as farmers today are all now very tuned in to soil compaction issues leading to poor grass growth and they want to get the best possible utilisation of their slurry, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s heavy land or free draining soil, they are asking for this machine more and more,” Donal adds.
Future use
“Looking forward, I’d like to replace the 12m dribble bar with an 18m unit, as the machine frame can take it, no problem at all. It’s currently fed with a 4in hose, but I’ll run it on 5in hose at some stage this year. On hilly ground sometimes even the bigger tractors – regardless of tyres – can struggle to pull the larger hose. We feel that the capability of this rig would do 150% to 200% more work or simply put, replace two conventional outfits which means a saving.
“You are limited in what you can do with weight on the back of a tractor, as you are then carrying massive weights on the front linkage to ballast it all and then you’re really only damaging the field with ruts and soil compaction,” Donal explains.
The Brownes transport their machine using a tractor and low loader.
He is a knowledgeable contractor who certainly thinks on his feet, to offer his customers the best service possible, while getting the most flexibility possible from machines.
Donal not only sees this machine for slurry work going forward, but won’t rule out utilising it for spreading fertiliser on tricky hilly ground, or perhaps lime in the wintertime.
It could do many other things too, he says, but he is very pleased overall with his purchase.
“I’m farming myself, so I see firsthand the constant rule and regulation changes coming at a rate of knots and when you look at what’s potentially coming down the track, you need the ability to adapt, and this machine has the potential to do that.
“With a 0-25KPH speed range, robust linkages, great hydraulic capacity, remarkably low ground pressure and a flatbed platform I can see this machine, and probably a second one, playing a role in our business for some time to come.
“We figured if this machine could thrive on the Alpine mountain range and perform in the Arctic, it can surely survive in Kerry.”
A PistenBully working with snow in its natural environment.
Spec
Model: 2012 PB400.Engine: a 8.9l Cummins QSL 9. Horsepower: 400hp.Max speed: 0-25 km/h. Weight: approx. 7,000kg.Fuel capacity: 260l.Ground clearance: 350 mm. 
The dribble bar is worked using its original control box.
Donal Browne runs a substantial agricultural contracting business from his base in Mountcoal outside Listowel, Co Kerry. He took over the business from his late father Jimmy Browne in the mid-90s, who himself started contracting nearly 70 years ago with a grey Ferguson. Jimmy’s legacy is strong, with his grandson now also involved.
Donal has greatly expanded the operation, offering the full suite of agricultural services, alongside continuing to run the family dairy farm.
“We have seven full-time staff and a good crew of seasonal staff for silage time, along with myself and my son Danny,” he says. The Brownes are piping slurry for nearly 30 years and today they have four slurry umbilical systems on the road, with three running constantly once the season opens and the fourth outfit for peak periods or as a backup.
A need for change
So how did a PistenBully 400 snow grooming machine end up mounted with a 12m Mastek umbilical system and travelling across fields around north Kerry? “I guess it really started with February 2024 being so wet. Once ground was suitable for spreading, we had to get out as soon as possible as farmers were coming under pressure for storage, but most importantly they wanted to minimise soil compaction. We have wide tyres and dual wheels but with certain fields, softer areas and hilly ground started to prove challenging pulling the bigger pipe, so I felt it was time to do something different,” Donal says.
Having looked at converted tracked dumpers and tracked tractors, Donal felt they weren’t the solution either.
“A massive focus for me was comfort, as I wanted a man to be able to stay on this for 12 hours a day or longer.
“I spoke to another contractor who was operating a converted tracked dumper, and he said you’d be well rattled from it after four to five hours inside the cab and comfort was basically non-existent really.” This required thinking outside the box and Donal started searching and investigating alternative machines.
“We chose the PistenBully because I felt wheeled tractors were never really designed for tracks and while they do work, track conversions are time consuming and very expensive, often around €100,000. I first encountered the PistenBully brand on a skiing trip years ago, but didn’t know much about them until I started looking for an alternative tracked machine.
“What I like about the PistenBully snow grooming machines is that they are designed from the ground up for some of the toughest conditions known to man. Its compactness and comfort can’t be matched either, as it’s built for extreme cold, for grip on very steep gradients and with low ground pressure in mind.”
The machine’s tracks run on independent torsion bar suspension giving superior comfort unlike a tracked tractor or tracked dumper that have rigid under carriages with little to no flex. With the modern operator now used to front axle suspension, and cab suspension in modern tractors, Donal felt that a comfortable machine was a must. This is something that PistenBully has nailed.
“The first day we were putting it up on the low loader, I noticed how much movement there was on both the drive rollers and the guide rollers, and it just glided up across the low-loader effortlessly. For instance, a typical track machine such as a digger must be loaded differently and held with the bucket a bit, as the rigid track unit tends to slam down once the centre of gravity moves over the top of the ramp, but not this machine.”
In the future Donal plans to upgrade the 12m dribble bar to a wide 18m model.
Drivetrain
Like most track machines, the drivetrain is fully hydrostatic and can smoothly move across a field at up to 25km/h.
“We were told that the drivetrain on our machine which is a 400 model can take up to nearly 800hp. It has a very strong chassis and compact design, which allowed us to adopt it for our job relatively easy.”
The machine is a 2012-built PB400 (400hp) model and was bought with 6000 hours on the clock. Noting that it was bought for a price similar to a good second-hand tractor, Donal has since put nearly 500 hours on it during the 2025 slurry season. Like a tractor, it too was designed to carry different types of attachments on the front and rear, like grading blades, winches, snowblowers, cranes and much more.
“There are different models within the PistenBully range, with some being smaller and some being bigger, but I felt this size machine ticked all the boxes for me. I suppose 400hp is big for the job it’s doing, but it has been very good on fuel usage, as it’s not under any load most of the time and I’d say, genuinely, it’s about on par with a tractor or very close doing this kind of work,” Donal explains.
Sourcing the machine
Donal sourced his machine direct from a dealer in the Czech Republic.
“We flew into Prague about October time in 2024. We met with a contact over there who we knew having had worked in Listowel. They came along to the dealership with us to help overcome the language barrier and play the role of translator. The dealer, to be fair, was very good and gave me great confidence too. The backup since has been good too. Last year we needed a particular bearing for a roller, which we sourced through them and had it delivered quickly.
As far as Donal is aware, prior to his machine, no others in the world had been modified for slurry purposes. However, since converting his machine, the dealer he dealt with has informed him of another machine that has since been converted for slurry spreading somewhere else in the world.
“I’m blessed with the lads I have with me; to be fair, they will dig in anywhere, none of them are afraid to pick up a spanner and help repair something if needs be.
Given that the front linkage was designed to be hydraulically adjusted from side to side to angle the snow blade, it means that the reeler can be angled when reeling in hose.
“My nephew Jason is great with machines too and I have other friends, neighbours and cousins who are mechanics or can fabricate, so that gave me confidence too when it came to buying the PistenBully.
“Maintenance-wise I’d say it’s like an excavator, it needs oil and grease, daily checks, but it doesn’t need anything unusual,” Donal outlines. “It’s actually a very simple machine when you break it all down. There is a mid-mounted diesel engine under the cab. This is married up to the hydraulics and the hydrostatic drive which are all very well laid out. The cab folds forward like a truck, leaving it very easy get at stuff then.”
The machine is currently running with a 12m Mastek dribble bar, which folds back for transport.
“It’s running two macerators, which certainly need a substantial oil flow, but this machine has great hydraulic capacity and there are plenty of quick couplers front and rear to pull oil from. We made up a conversion plate for the front, and this then has a standard ‘A’ frame fitted to pick up the reeler.
“The 12m Mastek dribble bar is built onto the rear platform and folds back when in transport position. Given that it is transported on a low-loader from farm to farm, we wanted to keep the overall transport height low for bridges. It can all be easily demounted and retrofitted back on a tractor if ever needed.
“The pads on the tracks had been staggered, which made the overall machine nearly 12ft wide, but we realigned all these to reduce its overall width to 10ft for road transport.”
The 12m Mastek dribble bar folds horizontally to keep transport height low.
Operating the machine
Danny does most of the spreading and says it’s a very easy machine to drive and operate. He noted that it is seriously comfortable, well balanced and offers great vision given that the cab is forward mounted.
“The weight of the dribble bar is fixed in the middle and not hanging off the back like a tractor. The reeler on the front can weigh nearly two tons and you could mark a field with a tractor when setting out but it doesn’t matter where you go with this machine,” he says.
Another advantage too, he says, is that the front reeler can angle left or right as the heavy-duty front headstock was designed to angle the snow blade.
This means that the machine can be stationary when reeling and instead the reeler angle can be adjusted via the joystick, which means no ground is damaged and it helps keep the lay flat pipe neat and tidy.
On headlands, the Brownes take a wider turn and back up a bit and that’s it, it would ‘turn on a dime’ if you wanted it to, but are mindful of turning sharp on headlands to avoid scuffing the ground. They use GPS guidance and a flow meter to get the best performance when operating it in the field and for good even slurry distribution.
Inside the cab, the Brownes run the PistenBully on GPS and use a flow meter to monitor slurry applications rates.
Customer feedback
“Customers are absolutely delighted with it, as farmers today are all now very tuned in to soil compaction issues leading to poor grass growth and they want to get the best possible utilisation of their slurry, so it doesn’t matter whether it’s heavy land or free draining soil, they are asking for this machine more and more,” Donal adds.
Future use
“Looking forward, I’d like to replace the 12m dribble bar with an 18m unit, as the machine frame can take it, no problem at all. It’s currently fed with a 4in hose, but I’ll run it on 5in hose at some stage this year. On hilly ground sometimes even the bigger tractors – regardless of tyres – can struggle to pull the larger hose. We feel that the capability of this rig would do 150% to 200% more work or simply put, replace two conventional outfits which means a saving.
“You are limited in what you can do with weight on the back of a tractor, as you are then carrying massive weights on the front linkage to ballast it all and then you’re really only damaging the field with ruts and soil compaction,” Donal explains.
The Brownes transport their machine using a tractor and low loader.
He is a knowledgeable contractor who certainly thinks on his feet, to offer his customers the best service possible, while getting the most flexibility possible from machines.
Donal not only sees this machine for slurry work going forward, but won’t rule out utilising it for spreading fertiliser on tricky hilly ground, or perhaps lime in the wintertime.
It could do many other things too, he says, but he is very pleased overall with his purchase.
“I’m farming myself, so I see firsthand the constant rule and regulation changes coming at a rate of knots and when you look at what’s potentially coming down the track, you need the ability to adapt, and this machine has the potential to do that.
“With a 0-25KPH speed range, robust linkages, great hydraulic capacity, remarkably low ground pressure and a flatbed platform I can see this machine, and probably a second one, playing a role in our business for some time to come.
“We figured if this machine could thrive on the Alpine mountain range and perform in the Arctic, it can surely survive in Kerry.”
A PistenBully working with snow in its natural environment.
Spec
Model: 2012 PB400.Engine: a 8.9l Cummins QSL 9. Horsepower: 400hp.Max speed: 0-25 km/h. Weight: approx. 7,000kg.Fuel capacity: 260l.Ground clearance: 350 mm.
The dribble bar is worked using its original control box.
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