Michael Healy and his son, Michael Jnr, have plenty of use for a flexible flat farm trailer. Their potato, grain and cattle farm enterprises mean that lots of materials are handled and transported to and from the farm on a regular basis. The Healys operate a mixed tillage and cattle farm at Coolcroo, Two-Mile Borris, outside Thurles, Co Tipperary.

The Healys approached engineer and contractor John Kennedy, from Nenagh, to build a flat trailer to their own specifications. John had already done some modification work at Healys. The new trailer had to satisfy the needs of all of the farm’s enterprises in a flexible way.

Michael Jnr knew what was needed. He met a like-minded John Kennedy, who was the winner of the JFC/Irish Farmers Journal innovation competition earlier this year.

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John quickly got into the one-off project and has developed a flexible flat trailer that is proving invaluable to the Healys. The trailer has interesting features such as a moving axle, extendable floor and a hydraulic folding trailer side walking platform.

As impressive as these features are, the most outstanding feature is the way John Kennedy has finished the trailer. He fitted a sprung drawbar through which he ran the hydraulic pipes.

The structure of the 9.6m (32ft) full-length trailer is such that it is light but strong. The main frame is made from box section steel with cross members at 400mm spacings. This box section chassis carries the weight and the structural integrity of the trailer, preventing it from twisting under load.

The trailer’s tandem axle bogie is built around a sliding section. This can be moved hydraulically 700mm (28in) from front to back, to allow for changes in the drawbar weight distribution. The advantage of this is that the maximum weight can be transferred to the tractor drawbar and back axle. This additional weight provides extra traction when it’s needed for the tractor wheels.

Out on the road, the axle is moved forward again to transfer more of the weight to the trailer wheels. The centre spacing of the axle also allows for a more compact turning circle.

The trailer flat body has a 900mm (3ft) extending section. This extends the trailer length from 8.7m (29ft) to a maximum of 9.6m (32ft).

The trailer extension allows up to 46 round bales to be carried at full stretch or 10 potato boxes when the trailer floor is retracted. The trailer can carry 32 large square bales and will be plated to carry a load of 20t.

The trailer is fitted with both air and hydraulic braking systems as the Healys use both systems across their range of trailers. You can get a view of some of the trailer features in the accompanying photographs.