Declan Grogan bought this rare Mercedes tractor in 1991 to replace an equally rare John Deere 2130.

The tractor was bought for its renowned lifting capacity so it could handle the farm’s three-sod reversible plough, which it does with ease.

This tractor is one of the second versions of the 800 that were produced when the horsepower had been upgraded from 72hp in the first version to 78hp in this edition.

It was produced in 1982 and when it came to Carlow in 1991 to its current owner it had 5,000 hours on the clock. Its workload now consists of a small bit of ploughing, spreading fertiliser with a 1.5t Sulky fertiliser spreader, sowing grass seeds with a homemade grass sowing outfit and spraying the farm’s 25 acres of winter barley with a very impressive demount Hardi sprayer.

Suited

The MB is perfectly suited to what Declan needs it to do and he says that it will be the only tractor he will ever buy and will never wear it out. It is currently clocking less than 100 hours a year, a nice workload for this stunning classic.

The reason it was bought was to handle the plough and still to this day it is getting the work done. It is more than able to handle the three-furrow Kverneland. Pulling it is no problem and it can lift the plough with no extra weight.

The right tractor for the job doesn’t always have to have lots of power. This tractor was bought in 1991 for £10,000 (punts) and would easily be worth the same value today if not more.

In the 25 years that Declan has had the tractor, he has done no more than just standard maintenance and occasional wear and tear servicing.

Skills

All work on the tractor is done by Declan as he also runs a machine shop on the farm that engineers and makes parts for local manufacturing companies to the highest standards. So the skills to look after the old Mercedes are readily available.

A front linkage was purchased and fitted to the MB not long after it arrived and a stone fork was carried when ploughing to collect any stones that may be dragged up.

On the day I went to see this tractor the Hardi demount sprayer was on board and it made for an impressive sight. The sprayer is a mid-1980s model, making it period to the tractor. The tank is 2,200 litres and it sprays 21m at a time.

Engineer

When it arrived, it was a 20m boom with an end nozzle top made to 21m working width, but with his engineering background, Declan has the sprayer in perfect working order and it passed its test with flying colours.

In the mid 1980s, this outfit would have been a serious acre eater and would have been more at home on a several-thousand-acre estate in the UK than an 80ac mixed farm in Carlow, but it is now exactly what is needed for Declan to get through the work as well as running his other business.

Looking around the MB Trac, it is obvious that this is a working tractor and isn’t one to be seen on a tractor run on a Sunday morning. It is mechanically perfect and Declan says that it has never let him down in the years he has had it. Even on the cold morning that I was there it fired up first time and the four-litre, four-cylinder engine ran as smooth as can be.

In the cab everything works, all the switchgear is original and still working. The controller for the Hardi filled a large area to the right-hand side of the steering wheel and every single switch and knob does exactly what it should do. Declan prides himself on having everything just right with his outfit.

One thing that I found interesting was the pressure gauges on the sprayer are outside the right-hand window, far handier than craning your neck to see the gauge with a normal mounted sprayer.

It was a great pleasure to see this pair of machines still working together as they would have done 30 plus years ago and in safe hands for many years to come.