There are 78,119 tractors taxed on Irish roads, according to the most recent figures available, the Irish Bulletin of Vehicle and Driver Statistics. This figure represents a 2.97% (2,256 more tractors) increase on the previous year, when 75,863 tractors were taxed for road usage.

Across the 26 counties in the Republic of Ireland, Massey Ferguson was the most popular brand in half (13), followed by John Deere in six counties, New Holland in five counties, Case IH in just one county, while John Deere and New Holland were tied for another county.

The report shows that Massey Ferguson is also Ireland’s most popular tractor brand in terms of overall numbers with a total of 16,266 tractors taxed during the year 2020. This means that just over two out of every 10 (21%) tractors taxed in the Republic of Ireland were Masseys.

Taking second place was New Holland with 14,107 (17.89%) taxed tractors. In third place was John Deere with 12,542 tractors taxed, which equates to 15.91% of the total tractors taxed during the period. Together, these top three brands made up 54.43% of all tractors taxed on Irish roads.

Interestingly, Case IH and David Brown came in fourth with a tally of 7,011 tractors or 8.89%. This was followed by Ford with 5,237 tractors (6.64%), Zetor with 3,436 tractors (4.36%) and Landini with 2,954 tractors (3.75%).

What county has the most tractors?

Cork is the only county in Ireland to have more than 10,000 tractors. The next biggest tractor fleet is in Tipperary with 5,399 tractors, which was followed closely by Galway with 5,204 tractors and Mayo with 4,835 tractors. Leitrim was the county with Ireland’s smallest tractor fleet, with fewer than 1,000 tractors. The county was joined by Louth (1,055) and Longford (1,304) with the lowest number of tractors.

New tractor sales by brand

John Deere claimed first position in terms of new registrations for 2020. In total, 21.99% of new sales were John Deere, with 420 tractors registered. Massey Ferguson trailed closely, accounting for 20.31% (388 units), 32 units behind Deere. New Holland sold the third most new tractors (18.22%) that year, with 348 shiny new machines finding homes. Case IH (10.52%), Claas (4.92%), Valtra (4.82%) and Fendt (3.93%) followed respectively.

The report

This report is an annual publication produced by the Department of Transport which compiles data up to the end of each calendar year. It deals with all transport vehicles on Irish roads alongside indicating, for example, how many Massey Ferguson, John Deere or New Holland tractors there are taxed throughout the country.

It also includes discontinued brands which continue to work on Irish farms, such as Ford, Fiat and Renault. This report also revealed that the total number of taxed vehicles recorded on Irish roads was 2,860,984.

The breakdown of Ireland’s total vehicle fleet includes 2,215,127 private cars, 377,890 goods vehicles, 78,119 agricultural tractors, 51,924 vintage vehicles and 44,819 motorcycles.