Classic Silage

Justin Roberts heads to Co. Waterford to admire the sight of classic machinery in action.

Presently in Ireland there is a great trend towards staging classic working events and in the west, where there is some of the most productive grassland in Europe, this will naturally mean silage days. These are certainly growing in popularity and size and to underline that fact, this year’s event at Lismore, in Co. Waterford, attracted more than 90 tractors and harvesters, half as many again as last year.

The weather was certainly a great help as the sun shone to make it a grand day for all, and the grass was even ensiled without being rained upon, always a bonus, but never guaranteed. With such a number of tractors in a field there are bound to be a few that stand out and it was the bright yellow Muir Hills of Larry Ryan that would grab the attention first. Many companies tried harnessing the power of Ford’s ubiquitous six-cylinder diesel from the ’50s onwards, but few did it in such a dramatic fashion as Muir-Hill and these high machines still command respect despite now being dwarfed by the average tractor of today.

Another tractor harking back to the ’60s was Josh Baily’s MF 65 with a matching single-chop harvester and trailer. Amongst the recent hullabaloo about AGCO going full line, it’s well to be reminded that it’s all old hat for Massey Ferguson, the largest brand in the AGCO group, as this was the case when Harry launched his Ferguson system.

Going back even further, a Lanz Bulldog from the 1950s was accompanying an early County conversion of a Fordson Super Major. This pair are often seen on the circuit but that makes the sight no less remarkable and fair play to them for bringing such a team out and actually working a Lanz on something other than a stationary machine, such as a saw mill or thresher, which is where we normally see them.