The Ultimate Farmer

Transport is an important part of a couple’s wedding plans and when you’re a farmer, a tractor is always going to be in contention. Unfortunately, Thomas McKelvey’s plans didn’t quite work out, but he’s still the proud owner of one of the best Fendts you are likely to see, as Chris McCullough discovered.

- Chris McCullough

Having proved to be a real workhorse for most of its life, an old Fendt has received a fitting restoration by its owner as a retirement gift. The McKelvey family run a farm supply business in Ballynahinch in Co. Down and also run their own beef and arable farm in the nearby Hillsborough area.

If that wasn’t enough of a workload, they also run a successful contracting business covering a 20-25 mile radius of the farm, predominantly undertaking silage harvesting and slurry work. Today, the contracting fleet consists mainly of John Deere tractors, but in the past the McKelveys used a number of other brands.

In the early days of the business, back in the ’80s, Fendt was the brand of choice for the fleet and to prove their loyalty to Fendt, the family purchased three new models over a four-year period. Two of those original models still exist on the farm today, but one of them has just received the makeover of all makeovers, to take it back to as-new condition once again.

Thomas McKelvey works full time on the farm and with the contracting side of the family business, but at the end of last year he got married to Lynne and they spent a glorious month in Australia on their honeymoon. Before they left, Thomas had the pleasure of seeing his 1989 Fendt Farmer 312 LSA Turbomatik fully restored.

“The plan was to have the tractor restored to be used during our wedding, but that didn’t quite work out,” said Thomas. “I think Lynne wasn’t too worried about that though, to be honest! The tractor looks really well and we are all very pleased with the restoration.