An Irish civil engineering contractor has taken delivery of a 552hp Fendt 1052 that its owner says is Ireland's first example of the model. Mick English, whose Shannon Valley Group bought the 14t tractor from Dublin-based dealer Farmworks Machinery, said the machine is a substantial step up from the Fendt 1050 the company bought three years earlier.
Farmworks Machinery describes the 1052 as the largest Fendt in the country. The tractor is powered by a 12.4-litre, six-cylinder MAN engine producing 2,650Nm of torque. English said he decided to move to the new model after seeing it at Agritechnica, and that the earlier 1050 had accumulated 4,000 to 5,000 hours in company service. He said Shannon Valley had been pleased with that tractor and had been running Fendts for seven or eight years.
In its working specification, the 1052 will carry a 3.5t weight on the front and a 9t hybrid stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation machine on the rear. English said he takes guidance from the manufacturers of those attachments when buying tractors. He said they consistently recommend Fendt, describing the brand as the Rolls-Royce of tractors and stressing that the view came from the equipment makers.
English also disputed the suggestion that very large tractors are mainly for show. He said that when the machine is milling limestone boulders and working hard clay, it is at its limit and the whole tractor is pulled down. In his view, having more power makes the work easier on the tractor.
Contractor background
English comes from Co. Leitrim and has 35 years of earthmoving experience. His father began with a Massey 35 in 1976 and later ran a Massey 165, a machine without the luxury of a cab. English recalled climbing onto the 165 as a three-year-old when it arrived in the yard and jumping off again in tears when the throttle was opened. He said the family still has those tractors.
The family's interest in new machinery goes back further. English said his father started the business in London in 1966, buying new JCB 3C diggers, and moved it back to Leitrim in 1970 with the JCBs and other equipment. Shannon Valley Group now operates more than 200 diggers, including a 75t Hitachi Zaxis 690-7 bought in 2020; at the time, it was the first of its kind sold in Europe.
English said the company will probably buy another Fendt 1052 next year. The current machine is the latest addition to a fleet built around heavy earthmoving work.