A civil engineering contractor in Ireland has taken delivery of what is described as the country’s first 552hp Fendt 1052, a 14t machine bought to handle heavy stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation work.
The tractor was purchased by Mick English, owner of Shannon Valley Group, from Farmworks Machinery. The Dublin-based dealer said the 1052 is the largest Fendt in Ireland. The 12.4-litre, six-cylinder MAN engine provides 2,650Nm of torque.
Upgrade from an earlier model
English said the power output was a major reason for moving to the 1052 after first seeing it at Agritechnica. The company bought a 1050 three years ago and has put 4,000 to 5,000 hours on it. Satisfied with that machine, it chose the newer model. English added that Shannon Valley has run Fendts for seven or eight years, describing the brand simply as “a Fendt is a Fendt.”
The new tractor will carry a 3.5t front weight and a 9t hybrid stone-crushing and soil-stabilisation machine on the rear. English said he follows advice from the manufacturers of those attachments when buying tractors. He said those manufacturers have done their research and, whichever one he speaks to, they recommend Fendt. He described Fendt as the Rolls-Royce of tractors and said the assessment came from the equipment makers rather than from him.
Demanding site work
Large tractors can be seen as machines for show, but English rejected that view for this application. He said the tractor is at its limit when working in the ground to mill limestone boulders and hard clays, with the whole machine being pulled down. In his view, more power makes the work easier on the tractor.
English is from Co. Leitrim and has 35 years of earthmoving experience. Like many contractors, he was involved with tractors from a young age. His father started in 1976 with a Massey 35 and then a Massey 165; the family had no cab at the time. Asked whether he expected to own one of Ireland’s largest tractors, English said that in the 1970s a Massey 165 was the equivalent of today’s Fendt 1052 in Co. Leitrim.
He recalled his father’s 165 was a Mark I model with round axles and a small Perkins 203 engine. He remembered climbing onto the tractor at three years of age when it arrived in the yard, then jumping off crying because of the noise when the throttle was pulled. He still has those tractors.
The family business has a history of buying new machines. English said his father started the business in London in 1966, where he bought new JCB 3C diggers, and moved it back to Leitrim in 1970 with the JCBs and other equipment. Shannon Valley Group now has 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 he will probably buy another Fendt 1052 next year as well.