The Troy contracting business is a well-known name in machinery circles around the country. The business was started by Mark Troy’s father Eamon in 1971 in Bandon, Co Cork. Silage has always been the core of the contracting operation. The contracting business is unique in the sense that Mark has a full-time job as a financial controller with Kevin O’Leary motors in Bandon.

For the fast-approaching silage season, Mark has traded in his 2018 Jaguar 980 for a new 990, the first to be sold on the island of Ireland and one of just three which have been sold by Claas UK and Ireland for silage.

At Agritechnica last November, Claas introduced its flagship 900 series forager to the public. At 925hp, the 990 is the most powerful forager offering from Claas to date, surpassing the existing 884hp 980.

From this year, the 990 and the 980 models will be powered by a 24l V12 MAN engine. An 850hp version will be used in the 980. The 970 is moving to a new 16l MAN D4276 straight six, which has an output of 790hp. These engines are Stage V-compliant.

The 900 range will now come with a new touchscreen Cebis terminal. First introduced to the Lexion combine range, CEMOS Automatic is now also available on the 900 series. This system can be set to maintain a target engine speed, and therefore crop flow or forward speed while adjusting the engine horsepower to the required amount. The feeder house on the 900 series also sees some updates, with a reinforced feed roller and larger wear plates.

More power

“I have been running Claas Jaguars since 2002 and moved to 900 series foragers when they were first introduced into Ireland in 2007-2008. We always change the forager every season or every second season as reliability and avoiding downtime is essential. When looking at upgrading my 2018 980, moving to a 990 was a no-brainer, especially with the reduction in power of the new 980”.

“We need this high horsepower to get through heavy first-cut for a 10-day period at the end of May and into early June, and similarly for maize. We lift 30ft swaths and aim to gather 170 to 200 acres each day. The machine is running at max capacity, keeping the two wheel loaders busy. We can’t afford to compromise on power”, explained Mark.

“Up until my father passed in 2010, he ran the business and I helped out. I then took over the running of the business. Balancing two jobs is tough, especially when there’s first-cut to be gathered and the weather window is limited. I’m lucky in a since that my job is flexible. I take some time off during the summer, but when I’m needed, I’ll be sending and receiving emails from the cab of the harvester. I’m lucky to have good staff I can trust which makes things a lot easier,” explained Mark.