With the sun beaming down on ideal ground conditions, thousands of onlookers witnessed a total of over 90 working tractors from all over the country and the UK at the Mellerary Vintage Club silage-cutting exhibition.
After last year’s successful exhibition, the club decided to seek permission to run the event for a second year. This year, the event was staged at the same venue.
The nation’s silage enthusiasts attended in their droves to see the working demonstration of classic and vintage silage harvesting machinery.
The event attracted over 70 working silage harvesters to the west Waterford venue. Ground and grass conditions were ideal and fanatics witnessed a great display of working harvesters.
As expected, single-chop and double-chop harvesters dominated the display, with a number of precision-chop machines also working.
There was a huge range of brands cutting silage. Single- and double-chop machines included Taarup, Kidd, Massey Ferguson, Gyro and UG. Precision-chop machines included Pöttinger, Mengele, and New Holland.
The backdrop to the venue was a sight to behold. The 800-acre farm was the perfect host for the event, with 40 acres set aside for the silage-cutting exhibition and a further 60 acres for hosting the rest of the event.
The huge team of silage harvesters made small work of gathering this 40 acres. Two local agricultural contractors obliged by pushing up the silage on the pit with their JCB loading shovels.
The club would like to express their gratitude to the owners of the farm, Lord and Lady Burlington, and to farm manager Jerry Twomey for providing the venue for the weekend.
Ford 100
The Melleray Vintage Club also held the Ford 100 celebrations at the show. Ford enthusiasts could be seen in great numbers working their wonderfully restored machines with pride. Ford tractors on display included Majors, Countys, two Silver Edition 7810s, 66s, 76s, 7610s and 7810s.
The club welcomed the Southern Ireland Tractor Pullers, who held the first round of the tractor pulling championship, creating a great atmosphere among bystanders.
There were 23 tractors competing across three classes. These classes were broken down into the 3.5t standard machine, the 3.5t modified machine and the fully modified machines.
The tractors competing ranged in size from 150hp to 450hp. The club is hoping to compete again this weekend at the Roberts Cove Vintage Festival, Minane Bridge, Co Cork.
This is the fourth event organised by the club since being recently set up. This includes two successful local tractor runs and two silage-cutting exhibitions, with all proceeds raised going to charity.
The tremendous display of vintage machinery wasn’t just tractors and silage harvesters, it included cars, bikes, trucks and engines.
Michael Collins’ famous car Sliabh na mBan and an Irish military armoured tank were two stand-out vehicles on display.
Entertainment was provided by Seamus Moore – the JCB man never disappoints and he attracted crowds of all ages.
An artisan food village made up of local food suppliers catered for the hungry crowds with an array of tastes to suit all palates.
All proceeds raised from the silage exhibition will go towards Cappoquin Day Care Centre and St Carthage’s Rest Home in Lismore. Presentations to St Carthage’s and Cappoquin , along with the launch of the DVD of the event, will take place in the coming weeks.
Souvenir T-shirts are available from committee members at a cost of €10. For more information, contact club PRO Jean Cahill on 087-642 9404 or follow the club’s Facebook page Melleray Vintage Club.
The silage-cutting exhibition will surely be one of the top vintage working events in the future. It was a huge success and it was a credit to the hardworking committee and club members.
The club would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored and supported the event in any way. Speaking to club chair Ned O’Rourke, he told the Irish Farmers Journal: “I was absolutely delighted with the event. It simply couldn’t have run any smoother.”
See more photos in our picture gallery at the top of this page.