Crowds congregate in Cavan as spring show series concludes

Last week, the Cavan Equestrian Centre was the location of the third and final instalment of the three AJS Spring Farm Machinery shows.

Despite taking place just one week on from the AJS show at the Eikon Exhibition Centre in Co Antrim, bumper crowds flocked to the popular show.

Event organisers said that 11,500 showgoers passed through the doors over the two days.

Exhibitors noted that the mood among show attendees seems to be improving as the months drift towards the spring.

GyPSy is a Cork-based company which has been quietly making in-roads into the Irish GPS guidance market. The company was set up by young entrepreneur John Cal Kelleher.

From a dairy farm in mid-Cork, John completed a physics and maths degree where he picked up the interest in building technology.

He built his first simplistic GPS guidance system five years ago and launched the company a year later. To date, the company has over 450 units sold in Ireland.

Today, three models are offered. The entry level offers 3ft accuracy, and is priced at €935 including VAT. The next offers six-inch accuracy and features a nine- to 10-hour battery. It’s priced at €1,500 including VAT.

The top-end model also offers six-inch accuracy, but it can be charged while being used. It’s priced at €1,650 including VAT. The systems are simple, and easy to navigate through and setup.

They also provide GPS area measuring. The company says that when set up correctly, the systems offer field area accuracy in the region of 1% accuracy.

The software is designed in-house, while the casing and 3D printing is too. The hardware is made by a company in Spain, while GyPSy uses Lenovo tablets.

Abbey Machinery showcased its latest range of trailing shoes. The Tipperary-based manufacturer’s new Agri Pro lightweight trailing shoe solution is being offered in three models: 7.7m, 9.2m and 10.2m.

The range is galvanised and is chassis-mounted, while the two larger units feature mechanical double folding to reduce transport height.

The new applicator is designed and manufactured in-house by Abbey.

Company representatives at the show explained that the downward pressure on each trailing spring and boot is pre-set leaving the factory through an accumulator system, which is set to apply from 6kg to 8kg of downward force.

Its key feature is a new self-levelling boom that adjusts to undulating ground contours through a central assembly unit.

The unit can be fitted with either an Vogelsang EC-Q or an Alrena distributor/macerator, depending on customer preference.

This feeds slurry through each of the 30 outlets through 40mm diameter hoses to each individual outlet.

These applicators can be purchased with Abbey’s slurry tanker range or separately for retrofit purposes.

Mid-Louth Garage showcased a selection of the Co Down-manufactured Numac trailers at the show.

Known on the waste management scene for its waste compactors, skips and containers, Numac is expanding its trailer business, supplying the agriculture and construction industries.

Building trailers for the past 18 months, it has over 50 gone through production to date.

It showcased its new 20t lay-flat door dump trailer at the show. Manufactured with a wide bottom body and a 58° tipping angle, the firm says it is built for the safe and easy loading and unloading of various materials.

Commercial axles

Features include 10 stud commercial axles on 420/180 brakes and 560/60 R22.5 tyres. Fitted with air over hydraulic brakes, it comes with a single heavy-duty tipping cylinder. On three-leaf parabolic suspension, the design also incorporates a sprung drawbar.

Operation

The trailer can be ordered in a Hardbox option, and the range is also being offered in a half-pipe design. It’s priced at €24,000 plus VAT.

Four years on since M-Tec Engineering first took the trailer market by storm, the Co Cavan manufacturer recently introduced the option of sheep decks to its 12ft and 14ft livestock trailer models.

The all-new sheep deck option is said to be unique in several ways to competitor designs.

The main design features include foot-pedal operation of the deck ramp, a slam-shut sprung-latching system, a compact foldup design that doesn’t obstruct airflow when not in use and a dividing gate that can be positioned at every 2ft spacing.

The decks are designed so that runoff is directed to the back of the trailer and not directly down on to the sheep in the lower deck.

Standard features of the M-Tec livestock trailers include parabolic leaf spring suspension, front folddown ventilation flap, nylon bushed pivots, LED lights, spare wheel and a folding cross bar for unhindered access through the side door.

The 14ft model is offered as standard with chequer plate mudguards and heavy-duty loading gates.

The 14ft model equipped with decks weighs in at 1,400kg and is priced from €11,700 plus VAT.

Carroll Engineering, based outside Bailieborough, Co Cavan, showcased its vast engineering expertise with a glimpse of its broad range of agricultural implements and solutions.

Presented on the stand were transport boxes, bale shears, bale carriers, log splitters and hydraulic power packs.

But, attracting the most attention was the firm’s bespoke 30ft tri-axle low loader.

The 30ft tri-axle custom-build was equipped with positive steering front and rear high-speed commercial axles from Distag with both air and hydraulic brakes.

Other specifications included a ball and spoon-type hitch, sprung drawbar, 90mm timber floor, outriggers, folding side marker boards, side storage boxes and cheese wedge-style ramps that can fold inwards to a horizontal position removing the rear beaver tail element of its design, if needed.

The trailer was finished off with a custom orange and grey colour scheme.