The Lios Dearg Vintage Club from Belmont, Co Offaly, will be staging a special Zetor 70th anniversary event on Sunday 25 September, with plans to organise a record attempt for the largest number of Zetor tractors in Ireland.

The club is supported by local tractor dealer Michael Brogan of Brogan Tractors who has his own unique collection of rare Zetor tractors. Michael has been associated with the Zetor brand from his youth where the family business based in Ballymoe, Co Roscommon, was a Zetor dealership since 1979.

The first Zetor tractors were built in the Czech city of Brno in 1946 and the brand has almost as long an association with Irish farmers. Cork man Tim O’Shea imported the first Zetor tractors into Ireland one year later in 1947.

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These were the 25hp Zetor 25 models, powered by a two-cylinder diesel engine. They were fast on the road with an eight forward and two reverse speed gearbox. They were also reputed to be more fuel-efficient than the TVO and petrol-powered tractors of the time.

Initially, the Zetor 25 cost £850, so it was expensive relative to a Ferguson TE20 TVO costing £350. It was not well equipped and required a hand starter and had no hydraulics. They were upgraded in 1953 with full electrics and a hydraulic lift.

The Zetor range was significantly upgraded in 1961, when it introduced the Unified 1 (U1) range of tractors. These included the 3011 and 4011 models followed by the 2011 model in 1963. These were two-, three- and four-cylinder engine tractors, all with the same engine bore and stroke. They were soon to become very popular among Irish farmers. Like the Zetor 25, these tractors were initially blue in colour and came with a dual clutch for a live PTO, full lighting and indicators, all very novel at the time.

The O’Shea Group introduced the first four-wheel-drive Zetor models in 1965 and the change of tractor colour from blue to red coincided with the introduction of a super large tractor cab.

The new 2511, 3511 and 4511 models were introduced in 1968. They in turn were replaced by the 4712, 5711 and 6711 models in 1972.

Zetor introduced the 8011 model, which was the popular Zetor Crystal in 1970, giving an affordable 80hp tractor that was to launch many a contracting career. The Crystal was a joint Zetor and Ursus tractor development, which pushed Zetor into first place on the Irish market in the early 1970s.

Brian Kenny of the Lios Dearg Vintage Club in Belmont, Co Offaly, is working with his committee to get a large turnout of Zetor tractors for the club’s anniversary event. “From the early days of the O’Shea Group, there were always Zetor dealers in the midlands region and a lot of farmers down through the years bought Zetor tractors. We are urging them to bring out their Zetors, no matter what their condition is, to set a new record and we have prizes on the day for the most original Zetor tractor and for the oldest tractor at the event,” Brian Kenny said.

Zetor’s tractor production history

In 70 years of tractor production, Zetor claims to have sold more than 1.2m tractors around the world. The first tractor was the Zetor 25 and by 1960 Zetor was building almost 20,000 of them a year. Zetor claims that 158,570 versions of the 25 were built during its 16 years on the market.

This tractor was widely used in Ireland during the 1950s. Today, they are rare to find as many returned to Poland and the Czech Republic in the intervening years.

By the time the ninth generation Zetor 4911, 5911 and 6911 models were on the Irish market, Zetor was the market leader here. Zetor went from third in the Irish market in 1978 with 13.8% to market leader in 1981, with a 19.15% share when the market had dropped significantly to 2,739 units.

The O’Shea Group ceased operations in 1984 and the Zetor brand was taken over by Motokov Ireland, a subsidiary of the Czech export company Motokov. Motokov continued with the brand until 2011 when it was taken over by McHale Plant Sales, based in Birdhill, Co Tipperary, which is currently the Irish agent.

West Cork event rescheduled due to weather

The West Cork Vintage Ploughing & Threshing Association had to postpone its John Deere silage harvester working day last Sunday due to weather conditions and the club is hoping to stage the event this Sunday, weather permitting. Michael Ryan (087-259 6078) of the club said that the aim is to have between 16 and 17 machines in action in an 80ac silage field at Argehane, Clonakilty, this Sunday 18 September.

West Waterford celebrates 25 years of reversible ploughing

The West Waterford Ploughing Association is hosting a special 25th anniversary ploughing event to celebrate the start of the reversible ploughing class at the National Ploughing Championships. Declan Doocey (087-2547715) of the association told the Irish Farmers Journal that the event will take place on Sunday 18 September in a 40ac field at David Evan’s farm, Fort William Estate, Lismore.

The event is being staged in memory of the late Bill Kennefick who was chairman of the association and who worked hard to bring reversible ploughing competitions to a national level. The event will feature the nine ploughmen who took part in the event 25 years ago, most of whom are from the Munster region and they are looking forward to restaging the first competitive reversible match.

Giant construction diorama for Limerick model show

The Limerick Diecast and Model Diorama Show 2016 will take place on Sunday 18 September in the South Court Hotel, Raheen, Limerick. This year, well-known collector John Cusack from Fedamore, Co Limerick, will be creating a special diorama display entitled from ‘‘Ireland to Bauma’’, which will incorporate all the leading brand names of machinery used in the construction industry in diecast model form. Event organiser Mark Tierney (087-3277757) said that they are supporting the local charity Limerick Animal Welfare for the sixth year running.