WHERE FARMING MEETS CONSTRUCTION

THE extent to which the traditional farm machinery sector is now dovetailing with that of the wider world of construction, materials handling and processing equipment will be evident on the McHale Plant Sales stand (Stand 411, Row 19, Block 3) at the forthcoming Ploughing Championships in Tullamore. In what will be a more extensive and broadly-focused line-up of machinery — reflecting new appointments made since last year — the McHale Plant Sales exhibit is likely to have a more widespread appeal than heretofore.

In numerical terms, major focus will fall on their Merlo range of telehandlers with four distinctly different units being shown. These are the TF33.7-115 and TF35.7-115 Turbofarmer models, two versatile telehandlers with attachments and tractor-like fitments that make them equally at home in silage harvesting and other heavy lifting applications. Others will be a P27.6 Plus and P40.17 models from the Merlo compact and construction ranges respectively.

Fully-specified and fitted for agricultural use, the heavy-duty Komatsu WA320-8 wheel loader, with its easily interchangeable front bucket and forks attachments, has been proving popular amongst farm contractors and grain The new Merlo TF33.7 Turbofarmer will take centre stage at the McHale Plant Sales stand

harvesters in recent years.

Two other Komatsu units that could open up sales opportunities for agri contractors — in drainage, scrub clearance, foundation laying, wall building and the like — are Komatsu’s PC55MR-5 and PC26MR-3 mini diggers and the more hefty PC138US-11, an excavator fast becoming Komatsu’s bestselling model in Ireland.

Mindful of the appeal that the National Ploughing Championships has for forestry contractors, units from the Komatsu Forest range will also feature. With its recent appointment to represent Komatsu Forest timber harvesters and forwarders in Ireland, north and south, McHale Plant Sales is conscious of the swing towards timber growing that many landowners are now taking and of the importance being given to it by the Minister for Agriculture and others.