Tractor sales driving upward
With a rush of sales and pre-registrations during December, tractor sales in 2017 rose by 13.5 per cent on the year, marking a turn-round in recent declines.
Statistics released by the Agricultural Engineers Association showed that a total of 12,033 machines above 50 hp were registered during 2017, a figure which was well up on the previous year’s 10,602.
With sales during the last month of 2017 standing at more than double those of December 2016, some of the increase was put down to dealers pre-registering machines before new safety regulations came into play for those registered after January of this year.
Stephen Howarth, economist with the AEA said that even without this last minute leap, sales looked to be on the rise and reflected the first upturn since 2011 – and only the second increase in sales figures over the past nine years.
However, the trade expects that the December boom and the introduction of the new Tractor “Mother” Regulations (TMR) at the start of the year are likely to suppress sales in the early months of 2018.
The new European safety regulations cover a range of safety features – including upgrading hydraulic trailer brakes to have the same fail-safe features as pneumatic trailer brakes for lower spec tractors – which means adding a new, dual line hydraulic system with an added safety valve so pressure is required to release the trailer brakes.
Meanwhile on higher spec tractors capable of more than 40 km/h pneumatic trailer brakes are now mandatory.
Failsafe mechanisms to ensure that independent brake pedals are latched together for road work have been introduced.
Amongst a host of other requirements, additional features will become mandatory for rear view mirrors and stationary PTO operation – while new handrails which will give three points of contact when climbing on to a tractor will also be required.