A Monaghan farmer has urged young farmers to learn the skills of tractor driving without modern technology.
Alex Hawthorne, a farmer from Aghabog, Co Monaghan, has been called on to help local farmers with sowing and spreading fertiliser in recent weeks with his vintage David Brown 996.
His father bought the tractor second-hand in the 1980s for £6,000 as an upgrade to his DB 780 and with regular maintenance, it has stayed on the farm since.
The DB 996 had a manufacture date of 1977 but Hawthorne told the Irish Farmers Journal that this tractor is more fuel efficient than any modern equivalent.
“If you were going to drive a nail into a piece of timber, would you lift a sledge [hammer],” he added.
“That tractor, she’s sowing fertiliser, she’s spreading slurry, she’s topping and everything else. Five gallons of diesel would keep her going for a fortnight. So, her carbon footprint is next to nil.”
A DB 996 in good condition currently retails between €3,000 and €8,500 on the second-hand market.
Technology
Hawthorne claimed that many tractors in the local area are struggling to connect to GPS satellite signals after storm Éowyn, posing challenges for farmers and agricultural contractors who are working to tight measurements.
Speaking over a poor-quality phone line, he said that many farmers nowadays rely too heavily on modern technology.
“It’s grand until you have a storm and then you have to go back to the basics. There were people sitting in houses shivering when that storm was about, there was no electricity, no running water, no back up.
“It’s the same with a tractor worth €200,000, if something goes down on her, you’d have to bring out someone with a laptop [to fix it]. With the David Brown, if something goes wrong, you’d come out with the vice grips, twiddle a few knobs and you’re back up and running, out in the field.”
Vintage tractor
A DB 996 in good condition currently retails between €3,000 and €8,500 on the second-hand market.
However, Hawthorne said that this one is not for sale.
“It’s hard to beat the Brown, she’ll not let you down. You can talk about the GPS all you like but it’s hard beat the old reliable.”
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A Monaghan farmer has urged young farmers to learn the skills of tractor driving without modern technology.
Alex Hawthorne, a farmer from Aghabog, Co Monaghan, has been called on to help local farmers with sowing and spreading fertiliser in recent weeks with his vintage David Brown 996.
His father bought the tractor second-hand in the 1980s for £6,000 as an upgrade to his DB 780 and with regular maintenance, it has stayed on the farm since.
The DB 996 had a manufacture date of 1977 but Hawthorne told the Irish Farmers Journal that this tractor is more fuel efficient than any modern equivalent.
“If you were going to drive a nail into a piece of timber, would you lift a sledge [hammer],” he added.
“That tractor, she’s sowing fertiliser, she’s spreading slurry, she’s topping and everything else. Five gallons of diesel would keep her going for a fortnight. So, her carbon footprint is next to nil.”
A DB 996 in good condition currently retails between €3,000 and €8,500 on the second-hand market.
Technology
Hawthorne claimed that many tractors in the local area are struggling to connect to GPS satellite signals after storm Éowyn, posing challenges for farmers and agricultural contractors who are working to tight measurements.
Speaking over a poor-quality phone line, he said that many farmers nowadays rely too heavily on modern technology.
“It’s grand until you have a storm and then you have to go back to the basics. There were people sitting in houses shivering when that storm was about, there was no electricity, no running water, no back up.
“It’s the same with a tractor worth €200,000, if something goes down on her, you’d have to bring out someone with a laptop [to fix it]. With the David Brown, if something goes wrong, you’d come out with the vice grips, twiddle a few knobs and you’re back up and running, out in the field.”
Vintage tractor
A DB 996 in good condition currently retails between €3,000 and €8,500 on the second-hand market.
However, Hawthorne said that this one is not for sale.
“It’s hard to beat the Brown, she’ll not let you down. You can talk about the GPS all you like but it’s hard beat the old reliable.”
Read more
Classic kit busy sowing in the southeast
The Agricultural Trust and Irish Agricultural Museum announce media partnership
MF135 still a favourite 60 years later, 2024 registration results confirm
From building blocks to transforming timeworn tractors
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