The latest figures issued by the Farm Tractor & Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) in relation to registrations of tractors and other types of self-propelled machinery, covering the period to the end of October, show a relatively stable, but improving, year on year picture in relation to new tractor registrations.
The registration of new tractors increased by 2% during in October in comparison to the same month of 2019. There were 85 new tractors registered last month bringing the total since the start of January to 1,846 units, a decrease of less than 4% on the 1,913 tractors registered by the same point in 2019.
The three counties with the highest levels of registrations thus far in 2020 continue to be Cork, Tipperary and Wexford with Cork on 251 units while Tipperary and Wexford are separated by just one unit on 129 and 128 units respectively. Meath is the only other county to have reached a three digit number of tractor registrations at this time with 102 units.
The horsepower band with the highest level of registrations to the end of October is the 101 to 120hp range with 584 units or nearly 32% of all registrations. 88% of all tractors registered during the year so far had over 100hp, 56% had over 120hp and 29% had over 150hp.
Teleporter registrations were down one unit in October on the same month last year with 21 new units registered last month. The total for the first ten months of the year stands at 370 units, a drop of slightly more than 19% on the figure of 459 units at the end of October 2019. Cork and Meath record more than one third of the total number of such registrations during 2020 with 68 and 65 units respectively.
Registrations of wheeled loaders fell by 3 units in October in comparison to a year earlier with 11 units registered last month. The total for the first ten months of the year is 116 units, up substantially from 98 units year on year and slightly ahead of the 115 units registered in the full year of 2020.
There was one less backhoe loader registered in October of this year than in 2020. The 4 such machines registered last month brings the running total for the year to 31 units, much reduced from the year on year total of 66 units which was also the final tally for the full year in 2019.
