I hope you are all coping well during this lockdown and that you and your families, friends and customers are staying safe from Covid-19.

We are, hopefully, on the last week or so of the lockdown. By the time the next edition of Service Dealer Ireland comes to you we should be back to Level 3 restrictions or even better. The days of opening for business, allowing customers to browse around our showrooms freely may not be too far away. It all depends on the numbers and how we behave ourselves.

It was good news to hear of two possible successful vaccines being announced from Pfizer and Moderna with over 90% and 94% respective success rates achieved in their trials. However, I must say I am always dubious when companies report these results. I would rather hear the news come from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If all is correct and everything goes to plan these vaccines may be available to everyone by the start or middle of next year. We will keep our fingers crossed. If this does come true our machinery demonstrations will return, our agricultural shows will be open to the throngs of people (though this might be a bit optimistic on my part) and our seminars and conferences will resume once again. Wouldn’t it be great? Time will tell.

It was encouraging to hear from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that tractor registrations increased last October compared to October 2019. Covid-19 didn’t seem to adversly impact tractor sales in 2020. Only two tractors less were registered between January – October 2020 than the same period in 2019. However, I would be interested to see similar statistics shown for Irish garden and sportsturf equipment. Taken from nine member countries, The European Agricultural Machinery Association’s (CEMA) Business Barometer survey for November 2020 shows that lawn, garden and municipal equipment have not come out of the negative zone since the beginning of the year. You can read more on the CSO figures in this edition of Service Dealer Ireland.

Staying on the subject of statistics, the Grounds Management Association (GMA) have issued results of their surveys regarding the SALTEX exhibition. One survey was sent to every visitor – past and present, while the other was sent to every exhibitor that had signed-up to the 2020 event. It makes very interesting reading which you can also read about in this edition.

With all the talk about the lockdown and Covid -19, Brexit seems to be getting less media coverage and yet this is going to have far wider implications on our business than the coronavirus ever did. We can recover from the lockdown but whatever deal is agreed (or not) will affect us more than any virus outbreak. The 31st of December is just over five weeks away and so far a deal has not yet been finalised.

What is especially of concern for our sector is how will the supply chain of spare parts coming from the UK affect us? Will it take longer for items to arrive? Will they be more expensive because of possible tariffs? What will the impact of exporting new equipment to the UK be? What about Northern Ireland? These are just some of the questions that, right now, we don’t have the answers to. There is still a long way to go before we do.

Take care and remain safe.

131 new tractors were registered in Ireland for the first time in October, an increase of about 40 on the same month of the previous year.

Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on vehicle registration, released on Monday, November 9, show that the number of new tractors registered last month was an increase on the 94 registered in October 2019.

The 131 figure for last month is slightly lower than the figure for October of two years ago (2018), which was 135.

Taking the year as a whole so far, from January 2020 to October 2020, 1,994 new tractors have been registered. This figure is a decrease of just two on the same period last year, despite Covid-19. This year’s figure is also an increase of 129 tractors compared to the period January to October of 2018.

Used Imported Tractors

For used imported tractors, 273 were registered in Ireland for the first time last month, an increase from 192 in the same month of 2019, and from 173 for October 2018.

Looking at the whole year to date (January to October), 2,039 used imported tractors were registered here so far. This is down from the 2,217 that were registered in the same period last year, but up on the 1,865 used imported tractors that were registered here in that period for 2018.

In total, between new and used imported tractors, 404 were registered here for the first time last month, and 4,033 tractors have been registered in the year to date.

Electric And Hybrid Cars

Other notable vehicle registration information released by the CSO is that more than one in five of all new cars licensed for the first time in October were electric or hybrid. Furthermore, the combined number of new electric and hybrid cars licensed in the first 10 months of 2020 was 12.5% greater than those licensed in all of 2019 (16,130 vs 14,343).

Source Agriland.ie

The Grounds Management Association (GMA) has revealed its feedback from both the recent visitor and exhibitor surveys that influenced their decision to move SALTEX back to its November slot in 2021.

Last month the GMA issued two surveys; one to every exhibitor that had signed-up to the 2020 event and one to every visitor - past and present. The Association says the aim was to gather industry feedback to help plan for and shape the future of SALTEX.

The GMA says when they asked which type of show visitors would like to attend, respondents confirmed that an indoor show was the most popular choice for both 2021 and 2022 - beating out the prospect of a virtual event by some margin, according to the figures the GMA released.

Preferences for 2021

• Indoor show - 86%
• Outdoor show - 27%
• Virtual show -18%

Preferences for 2022

• Indoor - 91%
• Outdoor - 33%
• Virtual - 9%

A key question in the survey asked the best time of year to attend a trade show; November was the first option – followed by October.

• November - 47%
• October - 32%
• February - 30%
• September - 25%

In an official statement the GMA said, "Despite the pandemic it is clear that there remains an appetite for trade shows. Respondents were asked how confident they were on a scale of 0-10 (0 not likely at all, 10 extremely likely) in attending trade shows in the future. An overwhelming 73% voted 7 or above."

Commenting on the results of the survey, Geoff Webb, CEO of the GMA said, “Crucially, we wanted to listen to the industry and give them an opportunity to shape a show that is totally about them, and their needs. It also hugely supported our motivation to reschedule.

“We felt really encouraged by the research which pointed to a continuing demand for an indoor trade exhibition and it was also promising to see November as the preferred date.

"There was a reason that we went from an outdoor Summer show to an indoor show, and I think these survey results underline the fact that SALTEX, in its current format, works for the sector.”

In other results from the survey released by the GMA, figures show that SALTEX has attracted increasing numbers of new first-time visitors over recent years. 34% visited SALTEX for the first time in 2019 compared to 28% in 2018, 27% in 2017, 26% in 2016 and 23% in 2015.

The Association also says that SALTEX is appealing more to the younger generation in the industry too, with an increase of 6% in visitors aged between 16-30 seen at the show in 2019.

Other notable increases also mentioned by the GMA were a rise in landscapers, local authorities and those working in junior, assistant and deputy positions.

County Limerick company, Keltec, based in Killmallock, have further front mounted mower which can be steered from the cab to eliminate uncut strips of grass when turning or running alongside bends in the headland.

This, the company believes, is the first time that such a feature has been available on a standard mower rather than as a third party conversion. It was designed in response to feedback from the many contractor customers of the company's present range.

The angle of the mower in relation to the tractor is directed via a ram which moves the whole unit through an arc of approx 16 degrees. This is operated from a double acting spool valve in the cab and so remains under the control of the driver at all times.

Key to the ability of the mower to swing in either direction is a redesign of the mounting linkage to allow lateral movement between the tractor and mower. The hydraulically cushioned floatation is not affected by the mechanism and the cutting performance is still excellent.

The cutting width of all the company's mowers is 3m (10 feet) and this unit is no exception. The cutting bar is supplied by Comer of Italy. There are seven discs, each with two blades.

The crop is conditioned with forked steel tines and the degree of processing can be controlled by an adjustable steel hood. As an option the end skirts can be folded hydraulically.

Keltec say that common with all their products there is no compromise when it comes to building machines that are capable of dealing with Irish conditions. All the products are designed and built in the heart of Ireland's dairy country where heavy crops and often irregular field conditions prevail.

Heavy gauge steel is used throughout and generously sized bearings specified for the moving parts.

Briggs & Stratton have announced they have reorganised their EMEA sales and marketing leadership team.

In an official statement Briggs said the primary focus of the new team will be to deliver " . .superior market driven innovations, technologies and services with specific focus on commercial engines, rental business and battery technology."

The sales and marketing management team will be headed up by Florian Mayer (pictured above), senior director Sales & Marketing EMEA. Mayer joined Briggs & Stratton in March 2020 and the company says he brings a wealth of market knowledge after serving in several sales and marketing leadership roles with Stanley Black & Decker in Europe.

Sales leads reporting into Mayer are Patrick Limberg, director sales Commercial Engines & Power EMEA based in Germany, Benjamin Mottaz, director sales Consumer Engines EMEA and Pierre Olivier Izac, manager Regional Sales - MEA & India both based in the regional head office in Switzerland.

Business planning and administration will be led by Uta Hackstein, senior manager Business Planning and Sales who is also based in the Swiss office.

Paul Bramhall, director marketing EMEA - Engines & Power, will oversee the regional marketing strategy for the utility and residential engine, and battery business. Based in the Swiss office, Paul will also be the primary contact for communications within the region and will report directly to Florian Mayer.

Paul said, "The EMEA sales and marketing reorganisation does not affect the current leadership of our end-products or after sales divisions."

Florian Mayer added, “Our company has a proud past and an even stronger future with the recent developments and repositioning.

“The expertise and resources we have available to us now will not only enable us to better support our existing lawn and garden customer base, but will also enable us to invest in the development of game changing innovations and technologies with regards to applying power, particularly with regard to commercial engines, rental and electrification.’’

CNH Industrial N.V. has announced the appointment of Scott W. Wine as Chief Executive Officer, effective January 4, 2021.

Scott Wine joins the company from Polaris Inc. where he was, since 2008, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and CEO since 2013.

Prior to joining Polaris, Scott Wine held executive positions with United Technologies Corporation, Danaher Corp. and Allied Signal Corp. He also served as a United States naval officer. CNH say Mr Wine brings extensive expertise in mergers and acquisitions in the U.S.A, Europe and Asia.

“The Board is delighted at the appointment of Scott Wine, given his broad industrial experience and strategic expertise,” said Suzanne Heywood, Chair and Acting Chief Executive Officer, CNH Industrial N.V. “Scott is committed to delivering the strategy that the company outlined at its Capital Markets Day in 2019, including the plan to spin-off its on-highway activities.”

Reesink Turfcare has created an online nationwide network providing access to used Toro machinery.

Ree.Own, the newly launched service accessible online at reeown.co.uk gives customers the chance to browse, compare prices and match budgets on a range of machines that are guaranteed to have less than 3000 hours use on the clock, have been used for less than seven years and been through a multipoint check by trained technicians.

Alastair Rowell, UK sales manager, turfcare equipment at Reesink, says the team has been working towards a single point of call for all the best used machinery for some time and this is the culmination of that work: “For some time we’ve wanted to be able to provide customers with a single source for all used machinery within our dealer network and now we can.

“Now more than ever, there are so many reasons to buy used machinery and this type of machinery access in this sector has been all but unobtainable. We have hundreds of used machines a year that qualify, to sell, coming in, through dealers and off lease programmes. We have a team dedicated to the servicing and preparation of these machines to ensure they are customer-ready and the distribution network to do that now.”

Reesink say every machine receives a rigorous multipoint inspection by a team of trained technicians.

Alastair continues, “By the time we have finished, the machines are mechanically sound and ready to perform. Our branch locations and authorised dealers have years of training and experience working specifically with Toro machines and this gives customers peace of mind, especially when they know back-up is there should it be required.”

All machines are provided with a minimum 90 day warranty and replacement parts are easily sourced.

Alastair concluded, “We wanted to create a place where customers could buy used Toro machines with the utmost confidence, and there’s no better place for that than with Ree.Own, through UK and Ireland’s exclusive Toro distribution network.”