Registrations of new wheeled loaders and backhoes are up. That’s according to the FTMTA (Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association), which has released its latest market data – charting trends in the Irish machinery trade.

So far in 2017 (January-to-September inclusive) 48 new backhoes and 73 new wheeled loaders have been registered – increases of 33% and 24% on the same period of 2016, respectively.

FTMTA

New telehandler registrations during the month of September were down slightly at 29 units – versus 31 during September of last year.

The year-to-date (January-to-September) telehandler registration figure is 260 units. That’s down by approximately 4%, when compared with the same period of 2016. However, the FTMTA has noted that this is a considerable increase on the 185 units registered during the whole of 2015.

FTMTA

Meanwhile, the latest figures from the FTMTA show that year-to-date registrations of new tractors are still lower than for the comparable period of 2016.

Data for the month of September (2017) shows that 89 new tractors were registered. This is down slightly on the 90 units registered during September 2016. 86 units were registered during September 2015.

FTMTA

Image source: Shane Casey

This means that a total of 1,624 units have been registered during the January-to-September (inclusive) period of 2017. According to the FTMTA, this figure is 8% lower than the same period of last year.

Meanwhile, in the UK, for the second month in a row agricultural tractor registrations (50hp+) during September were below those for the same month of 2016.

year-on-year drop in sales of almost 15% is evident from data released by the AEA (Agricultural Engineers Association). 947 new tractors were registered during September 2017 – 161 fewer than the same month of last year.

However, overall registrations of new agricultural tractors in the UK for the year-to-date are 8% higher than for the same January-to-September (inclusive) period of 2016. For 2017, the figure stands at 9,058 units.