REPORT: As new machinery prices continue to rise the concept of returning an existing asset to almost as-new condition has never been more appealing. Hertfordshire farmers A & D Mackay Farm Partnership did exactly that, commissioning Fendt specialists PHR Agricultural Engineering to
carry out an extensive rebuild of their 16,000-hour Fendt 818 Vario in preparation for its next 10,000 hours. We look at what went into the restoration and the reasons behind it.
When Fendt specialists PHR Agricultural Engineering finished rebuilding A & D Mackay Farm Partnership’s 19-year-old Fendt 818 Vario the 16,064-hour tractor looked as good as new. But this wasn’t just a cosmetic restoration, the tractor was mechanically good too with a completely rebuilt engine, new transmission and a list of replacement parts far too long for these pages.
The tractor in question was new in May 2004 and acquired by its current owners with around 3,000 hours on the clock. Fast forward to 2022, and the 818 had clocked-up 16,000 hours, mostly trouble-free. But the tractor still played an important role on the farm, prompting Daniel Mackay and his son Angus to consider their options.
“It was one of three Fendt tractors we were running at the time,” explains Angus. “We had just purchased a new Fendt 724 Vario Gen6, mainly to run a Chafer Guardian 4,000-litre trailed sprayer. We hadn’t been dead-set on having a Fendt and we also looked at the major competitors, but the Fendt was quite competitive on price, we knew how to get the best out of it, and most importantly we were confident that the technology on it would allow us to do what we wanted with the sprayer.”
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