A second John Deere 8800 self-propelled forage harvester has been sold in Northern Ireland by dealer Johnston Gilpin & Co Ltd in Lisburn, to Hillsborough agricultural contractor McKelvey Brothers, who traded in their six-year-old John Deere 7750 SPFH in part exchange.
McKelvey Brothers harvest around 5500 acres of silage each year and wanted to replace their machine for this season. While the previous harvester was operating perfectly, Thomas McKelvey felt the time was right to invest in more modern technology and a more efficient model.
With this in mind he chose the new top of the range 8800 and took delivery in May just before his silage contracting season began. Thomas says: “We have used a John Deere self-propelled forage harvester for many years and found them to be very reliable. The 7750 had around 2500 hours on the clock and was in really good condition, but we decided to upgrade to a more modern model.
“We ordered the 8800 at the end of last year and got it delivered just in time to get acquainted with the machine before the main silage season started. Having used it now for a couple of months, we have found the 8800 to be very powerful and it can certainly pick up the grass in a hurry.
“The intake is much higher compared to the previous model, and it has a more powerful engine. With the new cab design there is increased visibility of the sward and of the trailers, which makes filling them much easier for the operator,” says Thomas.
Thomas McKelvey and his team aim to harvest 200 acres a day with the new forager, depending on weather conditions and sward density. “Grass growth this year has been quite quick, leaving us with some heavy crops in the fields,” he says. “The new John Deere 8800 has certainly been tested so far this season.”
Johnston Gilpin’s sales director Robbie Hewitt adds: “There has been a huge interest in this new John Deere self-propelled forage harvester from a variety of customers. We received thousands of hits on social media after we posted some videos of the machine in action. Thomas McKelvey is another of our loyal customers and we are delighted to supply this new 8800 model to him in time for this year’s busy silage season.”
