Tanco’s trailed mowers in operation in Tipperary
Tanco has been busily making farm machinery for over 50 years at its home base in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow. The company is best known for its range of bale wrappers, but back in 2019 it quietly moved into the mower market.
When entering a new market, most companies would start off with a small machine to both test the water, and to test itself and its ability to manufacture the equipment.
Tanco has taken a different route – the new mower models are full butterfly sets, which are available in either 9m or 10m versions.
The butterfly becomes a bee
An entomologist might frown at comparing them to butterflies though, for instead of the mowers’ beds folding up vertically, they fold back horizontally onto a trailed frame, making them more like the wings of a bee or wasp.
More acres with less fuel
The first and most important point he makes is that of efficiency; by mounting the mower beds onto a trailed frame, the flotation characteristics are greatly improved, resulting in a reduced power requirement.
Along with this claim goes the assumption of reduced fuel consumption, which those already operating the mowers appear happy to confirm.
Tanco quotes one user as achieving up to 25% reduction in fuel usage as well as 50% increase in productivity.
These are impressive figures, and watching the lack of drama in the field as the beds lift out of work on the headlands, and the smooth progress when in the crop – they don’t appear unreasonable.
