Cumbrian Silage’26 ‘Drag chopping with the Beast’ (Part 1) 350hp Fendt 936, JF1355, MF390T, Renault

It’s not been a great start to June weather wise here in Cumbria, for the first two weeks of the month we had rain almost every single day! Certainly not ideal conditions for the many stock farmers who take a later first cut but still need their crucial winter feed safely in the clamp but due to the unstable weather conditions and everyone wanting their grass harvest at the same time that hasn’t been easy. But it did pick up and a most welcome phone call got me out into the fields for the first time in June and a visit to one of my favourite farms, an absolutely spotless holding set in the most beautiful countryside imaginable. With a mix of both classic and modern tractors and a power span of between 90hp & 350hp there was certainly plenty of variety and colour in the fields though the hit and miss weather (sunny one day, rain the next) and frequent and often heavy showers meant it took a several days to gather the crop in. Kicking out the mowed grass was the farms 2wd MF 390T working with a Claas Volto 800 6-rotor tedder. On the farm from new the 390T was very manoeuvrable round the fields and a perfect sized tractor for this important job. Rowing up was a lovely Renault Ares 816RZ working with a Krone Swadro twin rotor rake working ahead of possibly the most powerful trailed forager outfit I have ever seen! Previous visits have seen Armathwaite contractor Jason Robley’s reverse drive Reco Mengele SH40 working with a 276hp Fendt 828 Vario but this seasons outfit out powered it by quite some margin! The gigantic 355hp Fendt 936 Vario, without a doubt one of the most powerful tractors in this region of Cumbria was powering a JF-Stoll FCT1355 trailed forager, the biggest model in the old JF range. Keeping up with this impressive outfit was Jason’s Fendt 828 and the farms own MF 5445, both pulling Marshall trailers which I assume were 12-ton models. Due to having so much footage of the operation and lots of activity going on I have decided to post two videos as not only was there a dramatic change in the weather over the days (as you can probably tell by the different light) but the trailer carting team also changed on my three visits to the farm. Also in part two there will be the clamp work which I always like to capture so hopefully plenty more action of this formidable outfit for you all to see working. Many thanks indeed to the farm owners who made me feel most welcome on my three visits, lots of thumbs up when they passed and also to Jason and the trailer drivers for the cab rides to cool down with the air-con! Filmed in Cumbria June 16th-21st 2026 If you enjoy my videos of farm machinery at work in Cumbria (and Southern Scotland), please consider subscribing. Likes and taking the time to comment (preferably positive ones) are always welcomed and I will try to reply as soon as possible although if I’m at work or out filming there might be a delay. Cheers, David.