After a year of hard graft and daily use, the Guinan farm in Co. Offaly has handed back the keys to their Merlo Multifarmer 34.7.

Michael Guinan, who is dairy farming in partnership with his wife Concepta, and his son Kevin, beat the 1 in 35,000 odds and won a year's use of the Merlo Multifarmer in late 2024.

The Guinans were handed the keys to the machine along with the full trimmings of a bucket, pallet forks, and a muck fork/grab in April 2025 as part of the mega competition, which was held in conjunction with Agriland.

Now that their time with the machine draws to a close, Michael reflects on the year's work it has done.

With more than 600 hours racked up the clock, the machine has left a lasting impression on the farm.

It has done every job from feeding, stacking bales, and mucking out - to agitating slurry and mowing grass.

Merlo

Michael said they got stuck into work straight away with it last year, tidying up bushes and ditches that had been cut.

He said it was an ideal job to start out, with as there was no danger of knocking down any buildings out in the open space while they got used to the machine's quick hydraulics.

The machine was hydrostatic, meaning as soon as you lift your foot of the accelerator, it came to a halt without breaking, but it also means it will let the 6.6t machine rapidly take off.

As well as that the joystick was sensitive to a hand and would automatically rev the engine when using the boom, rather than revving the machine manually with the throttle.

All of this, paired with the fact that the operator is positioned to the left-hand side of the road, took getting used to.

But once Michael had spent a bit of time in it, he was very comfortable and said the machine actually did a lot of the work for you.

He was also quick to praise the cab suspension for its smoothness and comfort on the road, as well as the boom suspension, especially considering some of their farm is parcelled up in hilly land.

He said these features made the machine "a dream to handle", especially when dealing with bales.

Multifarmer

The Merlo Multifarmer's unique point is the lift arms and power take-off (PTO) on the back, much the same as a tractor set-up.

Michael got to work agitating with the machine that spring, with the the 140hp Deutz engine making light work of the task and allowing the farm to free up a tractor for spreading the slurry.

He also managed to get out mowing with the machine in the summer.

He said that the ability to put the machine into crab steer (four-wheel steer) make a tidy job out of the corners.

He added that there was no problem driving the mower with the machine, but said with the cab mounted on the left, visibility was a slight issue for mowers, which are mounted on the right-hand side.

Reflecting on their time with the machine, Michael said they would definitely miss having a teleporter in the yard for easy movements and stacking.

He added that the machine will definitely have to be replaced in the near future.

However, he said that the one downside of winning the competition is being spoiled by the use of a new machine, joking that he will now want a higher spec that he would previously have been looking for.