Latest news
Spring Show Preview
An extract from an article in farm north east magazine reproduced with the kind permission of Eddie Gillanders.
The Royal Northern Spring Show, hosted at Thainstone Centre by Aberdeen & Northern Marts, is traditionally the first show of the year in Scotland and attracts a large attendance of farmers from all over Scotland.
This year’s show is again bursting at the seams with an increased entry of trade stands and an excellent entry in the various sections.
The show is again set to attract some of Scotland’s top beef cattle competing for an array of magnificent trophies and attractive prize money.
The prize money in the section was doubled last year as a result of a £3000 sponsorship package from leading trailer manufacturer, Stewart Trailers of Daviot, Inverurie, who will again be supporting this year’s show as sole sponsors of the exhibition cattle classes.
“We are greatly indebted to Stewart Trailers for their continued sponsorship which has given the show of beef cattle such a tremendous boost,” said Jim Marr who is President of the Royal Northern Agricultural Society. “The cash prizes for both class and championship placings offer a real incentive to exhibitors and we look forward to an outstanding show of quality beef cattle.”
The exhibitor of the supreme champion will collect prize money totalling £350 as a result of the sponsorship package which includes £50 for first prize, £200 for both the steer and heifer champions and £100 for the supreme champion.
Alan Snow Agricultural Engineers - Ride & Drive Day 8 February
We recently appointed Alan Snow Agricultural Engineers as our agents for Devon & Cornwall. Snows are having a Ride & Drive Day at Royal Cornwall Showground on 8th February. There will be a Stewart grain trailer and a livestock trailer on display and Colin Smith will be there to represent us.
Page Updates
I have added a lot of new photos to the site in the last two weeks and there are now video clips on the Tractor Drawn Livestock Float page showing the operation of folding decks and a hydraulic ramp.
Scottish County Tractor Club Calendar 2012
The 2012 calendar is now on sale, it is a special calendar to mark the club's 10th anniversary. For details of how to order your copy go to
www.scottishcountytractorclub.co.uk or e-mail Club Secretary Frances Ritchie
scotcounty@btinternet.com.
Royal Highland Show
We had a very busy time at the Highland, thanks to everyone who took time ot visit our stand, it was great to see so many friends and customers. The weather stayed dry for the four days so we were very lucky. A big thank you to Liz (Mandy's mum) for taking care of hospitality on Thursday and Friday and to Alan Suffling who worked on our stand for the first two days. Colin is now on his way to Norfolk to support Alan on the SAS Spreaders & Trailers stand at Norfolk Show so be sure to go and see the selection of Stewart Trailers there. Thanks also to Robert and Robbie Fleming from Ratho who helped us to set up and dismantle the stand.
Garioch Lions Inverurie Raft Race 5 June 2011
The Stewart Trailers team had an excellent day at the raft race coming in 6th out of 45 entries. The race starts at Kemnay and ends at Inverurie, a distance of around 5 miles. The race is held to raise funds for Kidney and Cancer Resaerch at ARI and our guys raised a very impressive £1,400 in sponsorship.
The team: Viesturs, Guntis, Barry, Aleksejs, Kaspars & Ints.
Alex Salmond judged the entries, seen here with the team and support crew of Denis, Tanya & James.
Grassland & Muck 2011
We had a very busy time at Grassland at Stoneleigh last week and were delighted to see so many of our customers and friends, thank you all for taking the time to visit our stand. We are most grateful to Alvis Contracting for allowing us to use one of their new trailers on the working demonstration with JCB and Krone.
May 2009
WARM WELCOME FOR NEW LIVESTOCK CONTAINER SYSTEM by Eddie Gillanders

James Stewart and Eddie Barclay
A £2.2 million contract to supply 48 specialist state-of-the-art livestock containers to ship cattle and sheep from Orkney and Shetland has been completed on time and on budget by manufacturers, Stewart Agricultural Limited of Inverurie, Aberdeenshire.
NorthLink Ferries took delivery of the last of the containers last month and will have the full complement available for the busy autumn season when large numbers of stock are shipped from the islands to the mainland.
More than half the containers were delivered by September last year and have been used to ship more than 27,000 cattle and 100,000 sheep.
Designed by James Stewart and based on the company’s market-leading livestock trailer, the robust 40ft aluminium double-decked container incorporates innovative design features to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare to meet stringent new EU regulations.
“We were delighted to win this contract and pleased that we have been able to deliver on time and budget,” said Mr Stewart.
“We worked closely with NorthLink and local farmers to design a container which not only meets the regulations but ensures stock arrive at their destination in top-class condition.”
NorthLink Ferries Freight/Logistics Manager, Eddie Barclay, said the system was working well with a positive feed back from both farmers and vets who had carefully monitored stock during transit.
“It has streamlined the whole system at both ends for loading and unloading,” said Mr Barclay. “The cattle and sheep are very contented and arrive in Aberdeen clean and in excellent condition.”
He paid tribute to Stewart Agricultural Limited for their innovative design, which had animal welfare as the top priority, and for their efficiency in meeting the ambitious target for delivery.
Farmers had also welcomed the new system which was proving more cost-effective both to them and to NorthLink ferries.
Features of the containers include a 7ft high lower deck to provide extra head room and ensure plenty of ventilation. Each compartment is fitted with a hay rack and water bowl, both of which can be easily adapted for either cattle or sheep. Effluent is contained in a tank built into the trailer on which the container sits.
Special double deck ramps have been put in place at Aberdeen, Kirkwall and Lerwick to facilitate easy loading and unloading and the fully-laden containers, with up to 20 cattle on the lower deck and 100 to 120 sheep on the upper deck, are moved on and off the ferry by Ro-Ro tractor trucks.
Containers are connected to the ship’s water supply during the voyage to ensure a constant supply of clean water while lighting, powered by a solar panel, facilitates easy inspection of the stock using built-in ladders and inspection hatches.