From its central base in Lispole, TMP Repairs Ltd. (Tractor, Machinery & Plant Repairs) provides customers in County Kerry with a comprehensive on-site repairs service, covering everything from tyres and hydraulics to engines, gearboxes and welding. We caught up with the driving force behind the business, Bryan O’Sullivan, to find out more about this exceptional operation.
Boasting a wealth of experience in repairing tractors, plant, farm machinery and commercial vehicles, Bryan O’Sullivan of TMP Repairs Ltd. offers a unique and professional on-site mobile service to customers and businesses throughout County Kerry. Keeping downtime to an absolute minimum, he has the expertise and equipment to get all machinery up and running as quickly as possible.
The vast range of services provided to agricultural and plant machinery operators across the Kingdom includes: mobile puncture repairs; on-site repair and replacement of all types of hydraulic hoses on tractors, diggers etc.; .the repair of engines, gearboxes and hydraulics on forage harvesters, feeders, balers, bale wrappers, mowers and combine harvesters, tillage and slurry handling equipment; repairing tractors, commercial trucks and vans, track machines and forklifts; and an on-site welding and fabrication service.
Bryan provides a 24/7 mobile service and prides himself on having machinery repaired as rapidly as humanly possible.
Reflecting on the history of TMP Repairs, which was formed in April, 2011, the Kerry man notes: “I had worked for silage contractors and also drove trucks, including a lot of continental work, so I was no stranger to working long and unsociable hours.
“Any time I was at home, I was doing repairs. I then got a job driving a petrol tanker three days a week and was doing repairs the rest of the time. The repair side of it just kept getting busier and busier and eventually I decided to go out on my own, offering a mobile repairs service to tractor, machinery and plant owners.”
From his base in Lispole, close to Dingle, Bryan provides coverage to all of County Kerry. He includes Kerry County Council amongst his wide and varied list of regular customers (“I work for them in Dingle; they rang me two years ago and I’ve been working for them ever since”). He’s always busy… “At this time of year, the work varies – a lot of marine work, a lot of agricultural work and working on artics etc.,” he notes. “I’ve a huge customer base all over the county and could be doing anything from one day to the next – fitting tyres, repairing a hydraulic hose, rebuilding engines or gearboxes. We also have large mobile welders and can do on-site aluminium and MIG welding as well as arc welding.”
Bryan also does GA1 certification and inspection for commercial and agri machinery.
“I’m lucky in that I have two busy seasons – farming and fishing,” he continues. “On the fishing side of things, I do a lot of the repair work for Dingle Transport, who specialise in fish transportation and also do a lot of work on trawlers etc. During the summer, there’s a lot of work for farmers and contractors.”
Bryan runs two Mercedes Sprinter mobile units – an ’05-reg and an ’11-reg – both of which are fitted out with everything he needs to provide an unrivalled mobile repair service to agri, plant and commercial vehicle operators. Specialist equipment includes the latest diagnostics for trucks and tractors, flow meters for testing pumps, air pressure gauges, compression tester etc.
The ’11 Sprinter carries equipment like compressor for puncture repair, a large selection of tools from sockets to spanners, hydraulic crimpers covering ¼ to 1inch 2wire and up to 3/4 inch 4wire fittings like BSP, JIC, Metric, ORFS and lots more and can stock specific fittings for customers if required. The ’05-reg has a Mosa welder /generator, pillar drill, compressor and provides the on-sire welding.
Bryan has one man working with him part-time. Ideally, he’d like to take on a full-time employee, but he’s finding it virtually impossible to locate somebody who can do the same work he does himself. “The problem is that I’d need someone who can weld, do diagnostics, change tyres, do hydraulic hoses and it’s very hard to find a lad that can cover all of those areas,” he points out.
TMP Repairs. is completely service-based and customer-orientated. “My aim is to provide a high-quality service and to try to keep people on the move,” says Bryan. “At the end of the day, I am here to save my customers time and money. I get in high-quality parts and provide a complete service. For example, I recently rebuilt a hydraulic motor where a new one would have cost €9,000 and the parts and labour cost the customer just €2,500. That’s big saving and you try your best to save your customers money in any way you can, without compromising on quality.”
Every job is done to the very highest standards. To guarantee this, Bryan has invested heavily in the business. “Since I started off, I’ve kept putting money back into it. I bought the ’11 Sprinter three years ago, which was a fair investment, and also added the ’05 two years ago when we were expanding. I bought the mobile welder six months ago, which was another big outlay, but I’ve got a nice steady flow of work out of it.
“I buy top-quality tools and have already earmarked what I want to buy in 2016. I know what my budget is going to be every year and invest that as well as I can.”
Is it a headache trying to run Tractor, Machinery & Plant Repairs as a viable commercial entity, ensuring that there is sufficient profit at the end of the week to make it all worthwhile? “It is and the harsh reality is that you have to walk away from some customers if they start to mess you around. I have to get paid. I need a wage myself and I have to get the money in to keep things rolling. Otherwise I would be wasting my time.”
Looking to the future, Bryan is optimistic that the business can continue to thrive: “I hope so. There have been times when it has been tough but I enjoy what I do and I can see where I want to bring this business and the potential it has.
“I set the business up in the middle of a recession,” he concludes. “I had no other choice. I came in at a hard time but the choice was to either sit at home doing nothing or to keep doing what I had become known for. I started off small and kept adding more equipment and more customers and built it up gradually. It has worked out well so far and hopefully that will continue.”
Considering the comprehensive range of quality services provided by TMP Repairs Ltd. to a varied clientele all over County Kerry, it’s hard to imagine anything other than continued success for this outstanding business.
TMP Repairs Ltd.,
Lispole,
County Kerry.
Tel: 087 9737920
Email: [email protected]
www.tmprepairs.ie
Facebook: TMP Repairs Limited
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 2, February 2016
