A commitment to manufacturing quality products has earned R&M Buckets Ltd a reputation that is the envy of all their competitors. Placing a huge emphasis on meeting their customers’ expectations has played a significant part in the company’s success over the years.
This family run business was established by Michael Rafferty, who brought his vast experience in engineering to the forefront of the company in 2001.
The company now manufactures a wide range of products including buckets, attachments and accessories for the agricultural and commercial sectors.
Michael’s sons Paul and Darren are involved in the day to day running of the business and Paul spoke to us about the products that they produce and the importance that is placed on quality.
On the agricultural side of the business products such as Mole-Ploughs, Subsoilers, Gravel-Tunnel Ploughs and more recently Stoning-Karts. A selection of front loader attachments are also manufactured, from Hydraulic Quick-Coupler units to HiTip buckets and Silage-Forks available for all machines.
“Our agricultural best sellers include mole ploughs, single-leg or multi-leg subsoilers, gravel-tunnel ploughs and stoning karts. We also do shear grabs, bale shears and general bale grabs, silage forks, folding silage forks, pallet forks and buckets of all kinds. Hydraulic quick couplers and adaptor plates are also becoming more popular with farmers who want to use one product on a few different machines,” said Paul.
From its state of the art premises at Grangegeeth, Slane, County Meath, all products are manufactured to the highest spec possible, while all materials are sourced from reputable companies.
“We have a reputation for producing quality products and that is something we have and always will do. Nothing but the best of materials is used and all metal is CE marked” he added.
“Our aim has always been quality and not quantity. Our staff are all very experienced at what they do and we know that every job they undertake will be done professionally and to a very high standard.”
Furthermore, R&M will happily undertake any metal fabrication, including decorative gates, security gates and railings as well as any repair work to buckets and attachments. From changing fittings and teeth to replacing edges and bushings, all repairs are carried out to the highest possible standards by experienced and qualified personnel in R&M Buckets’ state-of-the-art workshop.
Products manufactured in the excavating side of things include digging and riddle buckets, ditching and grading buckets, V-shaped buckets, landscaping rakes and buckets, grabs and a range of attachments (adaptor plates, tipping boxes, angle tilts, snow ploughs, jib extensions, dipper arm extensions, rock hammer tops and rock pokes).
R&M Buckets Ltd. is very much a one-stop shop for all bucket, attachment and accessory needs, offering a full range of services in-house including design, cut, manufacture and finish as well as repairs.
The customer base reaches all across Ireland as R&M Buckets Ltd offer not only quality products, but at competitive prices also.
“You have to be competitive in this game. A lot of our customers would be repeat and that shows that they are happy with the service provided, but it is up to us to ensure that level of service continues and to be honest, we are always looking at ways of improving it.”
R&M Buckets have showcased their products around the country at different events with one of the most recent being at this year’s National Ploughing championship.
“We do get a lot of interest at shows like the ploughing championships, there are a huge number of people passing through on a daily basis and it is a great place to show people what we have on offer and more importantly be able to answer their queries there and then, which is a big benefit to both them and us. It also provides us with a chance to catch up with customers and showcase new products”
R&M Buckets Ltd have sold their products across the world, but Paul admitted that exports is an area that they have not pushed too hard given how busy they are at home.
“We have sold container-loads of buckets and attachments to Australia and Colombia, for example, as well as more regular loads Folding Forks and other front loading attachments to Sweden and The Netherlands.
“We are so busy at the moment that we don’t push the exports too hard, but it is something that we will be looking into doing in the future. We sell directly to end users throughout the 32 counties (including contractors and farmers) and also supply buckets and attachments to agricultural machinery dealers.”
Paul revealed that they are continuously developing new products for the market place. “We are constantly trying to improve and update our products as much as possible and also regularly look at adding new products to the range.” “We have been getting good feedback from customers using our new Ejector Tiledrains. These are hydraulically operated and ideal for wet and sticky soil conditions.”
R&M Buckets Ltd offer a bespoke service in order to satisfy their customers needs and this means the timeframe on any job can vary.
“A lot of the work we do is bespoke. It is very hard to standardise anything we do. In general, it could take anything between one week and four weeks, depending on the bucket and the hydraulics involved in it. On average – although every job is different – I’d say there’s a two-three week lead time at the moment.”
Looking towards the future and Paul concluded that the aim to grow with the market, while continuing to enhance their reputation of producing quality products at a competitive price.
“We always try to give the best price possible but our main concern is delivering a high-quality bucket. Naturally, we will always try to keep the costs down as much as we possibly can – and we do a good job with this – but we will never compromise on quality. We prefer to invest in quality products and you have to charge for that. Most people are prepared to pay for quality. We could bring in cheaper, poorer-quality buckets from abroad and cut costs that way, but we don’t want to be associated with cheap materials that compromise on quality. We offer a quality Irish product and a quality back-up service and customers know exactly where they stand.”
Contact Details:
R&M Buckets Ltd.
Grangegeeth,
Slane,
County Meath.
Phone: 041 9820800
Fax: 041 9820200
Mobile: 086 2633002 / 086 8509313
Email: [email protected]
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 1, February 2018
