Farmers can now order from the comfort of their own home from www.dhfm.ie which is Ireland’s leading online agri-spare parts website. The website is the brainchild of Declan Hayes, who founded DH Farm Machinery in Gort, Co. Galway in 2001.
A mechanic by trade, Declan had worked as a service engineer with Conor Engineering in nearby Tubber, Co. Clare before deciding to set up his own company. DH Farm Machinery is now a well-established farm machinery business which has built up a considerable customer-base, supplying both farmers and contractors all over Ireland.
Having recently launched www.dhfm.ie in the UK, farmers and contractors across the Irish Sea can now avail of the same great service DH Farm Machinery has offered their Irish counterparts over the past 13 years.
“When I worked with Conor Engineering, I spent a lot of time marketing their range of bale wrappers and slurry tankers in Europe. Having made many contacts and got to know the business very well, I decided to go out on my own in 2001 and haven’t had any regrets,” he says.
Based on the Tubber Road in Gort (Gort Co-op Livestock Mart is only a stone’s throw away), DH Farm Machinery sells and services all types of farm machinery, including tractors, mowers, rakes, tedders, round balers, bale wrappers, vacuum tanks, toppers, swath wilters, diet feeders, zero grazers, agitators and side spreaders. It holds several agencies, among them being Conor, Pottinger, McConnell, Malone and Bogballe fertiliser spreaders.
Also boasting a comprehensive spare parts division, Declan decided earlier this year to launch Ireland’s first and largest complete online farm machinery shop, providing customers with thousands of spare parts for both tractors and farm machines. Many of these items are in stock, meaning quick delivery is guaranteed.
“We work with Fastway Couriers, who provide a next-day delivery service to anywhere in Ireland,” Declan explains.
“This is a new and exciting part of our business which we have put a lot of work and research into. We’re the first company to specialise in online agri-spare parts sales in this country and we have got a great response so far. There is a whole new generation of farmers out there who have grown up buying products online, so it made perfect sense for us to provide them with this service.
“Our website is concise, straightforward and easy to use. If you can’t find the product you are looking forward or are having any problems navigating the website, just pick up the phone and we will be only too happy to help.”
He continues: “The beauty of ordering online is that the product will be delivered to you the next day. Another plus is that when you order from the comfort of your own home, you know exactly what you want. I find it’s easier to think clearly when you’re relaxing at home at the end of the day.
“I know a lot of farmers who come in to a buy a particular part in our shop and end up going home with the wrong one because they get distracted for one reason or another.
“Our website is designed to get you to buy the parts you want, not the parts you don’t want. If you purchase the wrong part, we will gladly take it back and replace it with the right one. We’re always here to offer the right advice.”
So successful has DH Farm Machinery’s agri-spare parts website been in Ireland that Declan now has his sights set on the much bigger UK market.
“It has worked here, so why wouldn’t it work in the UK as well? We are very confident that it will doing well for us over there.”
DH Farm Machinery sells only quality and genuine spare parts for tractors and farm machinery. Most of the tractor parts in stock are supplied by Matt Buckley Tractor Spares in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. DH Farm Machinery stocks 20,000 tractor parts a further 20,000 machinery parts that are unique to Ireland.
“That’s what makes our website different,” Declan points out.
“There are other websites that sell tractor and farm machinery parts, but more often than not, they are not compatible with Irish machines. There are over 1,000 different Massey Ferguson parts, but only a handful of those are unique to Ireland. Any parts that are suited to Irish tractors or machinery, we have them.”
At DH Farm Machinery, value and service to the customer means everything, so Declan and his team are constantly striving to ensure every item they sell is very competitively priced and the customer is happy with the service they offer.
Declan employs 10 staff, a number he succeeding in retaining during the worst years of the recession.
“We weren’t too badly affected by the recession because farming was probably the best industry to be in. Farmers and contractors continued spending money because the work still had to be done. Farming didn’t come to a standstill like other sectors did. We retained our staff numbers and our market share which we were obviously very pleased about.”
Looking to the future, Declan says: “Our aim is to continue growing both the farm machinery sales and the online agri-spare parts website sides of our business. We are delighted with the success of our online spare parts website to date and believe it has huge potential as long as we continue to offer customers the range of parts they are looking for.”
DH Farm Machinery
Tubber Road,
Gort,
Co. Galway.
Telephone: 091 630827
Mobile: 087 2256324
Website: www.dhfm.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 2 No 4, September 2014
