Farmworks Machinery Ltd. in Ballyboughal, North County Dublin, stocks a fantastic selection of high-spec, high-performance tractors and machinery for today’s professional farmer who simply can’t afford any downtime. Sales manager Brian Duane provides Irish Tractor & Agri with an update on this industry-leading Fendt, Kuhn and Güttler main dealership.
Dependable, high-quality machinery is a prerequisite for the busy, discerning modern farmer / contractor, for whom downtime is quite simply not an option. As main dealers for the celebrated Fendt, Kuhn and Güttler ranges, Farmworks Machinery tick all the boxes, offering customers the best machines money can buy and an aftersales service to match.
While the name Fendt is synonymous with high-performance, dependable tractors, Kuhn designs and manufactures a comprehensive range of innovative, high-quality agricultural machinery and farm equipment ideal for crop management, forage production, livestock farming and landscape maintenance. Güttler, meanwhile, produce an array of grassland management and cultivation equipment, including the popular GreenMaster and GreenSeeder series for rejuvenating pastures.
Between the three agencies, Farmworks Machinery has something for every farmer, contractor or landscaper and it’s no surprise to hear that this exceptional dealership – which threw open its doors to the agri community of North Dublin and surrounding counties in 2010 – continues to go from strength to strength in decidedly challenging times:
“We’re surprisingly busy at the minute given the harvest we had this year,” sales manager Brian Duane commented when we touched base with him in October. “Provided farmers get their winter crops planted, they should be buying again ahead of the new season. It’s been a good year and uptake was even better than we were expecting.”
Across all aspects of the dealership, sales were brisk in 2023. This of course is in no small way down to the quality of machinery supplied. “We sold a lot of new tractors this year and enjoyed our best-ever year with Kuhn,” Brian continues. “That was off the back of last year’s harvest; we had a good run up to spring and summer as a knock-on from the good harvest in 2022.”
Taking on the innovative and highly versatile Güttler range of soil cultivation / crop production equipment, which helps farmers increase yields and profitability, has proven to be another inspired move. “We’ve been doing Güttler for a few years now and there is steady demand. The Güttler GreenMaster is the main machine – ideal for paddock regeneration.”
Suitable for arable and grassland, the GreenMaster is a unique, versatile 5-in-1 machine combination ideal for levelling, aerating, dethatching, sowing and re-compacting all in one system. The GreenMaster 3m Tine Seed is a 40-outlet drill with a 75mm spacing, or can be set to band spread at a low level. Not just a direct drill, it is a complete grassland management tool that can be used to scarify, level, aerate, repair poaching, and for full reseeds, oversowing grass, multispecies, catch crops, etc.
The unique Prismatic roller (developed by Güttler over 40 years) kneads the seed into the ground to ensure good seed to soil contact, and bruises the existing canopy to allow space and light for new plants to emerge.
GreenMasters are not a one trick pony; they can also be used in stubbles, or tilled ground, and for rolling in spring time, to provoke tillering, to get volunteers to germinate, etc.
Meanwhile, a very popular alternative to the McHale Fusion, the Kuhn FBP 3135 baler-wrapper combination – which begins with a standard FB 3135 fixed chamber baler with an Opticut integral rotor merged with an innovative wrapping system – offers high-quality bales at the lowest costs. “We ran a demo of the FBP 3135 combi-baler this year and generated a lot of interest from that,” Brian notes.
While inflation and the cost of living crisis are wreaking havoc with everybody’s bottom line, there will always be demand for new machinery. The key is to offer farmers machines with built-in performance and value for money. “Everything is down across the board,” Brian observes. “Beef is down, milk is down, grain is down and sheep are down, but there are always ups and downs in farming and there is still good interest in machinery, no matter how bleak things look.
“Our customers need to keep their stuff fresh and reliable. The tillage sector is our main market and we also sell machinery to contractors and a good few dairy farmers, too. We’re also getting more into niche markets like landscaping and horticulture, and Fendt tractors are an ideal fit for that.
“Fendt offer smaller, lightweight, high-spec tractors with Vario transmission. You can get Vario tractors from 70hp up to 670 and, if you are looking for spec, they have the spec as standard.”
Inspired by nature, the newly developed Fendt 600 Vario offers farmers and contractors a superior all-round tractor in the 150 – 220 hp sector. The 600 Vario utilises innovative design inspired by impressive characteristics found in the natural world.
“This was the first year of the Fendt 728 Gen7 being available and we were lucky enough to be the first dealer to get one. We did a number of demos with it during the summer and it was hugely popular.
“We’re very happy with all three of our brands,” Brian confirms. “Fendt is widely acknowledged as the top brand of tractor, renowned for performance, reliability, sustainability, innovation, high spec and comfort. Kuhn is the benchmark in a complete range of innovative, quality machinery and Güttler is another great German brand leading the way in their corner of the market.
“The great thing from our point of view is that there is no real overlap between the three brands, so they complement each other well and customers have a wide choice of machines to choose from.”
Held at Condells Farm, Athy, on Wednesday, September 13th, the inaugural Kuhn Center Ireland tillage demo day was a resounding success, showcasing and demonstrating some of the latest machines from the extensive Kuhn tillage and seeding range, including ploughs, cultivators, drills and sprayers. “Kuhn has a massive portfolio of tillage machinery – there’s nothing in tillage that they don’t do – and that demo day was a major success, generating a lot of interest in their products.”
Covering Dublin, Louth, Meath, Kildare and up north as far as Cavan and Monaghan, Farmworks Machinery also sell second-hand tractors and machinery and run a state-of-the-art, fully-kitted-out workshop, with five vastly-experienced Fendt-trained and main-dealer-certified technicians on hand to provide an unbeatable repair and maintenance service.
Brian and his team always go above and beyond the call of duty to look after their customers’ every need. “To get the best value for money and efficiency, the modern farmer is looking for performance and technology over price. All of our brands offer this,” he points out. “Tractor-wise, Fendt is the frontrunner when it comes to technology. If you mention technology and tractors in the same sentence, Fendt is what comes to mind.
“Ultimately, it all comes down to quality, performance and service,” the customer-focused sales manager at Farmworks Machinery concludes. “You will generally sell a customer the first machine on quality, but the second one will be sold on service. If you don’t provide a great service, then he’s not going to buy another machine off you. With the short weather windows and the pressure farmers and contractors are under to keep their machines running around the clock when those windows open, aftersales service is vital.”
Farmworks Machinery Ltd.,
Dooroge,
Ballyboughal,
County Dublin.
Tel: 01 8433015
Mobile: 086 4110442
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 11 No 6, December 2023/January 2024
