Based outside of Bailieborough, Co Cavan, U. Carroll Agri Contractors offers the full range of agricultural contracting services while also making bespoke trailers, log splitters along with other farm machinery. Irish Tractor Agri & Plant spoke with Ultan Carroll to learn more about the business which he runs alongside his sons and its appearance on our TV screens during the spring.
These are busy times at U. Carroll Agri Contractors and the plan for Ultan Carroll and the team in Greaghagibney, Co Cavan is to try and keep things that way right through to next year.
Established in 1978, the family company operates with eight full-time employees including Ultan and his sons James and Ronan who run the business alongside him while their brother Paul also helps out during the summer season.
U. Carroll Agri Contractors/Carroll Engineering makes bespoke trailers, log splitters and other farm machinery and timber equipment for its customers, while the summer sees the family outfit concentrating on silage, baling and harvesting work.
Irish Tractor Agri & Plant touched base with Ultan Carroll recently to discuss the ins and outs of the company, its impressive fleet and what separates it from the competition.
“We make log splitters, tow log splitters, we put up sheds and do maintenance in different factories like Kyte Powertech in Cavan and Abcon in Cootehill,” he outlined.
“We also make power boxes, tipper trailers, low loader trailers and we can also do car trailers as well. We’d make different bespoke machines for Kyte Powertech in Cavan and Abcon in Cootehill.”
On the agri contracting end, he added: “We don’t do much slurry because we don’t like getting it on our tractors. We run mostly New Holland tractors here, but we do have a few Masseys, and have a couple of different balers and two Goweil wrappers. We use two JCB loaders (a 320S and a 435S) for buckraking the silage. We make up our own buck rakes which are fold down ones.”
Over the years, the Carroll family has grown a reputation for delivering quality work and it has stayed with them to this day.
Farming, agri contracting and engineering work all come under the umbrella for the Carrolls and it all serves to keep them busy year-round.
Right now, U. Carroll Agri Contractors is turning its attention towards the agri contracting end with the summer months now upon us when silage, baling and harvesting work firmly become the focus.
It goes without saying that the work cannot be done without the right machinery and, currently, the Carrolls are operating with 10 New Holland and two Massey Ferguson tractors in their fleet.
Also added to the yard in Greaghagibney are a couple of Claas Harvesters, with a Claas jaguar-870 Self-Propelled Forage Harvester being the most recent addition.
All in all, business is flourishing for the family-run venture, so the burning question is what has been the secret behind its success to date?
How has a small start-up grown into what is now a thriving agri contracting and engineering company with an excellent reputation amongst its customers?
“We don’t tend to go out of our area looking for business in the line of harvesting,” said Ultan when the question was put to him.
“We try and deal with the people that we have always had here. We try to look after them the best that we can because they’re very loyal customers in fairness to them and they know what they get with us.”
This past spring saw the quality work that the company carries out proudly featured on national television.
The popular ‘Contractors’ programme on TG4, which explores the working lives and personal narratives of eight agricultural contracting families from diverse locations, paid a visit to Greaghagibney over the past year.
While the programme showcased the array of services that U. Carroll Agri Contractors provides its customers, it also featured Ultan away from the work place as he and his fellow Breffni Kickers performed their line dancing across different venues.
“We were on it there on Thursday nights from 9.30pm on TG4 (in March, April and May) and how it came about was when my young lad saw it on Facebook and he got his wife to send an email to them on what we did,” Ultan explained.
“They probably thought we were fairly attractive for it because of the engineering end of it and the silage end as well. I also do line dancing as well and we’re members of the Breffni Kicker Line Dancers.
“So, they came onboard to see what we were doing for social life and they came in and videoed us doing line dancing at weddings and different events there.”
Looking back on it now, Ultan said that the entire experience was one that he thoroughly enjoyed.
“It was a great experience overall because the boys that came out to record us here were more than helpful and decent fellas that didn’t put us out at all,” he said.
“They didn’t compel us to do things. They let us carry on with our normal type of daily work and just asked us a few questions along the way. In fact, they were an advantage to us because we are after getting an awful lot of business since it came on the tele.
“Even this morning a fella rang me and ordered a log splitter and told me he got to know about us through seeing one of my sons talking about us on TG4.”
Fantastic to hear.
U. Carroll Agri Contractors/Carroll Engineering Greaghagibney,
Bailieborough, Co Cavan
A82 P206
Mobile: 087 260 9519
Facebook: /U.CarrollAgri/Carrollengineering
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 12 No 2, July/August 2024
U. Carroll Agri Contractors/Carroll Engineering
