Dooley Agri Contractors have been providing an exceptional service to a large and loyal customer-base in the midlands for over half a century.
Based in Colt, Co. Laois, the third-generation family business specialises in pit and baled silage, umbilical slurry spreading, hedgecutting, corn cutting, dung spreading, mulching, ploughing, grass stitching and digger work. The Dooleys also cut 50 acres of silage every year on land they own and rent.
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, Dooley Agri Contractors have an array of machinery to carry out your work quickly and efficiently, providing you with value-for-money and an alternative to investing in your own expensive equipment. Their longevity and success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and expertise of their staff as well as the quality of their machinery. The contractor’s highly-skilled team delivers the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
From humble beginnings when Fintan Dooley, who is now 82, started out sowing corn for local farmers before moving into round baling, the Co. Laois operation now provides an extensive range of services and is recognised as one of the leading agri contractors in the midlands. Fintan’s son Rob runs the business along with his sons Adam and Conor, his wife Valerie and mother Monica – the latter two are responsible for the administration side of things.
“It’s a real family affair,” Adam acknowledges.
“We also have a few great lads working for us, including Ger Grant who has been with us for over 30 years and is an outstanding mechanic. Ger and my father look after most of the repair and maintenance work for us. We have a real passion for the business and that’s part of the reason why so many farmers in the area choose us to look after their contracting needs.”
Dooley Agri Contractors run a modern fleet of 12 tractors. There are four New Hollands (T7.210, T7.270, 7040 and TM.140), a Case Puma 185, two John Deere 26900s, two CLAAS Arion 650s, two CLAAS Arion 640s and a CLAAS Arion 630. They also operate two JCB loaders (434 and 416), a Hitachi 130 excavator and a JCB three-tonne mini-digger.
As far as grass machinery is concerned, the Dooleys have a CLAAS 870 self-propelled harvester, three McHale Fusion balers, a single back CLAAS mower, a trailed Kverneland mower, a set of CLAAS butterfly mowers, four silage trailers, including three Smyths, two Zero Grazers, a pair of silage rakes and a hay turner. In addition, they have a number of bale handlers, including trunks from Fairbrother Engineering, and bale trailers.
“We used to make more baled silage than pit, but now it’s about 50/50. We also do a small bit of hay and haylage. We bought the CLAAS butterfly mowers from Kelly’s in Abbeyleix and they’ve been a great addition. We also deal with Kelly’s for McHale, JCB and Smyth trailers, and enjoy a long-standing relationship with them.”
Slurry has become big business for the Colt contracting firm which has invested heavily in state-of-the-art umbilical systems and slurry equipment in recent times.
“We bought a new SlurryKat 12-metre umbilical system from Bailey Machinery Sales in Mountrath which has generated a lot of extra work for us. We pipe the slurry out to the field from a nurse tank which we built ourselves,” Adam explains.
The Dooleys have three slurry tankers and three agitators. The tankers are a Hi Spec 3,000-gallon, a SlurryKat 2,750-gallon and an Abbey 2,250-gallon. Another new piece of kit from Kelly’s is a Richard Western dung spreader.
Dooley Agri Contractors are synonymous with hedge cutting in the region. They have three McConnel hedge cutters on the John Deeres and a shears and mulcher attached to the Hitachi 130. A contract with Laois County Council to maintain grass verges along the road network keeps them busy outside of the hedge cutting season.
“Our work for Laois County Council takes us from Mountmellick to Borris-in-Ossory, and everywhere in between, during the summer months. That leads nicely into the hedge cutting season which starts in September. Whereas we generally operate within a 30km radius for silage and slurry, we’ll go that bit further for hedge cutting. It’s probably what we’re best known for,” Adam adds.
Other equipment operated by the Dooleys include a CLAAS combine harvester, Kuhn and Kverneland power harrows, a Kverneland four-furrow reversible plough, a three-metre disc harrow, a Sulky fertiliser spreader, two crop sprayers (one 12-metre and one 24-metre), a Rinieri mulcher for behind the tractor and a new Erth grass stitcher which is available for hire.
All machines are regularly maintained and serviced to avoid any breakdowns or downtime. There is no such thing as a quiet time for this agri contractor who will literally work around the clock at peak times to keep their clients happy. The Dooleys retain long-time customers and attract new ones by providing a professional, reliable, friendly, clean and value-for-money service.
As Dooley Agri Contractors continues to go from strength to strength, the successful family business would like to take this opportunity to thank its customers and suppliers for their unwavering support.
“We have some fantastic customers who never look past us. Our goal is to provide them with the best possible service. We’ll always go the extra mile for them,” Adam stresses.
Dooley Agri Contractors
Colt,
Ballyroan,
Co. Laois.
Telephone: 087 260 4712 / 087 144 0498
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 13 No 2, Autumn 2025
Dooley Agri Contractors, Featured
