Shane Nolan combines running his busy agri contracting and tillage enterprises with John Deere transmission repairs and servicing.
Based on the edge of the Burren in Finavara, Co. Clare, Shane left his electronics job in Dublin in 1995 to return home to take over his father Jimmy’s small farm and contracting business. He was initially joined by his brother Ronan before going out on his own and expanding operations.
Shane grows 200 acres of barley, oats and beet on mostly rented land. He rolls the barley and oats during the winter that he supplies along with the beet – which he grows about 25 acres of – to local farmers. In addition, he provides an exceptional contracting service to customers in north Clare and south Galway. His services include pit silage, ploughing, sowing, spraying, beet harvesting, hedge-cutting, fertiliser spreading and stone picking.
Four years ago, the Clare contractor decided to drop baled silage and slurry spreading from his list of services as they didn’t ‘match’ with his business model.
“We’re trying to streamline everything so that one runs into the other. The baling and the slurry were getting in the way so that’s why we stopped doing them,” he explains.
“We had problems getting paid for some of the baling, while some farmers were dumping everything and anything in their slurry pits, and that’s not our way of doing things. A shortage of skilled labour didn’t help either.”
Shane’s background in electronics has come in useful and has allowed him to branch out into the repair and servicing of engines, gearboxes, transmissions and wiring for John Deere tractors. This side of the business is going from strength to strength, so much so that Shane recently added a special ‘cleanroom’ for gearboxes to his workshop.
“We have our own fully kitted-out workshop for repairs and servicing which is getting busier and busier,” he says.
“Some of the main dealers recommend us for electrical issues, transmission – including John Deere Auto-Power transmissions – and control repairs. We specialise in Auto-Power transmission repairs and rebuilds. We’ve been rebuilding Auto-Power transmissions for the past 10 years and are one of a few in the country that can do it.
“We help customers to sort out problems they may have with their CAN or LIN bus systems, and to save on wiring. It’s another string to our bow which attracts customers from all over Ireland.”
Committed to providing superior service and complete customer satisfaction, Shane Nolan has 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. The contracting firm’s success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and expertise of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. Shane and his highly-skilled and highly-motivated team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
Shane is running a fleet of 14 John Deere tractors, including six 6920s, a 7920, a 6150R, a 6620, a 6610, a 6410, a 6320, a 2140 and a 1040.
“All the tractors are paid for, so they aren’t costing me money as far as repayments are concerned. I have them when I need them,” he says.
“My father bought a John Deere 955 combine in 1982, which we still have, and we’ve been green ever since. I bought a John Deere W540 with a 16ft header in 2012 and that’s our main combine now.”
Shane’s grass equipment includes a John Deere 7480 self-propelled forage harvester, a KRONE BIG M mower, a KRONE rake, six Herron silage / grain trailers ranging from 16.5ft to 22ft, a Volvo L70E loading shovel and a JCB telehandler that is used for a variety of jobs.
For tillage, he has a 3m Vaderstad Rapid 300 seed drill, a 4m Mandam disc harrow, a five-furrow Kverneland reversible plough, a Cross 6.3m ring roller with paddles, a single-row Armer Salmon beet harvester, a Kuhn MDS 2 hydraulic fertiliser spreader, a Kivi-Pekka stone picker and a new Grass Panbuster subsoiler that was purchased from Erth Engineering. The Panbuster is designed to improve soil aeration and improve drainage, and also to help farmers to grow more grass, extend their growing season and improve grass quality.
Other pieces of kit include a John Deere 15m mounted sprayer, a John Deere 24m trailed sprayer, a Ferri telescopic hedge-cutter, a John Deere 441 baler, a Tanco wrapper and an original John Deere combi baler which was tested as a prototype and is the only one in the world. The two balers are used for baling straw.
All machines are maintained and serviced on a regular basis to avoid downtime, with all of this being carried out in-house. Shane’s main suppliers include Murphy’s Garage in Headford, Geary’s Garage, TFM (Templetuohy Farm Machinery), DH Farm Machinery in Gort, Paraic Dwyer Agri Parts in Kilconnell, Ballinasloe, Jim Power Agri Sales in Tallow, MacMahon / Sweeney Oil in Galway, JMC Parts in Cork, Connacht Lubricants in Caherlistrane, Co. Galway and Burke West Lubricants in Tulsk, Co. Roscommon.
There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded contractor who will work around the clock and take on extra staff at busy times to keep clients happy. Ploughing and sowing take precedence in the early part of the year, followed by pit silage during the summer months. After that comes beet harvesting, hedge-cutting and rolling barley and oats. The business cuts approximately 2,000 acres of pit silage per annum, having gradually built up its customer-base over the years.
“We pride ourselves on our efficient, reliable and value-for-money service. We get a lot of repeat business which is a sign that our customers are happy with us,” Shane reveals.
“We’ve picked up additional pit silage work from a local contractor who recently exited the sector.”
As a member of the Association of Farm Contractors of Ireland (FCI) national executive, Shane is acutely aware of the challenges facing agri contractors. The FCI was formed in 2012 to give agricultural contractors a voice at Government and EU level. Its other objectives are to promote good contractor / farmer relationships; to promote the benefits of a good agricultural contracting service; to provide members with knowledge and courses to help them run their business; to promote a good working relationship between contractors.
“There are a lot of people getting out of agri contracting because of rising input costs, labour shortages and the lack of Government support for the sector. On top of that, you’re always at the mercy of weather. Thankfully, this year was very good weather-wise.”
Shane is grateful for the support he receives from his wife Siobhan and his 13-year-old son James, who is flying high in the Irish Karting Championships.
“We were gone 41 or 42 weekends to karting events with James last year. That included 14 trips to England where James raced against competitors from Canada, the US, France, Australia and Dubai. It’s very competitive over there.
“James has moved up to the IAME X30 series for 2025 and was third in the 2024 Motorsport Ireland Cadet Championship. Hopefully, he can keep progressing in the sport,” the proud father adds.
Shane would also like to take this opportunity to thank his customers and suppliers for their continued support as well as his small, but dedicated team for their hard work and expertise.
Shane Nolan
Stevens,
Finavara,
Burrin,
Co. Clare.
Telephone: 086 600 8139
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 13 No 3, Winter 2025
