Smith Bros Agri Contractors Ltd in Tierworker, Co. Meath is a second-generation family business that provides an exceptional service to a large and loyal customer-base in counties Meath, Cavan and Louth.
From their base near Kells on the Meath-Cavan border, brothers Padraig and Andrew Smith offer a wide range of high-quality contracting services, including pit and baled silage, umbilical slurry spreading, slurry transportation, muck shifting, hedgecutting, mulching, reseeding and digger work. The brothers have grown the business significantly since taking over from their father Philip, who founded it in the mid-1980s, but now concentrates on the family’s dairy and beef enterprises.
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, the Smiths 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 success can be attributed to the knowledge, skill and expertise of their staff as well as the quality of their machinery. Padraig and Andrew’s highly-skilled team delivers the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
“Andrew and I took over the reins about 12 years ago,” Padraig explains.
“Our father had already established a good business which we’ve built on. We try to push on and do a bit more every year. We have eight full-time staff and take on seasonal workers at busy teams. We have an excellent crew who are always willing to go the extra mile.
“We also have fantastic customers and suppliers. Our main suppliers are Clarke Machinery in Kells, Martin’s Garage in Bailieboro, Leinster Farm Machines in Duleek and Gilsenan Farm Machinery in Mullagh. And not forgetting the tremendous support we receive from our partners Lisa and Christine, and parents Philip and Breda.
“In this game, you have to provide the exact services the farmer wants and make sure you give them a reliable service. We have a lot of second- and third-generation customers going back over the years. We look after them and they look after us.
“Ultimately, it all boils down to giving a good, reliable service with good machinery and experienced operators.”
A fresh and immaculate fleet of tractors and machinery is very much at the heart of the operation. The brothers are constantly investing in new machinery to keep themselves at the forefront of agri-contracting in Ireland. Tractor-wise, they run nine Valtras and three Massey Fergusons. The Valtra fleet comprises a 154, 173, 174, 194, 195, 234, 255 and two new 155s, while there are two new 7S.210’s in the Massey fleet along with a 8730 that powers a set of Samasz butterfly mowers and a Lemken 6m one-pass drill.
For silage, the Smiths run a CLAAS 880 self-propelled forage harvester, a Malone silage wagon, two (one new) McHale Fusion balers, a New Holland 190 loader purchased from M&S Machinery in Cashel, two sets of Samasz butterfly mowers from Egmont Agri in Mallow, two sets of CLAAS double (front and back) mowers, a CLAAS 2900 silage rake, two Krone silage rakes (20ft and 50ft) and six Broughan 20-25ft double and tri-axle trailers.
“We cut 3,500 acres of pit silage and make 18,000 bales a year,” Padraig reveals.
“We decided to increase our mowing capacity in 2019 and go down the route of butterfly mowers. Up until then, most mowing was done using two CLAAS front- and rear-mounted combinations and three trailed John Deere mowers. Now, we have two butterfly combinations backed up by a pair of front- and rear-mounted mowers.”
The slurry operation is substantial with the brothers running seven tankers (two Red Rock, three NCs, one SlurryKat and one Joskin) with capacities ranging from 2,000 to 6,500 gallons. The tankers all have dribble bars, while there are three Mastek umbilical systems (two x 12m and one x 10m). The Smiths have over 4,000m of piping combined and have also invested in a new Scania S650 truck which is used for low loader and slurry tanker work.
For tillage, the Co. Meath contracting firm has two Kverneland five-furrow reversible ploughs, one Lemken five-furrow reversible plough, two Lemken 3m power harrows, a Samco maize drill and the aforementioned Lemken 6m one-pass drill. Other pieces of kit include a pair of Hitachi 13-tonne diggers which are used for everything from construction site work and rock-breaking to mulching and tree shearing, three Broughan dump trailers (two 25ft and one 20ft), a new McConnel twincut hedgecutter, a Bomford hedgecutter and a Wakely saw which attaches to one of the Valtras.
All machines are regularly maintained and serviced to avoid any breakdowns or downtime. There is no such thing as a quiet time for these agri contractors who will literally work around the clock at peak times to keep their clients happy. The siblings retain long-time customers and attract new ones by providing a professional, reliable, friendly, clean and value-for-money service.
A large catchment area within a 35km radius of Tierworker is covered, encompassing parts of counties Meath, Cavan and Louth. “We go down as far as Shercock and Bailieboro, over to Virginia and Carnaross and back up to Kells and Athboy, then over towards Ardee and Slane as well as everywhere in between,” Padraig outlines.
As Smith Bros 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.
Smith Bros Agri Contractors Ltd
Tierworker,
Kells,
Co. Meath.
Telephone: 087 763 1817
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 14 No 1, Spring 2026
Featured, Smith Bros Agri Contractors
