Celebrating 25 years in business, C Keane Plant Hire Ltd is a leading plant hire and agri contractor based in Kilkee, Co. Clare. Fronted by Christy Keane, the company provides an agri contracting service locally and civil engineering, groundworks, concrete formwork, excavation and site clearance services across Munster.
A one-stop shop for all your plant hire and agri contracting needs, the business has come a long way since Christy started out baling for local farmers with a Ford 5000 tractor, a Welger baler, a Kverneland 8ft trail mower and a Kverneland wrapper in 1996. Today, he employs 14 staff and runs an impressive fleet of tractors, excavators, grass equipment and much more. In addition, Christy milks 150 cows and supplies his milk to Kerry Foods in Listowel.
“There was an opening for it, so I went for it,” the affable Kilkee man says of his venture into agri contracting a quarter of a century ago.
“We branched into groundworks in 2006 in response to a demand for new slatted sheds and other civil engineering projects at the time. We now work all over Munster with the civil engineering and within a 15-mile radius of Kilkee – from Loop Head to Kilrush – with the agri contracting. We’re very busy, thank God, and have up to 12 months’ work ahead of us on the civil engineering side of things.”
C Keane Plant Hire offers an extensive range of agri services, including pit silage, baled silage, slurry spreading, reseeding, land reclamation and drainage works. “We started doing pit silage in 2010 with a Strautmann Super Vitesse forage wagon and upgraded to a Strautmann 3601 in 2015. We added a second 3601 forage wagon in 2018,” Christy continues.
“We also make 16,000 silage bales a year. Silage accounts for about 30% of our overall business.”
Committed to providing a top-class service and complete customer satisfaction, C Keane Plant Hire 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 West Clare contractor’s success can be attributed to the knowledge, experience, skill and expertise of its staff as well as the quality of its machinery. Christy and his highly-skilled team deliver the value and quality farmers expect from their agricultural contracting partner.
Christy runs a fleet of seven tractors that range in years from 2008 to 2020. The newest are a Massey Ferguson 7718 and a Massey Ferguson 7720 which were purchased from Whelan’s Garage in Kilrush in the last two years, with both having front linkage. He also has two New Holland T7 235s, a New Holland T6 155, a John Deere 6630 and a John Deere 7430.
In terms of grass / baling machinery, Christy runs a Kverneland 10ft mower, a set of Kverneland butterfly (front and rear) mowers, a Lely rake, a Welger 245 round baler, a Massey Ferguson 3130 round baler, two Conor wrappers, a Keltec eight-bale trailer along with the aforementioned Strautmann 3601 wagons. He also runs a Kverneland four-furrow reversible plough, a Lemken power harrow with air seeder, a Hi Spec 2,600-gallon slurry tanker with trailing shoe, a 3m mounted disc harrow and a NC slurry agitator.
All machines are maintained and serviced regularly to avoid breakdowns and downtime. There is no such thing as a quiet time for this highly-regarded contractor who will work around the clock during peak times to keep clients happy. “The maintenance is carried out inhouse and by Whelan’s Garage. We also deal a lot with Whelan Plant Sales in Barefield when it comes to diggers and track machines,” Christy explains.
Speaking of which, C Keane Plant Hire operates four Hyundai HX140 excavators, a Hyundai 140 zero tail, a Hyundai 140-9, Kubota 4.8 and 5.5 tonne diggers, three Dameo rock breakers, a Herron three-axle low loader, two Broughan 18-tonne truck trailers and an ULMA concrete formwork system. The company is currently engaged in civil engineering projects in Clonakilty, Newcastle West, Castletroy and Mallow.
Christy and his staff enjoy an excellent relationship with farmers, farm building specialists and construction companies.
“We have worked hard to build a good reputation in the sectors we deal with. We will always go the extra mile to ensure our customers are fully satisfied, and we never cut corners. We take great pride in our work, are reliable and courteous, safety conscious and offer competitive rates. We have built up a large and loyal customer-base over the past 25 years. The same customers come back to us year in, year out. And we continue to attract new customers, which is a good sign.”
Christy would like to take this opportunity to thank his customers, suppliers and staff for their continued support. He is also grateful for the support he receives from his wife Helen and children Milo (12) and Nora-Mae (seven).
Here’s to the next 25 years of this exceptional and well-run operation!
C Keane Plant Hire Ltd
Bella,
Kilkee,
Co. Clare.
Telephone: 087 7781836
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 9 No 6, November/December 2021
