Over the last 26 years – and counting – Hughes Agri Contractors in Knocklong, County Limerick has developed a reputation for providing a wide range of high-quality services at the right price. We caught up with founder Patrick Hughes to discuss the history of the business and the exceptional fleet of machinery he puts to work across the Treaty County and beyond.
It would be fair to say that Patrick Hughes has a lifetime of experience of agricultural contracting. This is what he’s been at all his working life and today the Limerick man is regarded as one of the most dependable contractors in the region, offering a comprehensive range of services including pit silage, baled silage, umbilical system slurry spreading, lime spreading, reseeding, land drainage, hedge cutting and excavator work.
With a fleet of exceptional tractors and machinery at his disposal and a conscientious approach to providing complete customer satisfaction, all jobs are completed to the highest possible standard and Patrick benefits from a tremendous amount of repeat business.
Reflecting on the genesis of his business, he points out: “I’ve been contracting 26 years. I started out on my own when I was 17 years of age, having bought my first tractor when I was 16. I got my first hedge cutter when I was 17 and started doing hedge cutting and built the business up from there.” He has never looked back!
Although he didn’t grow up on a farm, it would be fair to say that agriculture has always been part of Patrick Hughes’ DNA. “I didn’t come from a farm but my father did,” he notes. “I always had a big interest in tractors and agricultural machinery since I was a child. I was baling for another man when I was just ten and this is where my passion has always been.”
Patrick’s first tractor was a Zetor Crystal 8011, which was paired with a McConnell PA97 hedge cutter with an eighteen-and-a-half-foot telescopic reach. In 1990, he decided to buy a second tractor – a Zetor Crystal 8045. “In ’91, myself and my brother Robert gottogether and decided to buy a second PA97 and we were cutting hedges all over County Limerick, from the Cork border to the Clare border and from the Tipp border to the Clare border.
“Hedge cutting is still a big part of the business today and we also have a fusion baler and do silage cutting using a John Deere self-propelled harvester, slurry spreading, dung spreading and liquid slurry spreading with an umbilical cord system as well as land drainage, all types of excavator work, lime spreading, ploughing, reseeding and subsoiling. I have two loading shovels –a JCB 416 and a 426”
Lime is spread all over east Limerick for McGrath’s Quarries in O’Callaghans Mills in County Clare. “I’ve been an agent for them since they opened their depot in Limerick and enjoy a very good working relationship with them,” Patrick notes. “We supply the lime within a day of the order going in.” This is very much in keeping with the prompt nature of all Hughes Agri Contractors services.
“I bought the subsoiler recently and have had very good feedback from farmers who have seen a dramatic improvement in the drainage of their soil. In terms of silage, I started off in 1996 with two double-chop harvesters and I pulled them with a County 1174 and a Ford 7810. I then moved up to New Holland trailed precision-chop harvesters and worked two of them every day, with County 1174 and Ford TW15 tractors. I then upgraded the tractors to two Fords – a TW30 and a TW25. In 2006, I bought my first John Deere self-propelled harvester and I’ve been running just one harvester since then.”
Patrick has no doubt as to what was the best silage combo he every operated. “In ’98 I bought a Taarup 10X and that was the best harvester I ever had. Even in recent times I’ve often thought that if only time would allow it I’d love to go back to the 10X with the TW15 pulling it…”
From his base in Elton, Knocklong – less than four miles from the Tipp border – Patrick Hughes covers about a quarter of County Limerick as well as parts of Tipperary. The service provided is very much a local one, generally within a 20-mile radius.
The Limerick contractor operates a fleet of twelve tractors – a mix of New Holland, Ford, County and McCormick – all of which were purchased second-hand. “I never bought a brand new tractor in my life,” he reveals. “I couldn’t afford to. I like a good decent tractor with everything in good working order. When I get a tractor, I like to be able to pay for it! I don’t see any reason for paying the price of two or three tractors for one. I’ve just bought two from France and Belgium and they are in great condition and fit for purpose. I can’t afford to burn money.”
By keeping his overheads down, Patrick can offer his customers an excellent service at an affordable price. “Anything we do, we do it right,” he continues. “I don’t overstretch myself by trying to work for everybody. We have our own customers built up over the years and they understand and appreciate what we do and in turn we look after them. Of course you will pick up a new customer every now and then but I don’t stand on other men’s toes.
“We have, however, picked up some nice new customers over the last five or six years. I like to be asked rather than me approaching them. If I say I’ll do a job, then I’ll be there…”
Patrick employs seven in total between full-time and part-time – including his son, Paddy – and also subcontracts in some workers. During the peak period in the summertime, he could have up to ten men at work on a daily basis.
Most of the maintenance and repair work is managed in-house, with the bigger jobs contracted out. The diversity of the operation is essential in ensuring a steady cash flow all year around. “You have to do a wide variety of work and a good bit of it overlapsat times. If you have a long, dry spell, things will then go mad when it dries up.
“The weather and running costs are your biggest enemies. Due to rising costs, it’s an ongoing struggle. As well as diesel, oil and parts have also become more expensive. Even steel is dearer, which is a factor for us as we manufacture some of our own stuff. With rates staying constant, it leaves you under pressure.”
With experience, Patrick has learned to be careful with the customers he works with. “When we started out, we took on a lot of customers all over the county and we got stung. A lot of them didn’t pay us – you learn from that. You need to know your customers and you need to settle on a dependable fleet of machinery. You can’t keep chopping and changing and wasting money.
“Our newest tractor is an ‘03 and I’d also have an ‘02, three ‘01s and a ‘00. We’d then go back to 1990 and ‘84, ‘80, ‘79 and ‘77. We keep them all good. Instead of having one or two brand-new tractors, you are better off with a larger fleet of second-hand ones so that you can have one for every job.”
Hughes Agri Contractors,
Elton,
Knocklong,
County Limerick.
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 3 No 6, July 2015
