Jim Power Agri Sales Ltd is a leading tractor and machinery dealership based in Tallow, Co. Waterford which recently became an authorised dealer for the Merlo agricultural and construction ranges.
The leader in telescopic handler innovation, Merlo announced a new dedicated dealer network for the Republic of Ireland earlier this year that will see Jim Power Agri Sales serve the greater Munster area. This network follows a model that Merlo has already successfully implemented in several European countries and is designed to advance its market share objectives in key territories. The formation of this dealer network ensures that Merlo customers in Ireland will receive the highest level of local support for all sales, parts and service requirements.
“We are thrilled to introduce our dedicated dealer network in Ireland,” Merlo UK and Ireland General Manager Shaun Groom said.
“Our goal is to provide Merlo customers with exceptional support and service. By partnering with Jim Power Agri Sales Ltd and two other dealers, we are confident that Merlo owners will experience enhanced accessibility to parts, service and the latest product offerings.”
Jim Power Agri Sales is equally enthused about the new arrangement which will extend its reach into the construction and plant hire sectors for the first time.
“This is going to open up a lot of doors for us,” Jim Power Agri Sales Area Manager Paschal Twomey predicts.
“Up until now, agri contractors, dairy farmers and tillage farmers have been our ‘bread and butter’ clients. We will now be catering for a wider customer-base, while also striving to increase sales of Merlo farm-orientated loaders in our region.
“Merlo is an exciting, well-proven and reputable brand known for its quality and innovation in the agricultural and construction industries. With this partnership, we will be able to offer a full range of products to our customers, including compact telehandlers, panoramic telehandlers, turbofarmer telehandlers, multi-farmer telehandlers, rotating telehandlers and attachments. Merlo even has smaller electric models, albeit they are still in their infancy.”
Jim Power Agri Sales has received its first three telehandlers direct from Merlo’s factory in Italy and Paschal notes how the collaboration is the perfect fit for both parties.
“Shaun Groom and Owen Buttle from Merlo arrived into our yard one day and asked if we’d be interested in representing them. We jumped at the chance, especially as we had a void in terms of that product line,” he explains.
“We’ve been agents for Schaffer since 2019, but they’re a different type of telescopic telehandler. Schaffer are an articulated loader with the boom in the center whereas Merlo are four-wheel steer with a side boom. That’s the main difference and different customers have different preferences.”
Merlo will complement Jim Power Agri Sales’ existing marquee brands which include Deutz-Fahr, Schaffer, Krone, Amazone, Abbey, Smyth trailers, Agrispread, Spearhead, Quicke, Arbo-Cut, Zuidberg, Guttler, APV, Bunning, Flex-Air, Fransgard and more. Similar to Merlo, Jim Power Agri Sales recently became main dealers for Spearhead hedge cutters and Bunning spreaders in Munster and the South-East, having sold them through importers heretofore.
From humble beginnings in 2008 when Jim Power established the business, Jim Power Agri Sales has grown to employ 16 people, and has earned an enviable reputation for both sales, aftersales and services across Munster and beyond. Jim studied Agricultural Engineering in Tralee before working as a service engineer with Farmhand and then with McCarthy’s before deciding to go out on his own.
He partnered once again with Farmhand, who are the exclusive distributors in Ireland for Krone, Amazone, Quicke, APV and Zuidberg machinery, before adding Deutz-Fahr tractors to his growing stable in 2010.
From its headquarters in Tallow on the Waterford-Cork border, Jim Power Agri Sales’ professional team provides sales, service and spare parts for all of its franchises. The garage has a large stock of both new and quality used machinery, including agitators, balers, mowers, forage harvesters, buckets, diet feeders, dung spreaders, fertiliser spreaders, implements, loaders, ploughs, power harrows, rakes and tedders, rollers, seeders, silage grabs, slurry tankers, sprayers, subsoilers, tractors, trailers and wagons.
The dealership’s mission is to provide a first-class service to its customers, especially during peak times when it also offers an out-of-hours service.
According to Paschal, all brands are performing well.
“We specialise in grass machinery which means we sell a lot of mowers, harvesters, tedders, balers and silage trailers. The Farmhand brands, and Krone in particular, are as popular as ever. We sell our fair share of Krone BiG Ms and BiG Xs self-propelled harvesters, BiG Pack large square balers and four-rotor rakes, both new and second hand.
“After a slow start to the year, sales of Abbey slurry tankers, Bunning dung spreaders and Agrispread dung spreaders have really picked up. We’re also maintaining our Deutz-Fahr numbers. The most popular model is the 170hp Agroton 6170 RC Shift which is a real all-rounder.”
The affable Cork man adds: “Dairy farmers and contractors make up a huge part of our business. Whereas most contractors like to plan ahead, work out their budget and get their order in early, dairy farmers usually leave it until the 11th hour! It all boils down to having the machinery in the yard and ready to go, and to also have attractive finance packages in place.”
Committed to providing a professional and value-for-money service to meet the growing requirements of its customers along with knowledge and understanding of the industry that will ultimately benefit them, Jim Power Agri Sales would like to take this opportunity to thank its clients and suppliers for their continued support as well as its staff for their hard work, dedication and expertise.
Opening hours are 8.30am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and 8.30am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Jim Power Agri Sales Ltd
Kilmore West
Tallow,
Co. Waterford,
P51 P2VN.
Telephone: 058 56596
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.jimpoweragri.ie
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 12 No 4, November/December 2024
Featured, Jim Power Agri Sales
