From its County Antrim base, Gardiner Farm Equipment has been servicing the Northern Ireland market with grain handling and storage equipment – and a whole lot more! – for over 30 years. We visited their base on Lisburn’s Moira Road and caught up with founder / proprietor Humphrey Gardiner to find out more about this exceptional family-run operation.
Gardiner Farm Equipment has been supplying the farming industry with top-quality agricultural equipment and spare parts for more than three decades. A strong family-run, customer-focused business with an excellent reputation throughout the agri sector, they design, supply, install, service and repair a comprehensive range of farming equipment including grain handling systems, mixing plants, livestock feeding systems and grain and meal storage solutions, as well as stocking wood pellet storage silos and wood pellet conveyers.
The full range of products / services provided comprises: livestock feeding systems; home milling and mixing plants; grain drying; grain storage and handling equipment; wood pellet storage silos and conveyers; grain and meal augers; belt and bucket elevators; chain and flight conveyers; moisture meters; crop control instruments; and electric and PTO roller mills, with parts available for all makes of equipment and machinery including Skiold, ABS Fabric Silos, Silofabrik, Q MAC, Roblew, Wakely, Astwell, Kongsklide, Collinson, Alvan Blanch, Protometers, etc.
Owner Humphrey Gardiner has been involved in the farm equipment sector all his working life. “I used to work for Simplex Ireland, who manufactured grain stores and did milking parlours etc.,” he reflects. “I cut my teeth with them in the 1960s. They had an office in Antrim and I covered the 32 counties doing service work and supervising installations.”
The experience garnered left Humphrey ideally placed to establish his own business. “When they folded, I started up on my own, in a small way at first,” he continues. “I built it up gradually over the years and brought my son [Trevor] and daughter [Gillian Musgrave] into what is now a family-run business.”
Customers of Gardiner Farm Equipment get to work with one of the province’s premier authorities on grain handling and storage equipment, which was the original specialist area covered by Humphrey. “I’ve always been involved in erecting grain silos and installing augers and conveyors for handling grain. We’d be renowned for our expertise in this area – everything to do with the grain handling and storage business. The equipment all comes in from England and is installed all over the six counties as well as parts of Donegal. I’ve also expanded into livestock feeding equipment, the bulk of which I source from Collinson PLC, as well as home milling and mixing plants.”
Other equipment is sourced from leading manufacturers on the continent. “From Italy, we bring in Agritech tubular screw conveyors and AZA chain and disc feeding systems. We are exclusive agents for Northern Ireland for AZA livestock feeding equipment.
“Home milling and mixing plants are a big part of the business. Skiold in Denmark are our main suppliers of hammer mills and mixers, while Guttridge Limited in England supply bucket elevators, conveyors and a range of equipment for handling grain, powders, meal, granules etc.”
As well as sourcing and installing, Gardiner Farm Equipment can also design silos and mill plants etc. “We supply bulk meal silos in conjunction with Lewis & Robinson Engineering Ltd. (RobLew) in Ballygawley and Q Mac Silos in Stewardstown, County Tyrone. They are the two main manufacturers of bulk meal silos in Northern Ireland and we act as an agent on their behalf, which complements the work we are doing.”
When prices being paid to farmers for their produce drop – as is currently the case – it places everybody involved in the agri sector under pressure. “The home milling and mixing plants, which farmers use to produce their own meal, were going really well until prices became depressed and that has slowed things down a bit,” Humphrey notes. “There are big savings to be made using those plants, although there is also a large capital outlay. Having said that, they offer the quickest payback of any farm machinery. But the bottom line is that when farmers aren’t getting a good price for their milk or pigs, they can’t afford to spend any money.
“We also design and install a range of indoor and outdoor wood pellet storage hoppers, predominantly for the farming community, for chicken sheds and mushroom houses etc.”
In keeping with the high quality of the equipment supplied, an excellent back-up service is also provided, with two service vans on the road and an around-the-clock call-out service available. “If the equipment is looked after properly, it will need very little servicing,” says Humphrey. “Damage is mostly caused by neglect and carelessness but, outside of that, none of this equipment is going to give much trouble. In most cases, farmers will be able to do their own work on wearing parts etc. We carry a huge stock of spare parts, which are exclusive to us for the Northern Ireland market. There’s a lot of money tied up in that but you have to have the parts here in order to offer the best possible back-up service.”
Direct gainful employment is generated for a team of six, while subcontractors are brought in to assist with some of the larger jobs. A prompt service is guaranteed. “We try to get to people as quickly as possible. Obviously, a bulk silo is going to take a bit longer but generally we will get the equipment installed within two or three weeks, or often less.”
Looking to the future, like the rest of us, Humphrey is hoping for an increase in milk prices sooner rather than later: “Business has slowed down compared to last year but it’s not too bad and there are signs that things are picking up again,” he concludes. “Low milk and pig prices are having a drastic effect not just on the farmers but also on service industries like ourselves.
“We also work closely with companies who supply robot milking systems, where we bring feed lines in to feed the cows in the milker. We work in conjunction with all the major milking machine companies on that – Lely, DeLaval, Fullwood, etc. – so rising milk prices would definitely work in our favour.”
Regardless of what the future brings, it seems certain that Gardiner Farm Equipment Ltd. will continue to provide its ever-expanding customer base with an unrivalled level of products and services.
Gardiner Farm Equipment Ltd.,
223 Moira Road,
Lisburn,
County Antrim,
BT28 2ST.
Tel: 028 92621630
Fax: 028 92622293
Mobile: 077 0343 6707
Email: [email protected]
Web: gardinerfarmequipment-lisburn.co.uk/
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 3, March 2016
