With more than two decades of experience, Derry O’Donovan Machinery supplies farmers and contractors in West Cork and beyond with an outstanding selection of new and second-hand tractors and agricultural machinery as well as providing an exceptional back-up service. The icing on the cake is that Derry also offers C.E. certified Farm Buildings design and construction solutions. We visited his Timoleague base to find out more.
Derry O’Donovan is synonymous with quality tractors, machinery and service. From his well-appointed Cooligboy, Timoleague location – just an hour from Cork city and Skibbereen – he has forged an excellent reputation amongst local farmers as a man who can source superb gear and back it up with outstanding aftersales care.
Main dealer for the acclaimed and highly-dependable Deutz-Fahr and Zetor tractors, which are renowned for durability, fuel efficiency and cost-effectiveness, Derry O’Donovan Machinery also stocks a full range of Krone (mowers, tedders, rakes, forage wagons, balers), Amazone (spreaders, sprayers, power harrows, seed drills, cultivators) and Conor (slurry tankers, trailing shoes, slurry pumps, diet feeders, bale wrappers, toppers, shear grabs, bale handlers) equipment.
Quality pre-owned tractors and machinery are also available, with unrivalled servicing and repairs solutions provided by fully-trained and vastly-experienced workshop technicians. Derry has always put his customers first and this has resulted in a high volume of repeat business. A fully-stocked parts counter and emergency afterhours service makes sure that everybody can get the care and attention they need – when they need it!
As if all that weren’t enough, the Cork man also specialises in the erection of all types of farm buildings, making Derry O’Donovan Machinery a veritable one-stop shop for all the farmers’ needs. Little wonder then that the business is currently going from strength to strength!
Regarding his own personal background and how he came to run one of the finest tractor / agri machinery dealerships in West Cork, Derry notes: “I’ve been doing farm machinery out on my own for 22 years now and have had the main Deutz dealership for ten years. I used to work in Clonakilty Agricultural College doing machinery maintenance etc. there and I started buying and selling some machinery as well – the business grew out of that.
“At the same time, I had also been doing some sheds and some welding – farm gates etc. – and when I went out on my own with the farm machinery business I took that on as well. The farm buildings are a good additional service to be able to offer and the two things complement each other very well.”
From farming stock himself, Derry used to service and maintain the equipment on the mixed (dairy, beef, tillage) home farm. This is where he first developed his tremendous interest in and enthusiasm for farm machinery. It was almost inevitable in many ways that he would one day take the plunge and set up his own machinery dealership.
Derry, meanwhile, has become an expert in all things machinery related. “We sell a large range of new machinery – Duetz-Fahr, Zetor, Krone and Amazone as well as Gregoire Besson ploughs, the full Conor range, Green Grazers, Smyth silage trailers and dump trailers and a range of Storth slurry equipment as well as a wide selection of second-hand machinery from trade-ins, all of which are checked over and fully serviced.”
Even though these are challenging times for the agri sector as a whole due to low prices at the farm gate, Derry is pleased to report that business remains brisk: “We’re doing well, thankfully. I’ve a lot of people who have been coming here for years and there are a lot of famers and contractors who buy machinery from us and also get us to do their buildings, so it has worked out well.”
All types of CE-certified farm buildings are constructed including milking parlours, dairy and beef housing units, grain stores, kits sheds, slurry storage tanks, walls and silage pits etc. The team at Derry O’Donovan can design and construct the entire building from top to bottom, including all steelwork and concrete work.
This work isn’t limited to the agri sector, either. At the time of writing, they were working on a new packaging hall for Staunton Foods’ meat factory in Timoleague having also constructed the stunning new showrooms for Denis Ryan Car Sales – main Citroen dealer in Bishopstown.
“There’s steady demand for farm buildings all year around and we will go wherever the work is, near or far. A farmer could be looking for a new machinery shed or a new store at any time of year. The machinery sales are also strong for most of the year – each type of machinery has its own season.”
Employing a team of eleven, Derry goes out of his way to make sure that all of his customers are looked after 100%. “I have a full-time qualified mechanic here and I’m also training in an apprentice at the moment. We do all servicing and repairs – as well as stocking parts – and we are on call around the clock, morning, noon and night as well as the weekends. I’m always available to talk to my customers.”
Which is one of the many reasons why they keep coming back! Looking to the future, Derry intends to stick around and keep offering farmers in West Cork products and services that they can depend on: “We’ll keep it going at a steady pace,” he concludes. “Overheads are increasing, so the challenge is to keep the business as efficient as possible so that we can keep giving our customers both quality and value for money.”
Derry O’Donovan Machinery,
Cooligboy,
Timoleague,
County Cork.
Tel: 023 8846053
Fax: 023 8846869
Web: www.derryodonovanmachinery.ie
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 9, November/December 2016
