Delivering the perfect combination of high quality, functionality and innovation, Scully Trailers’ magnificent range of agricultural trailers and bale handling equipment is proving extremely popular with farmers and contractors the length and breadth of the country. We interrupted founder Niall Scully’s increasingly busy schedule to find out more about his ingenious products, which invariably look fantastic and perform even better.
One of the many great successes at this year’s National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, County Laois was County Kerry based Scully Trailers, whose superb range of supreme-quality folding bale handler went down a storm over the course of the four days they were showcased in the event’s Innovation Arena.
Unique to Scully Trailers, this innovative new handler was developed for large contractors and farmers who use a bale trailer and front loader equipped with an elephant trunk for transporting bales. It can be folded up via a double acting hydraulic ram and, once in the fold-up position, the patent-pending hinging mechanism lifts the bale handler above the lift arms to make it possible to attach a bail trailer without obstruction.
The operator can commute to the baled crop with both the handler and trailer attached. Once in the field, he can unhitch the trailer with ease and place the bale handler in the bale loading position. The operator can now carry two bales to the bale trailer – one on the rear on the Scully High Folding Bale Handler and the other on the front loader. This reduces time, fuel costs, driver fatigue and also acts as a counter balance. The clever design allows the user to easily fold up and hook the trailer.
Manufactured using high-grade steel and industrial-grade paint (with two coats of BIN primer plus two coats of paint!) – and sandblasted beforehand to ensure optimum paint adhesion – Scully’s compact bale handers are designed to significantly reduce the risk of damage to plastic wrap. All moving parts have grease access to reduce wear and tear, resulting in a long working life for the product. Like all Scully products, they also look absolutely fantastic!
“It was my first time exhibiting at the ploughing championships and it was a long week as we were there for the four days,” the Kerry agri machinery manufacturer reflects. “But we got a very good book of positive enquiries out of it and we’re hoping it will materialise into additional sales. It’s a learning curve to be in the innovation tent but there was definitely good interest in the new folding bale handler and our other products.
“It’s a very simple but practical concept, with a hinge, and when it folds up you can tow a trailer, without ditching the handler, and you can use it as a balancing weight.”
Is manufacturing agri equipment these days all about striking the right balance between innovation and functionality? “Yes, the farmer and contractor is looking for whatever will give them the best value for their money. You have to develop a good product with inbuilt value-for-money. We incorporated that thinking into our tipping trailer, to develop a three-in-one, multi-purpose trailer.
“It can draw a typical tipper load and comes with a hydraulic back door. It can be stripped down to draw bales and can also work as a low loader, carrying anything up to a six-tonne digger. The end user is getting value as he has a trailer that serves three different purposes.
“When you explain the concept to a farmer, it gets them thinking. They have a tipping trailer and if they need to get a digger they can move it, while there will be no need to borrow the neighbour’s bale trailer any more. Once you get them over the line they are always 100% happy and the feedback is always very, very positive.”
Customer satisfaction is consistently exceptionally high at Scully Trailers. “I actually met a lot of previous customers at the ploughing championships who I’d sold bale handlers to over the years,” Niall continues. “They’d have ordered them over the phone and I sent them out with Pallet Express, so I might not have dealt with them in person. But when I met them they all told me they were very happy with the Scully bale handlers. That gives us great encouragement. And when a guy is relaying good news like that, it impacts positively on anybody else who happens to be listening in. It’s great to get those positive reviews and thankfully we do seem to get a lot of them.”
Ideally, however, Niall prefers to deal with farmers on a personal basis: “I prefer a one-to-one relationship,” he confirms. “It’s great if a farmer or contractor comes in person to collect the trailer themselves. That, way I can go through everything with him and give him 45 minutes on the maintenance and upkeep of the product, and run him through how to take good care of it. If you keep it well, it will serve you well.”
One of the Kingdom’s premier agricultural manufacturing companies, Scully Trailers – operating from a site on the well-appointed family dairy enterprise at Nauntenane, Killorglin – boasts over 20 years of engineering and steel fabricating excellence, constantly exploring new concepts and working on new designs.
Embracing both innovation and precision engineering, they utilise the most up-to-date computer design, software and manufacturing techniques to bring the highest-quality trailers and bale-handling equipment to market.
Scully Trailers provide farmers with a complete range of products for bale handling – from their well-tested elephant trucks to RSA-approved trailers and the newest innovations such as their clever, practical and user-friendly up-and-over draw bar, while their aforementioned folding handler proved to be a resounding success with contractors in 2022.
Tried and trusted by farmers and contractors island-wide, Scully’s bale handlers can be found in every county from Antrim to Cork and are available in a choice of colours, feature heavy-duty construction and are designed to handle both wrapped round and square bales, always holding a firm grip in wet or dry conditions alike. Any type of loader bracket can be fitted and a double bale handler option is also available. Loader buckets are available from 4ft to 7ft, with loader pikes in 6ft, 8ft or 10ft variants.
Meanwhile, as the name suggests, Scully Trailers are also synonymous with manufacturing a magnificent range of striking and sturdy, high-quality bale and flat bed trailers; livestock trailers; and general purpose / grain trailers.
These come with heavy-duty design, commercial axles, hydraulic brakes and a high level of LED lighting throughout as standard. Bale and flat bed trailers boast onspring suspension, spring drawbar, removable rails and strap box and hooks all around, with a choice of axles, wheels, rails, colours and either smooth or chequered floor.
Livestock trailers have an aluminium floor, sides, loading ramp and loading gate with galvanised dividing gate and slurry box as well as a front ladder and overhead walkway, with additional bespoke options including extra dividing gates, a choice of wheel sizes and axles, galvanised frame and extra-low options available.
Options available to farmers and contractors on the general purpose / grain trailers include bale extension, grain sides, hydraulic tailboard and again they can be finished in a choice of colours with a choice of wheels and axles.
Scully Trailers can also manufacture log splitters to order and offer a full parts, servicing, repair and replacement service on a full range of trailer components including hydraulic rams and hoses, axles and suspensions, wheels and tyres, LED lighting and brakes / handbrakes.
“We’re experiencing keen interest in our livestock trailer, which we put our heart and head into building,” says Niall. “This comes with commercial axles, braking and suspension as well as full aluminium floor and sides. It’s shot blasted and finished with two coats of primer and paint with highly-spec’d LED lighting all over. It looks great and has a spring drawbar and a timber floor under the aluminium to cushion the animals and give them more comfort.”
It goes without saying that Niall Scully has a deep passion for the products he manufactures. “When you are out travelling, it’s always nice to see one that has been kept well by one of your customers,” he notes. “With younger farmers now sharing images of their machines on social media, photos are uploaded and you’d get a lot of positive comments and thumbs ups, which is always nice.
“We take the small things into consideration and that pays off in terms of positive reviews and referrals. I have a team of six working here and we run a metal fabrication apprenticeship programme to train our own staff. If you’re prepared to put the time into something, it’s more likely to pay off.
“Coming from a farming background obviously helps,” the pioneering Kerry man concludes. “My brother is farming at home and we can try out our products there. We have trailers and bale handlers in use there for a long time and they still look like new, with no sign whatsoever of any fatigue or wear.”
Scully Trailers,
Nauntenane,
Killorglin,
County Kerry.
Tel: 087 614 7420
Email: [email protected]
First published in Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 11 No 1, January/February 2023
