John Stafford is the owner of a machinery hire company with a difference in Davidstown, Co Wexford. The idea came about from time spent harvesting potatoes in Scotland in 1994.
A fleet of 14 John Deere tractors and Bailey trailers was used for hauling the potatoes from the field. All the equipment was hired as was all the planting and harvesting equipment. The concept worked there, so John thought he would give it a go back home.
Fast forward to 2008 and John decided to set up a similar hire business of his own, starting out with a Thorpe grain trailer which he hired out to local farmers in the area.
John Stafford
“Around me there are a lot of farmers with small farms that can’t justify a second trailer or their own slurry tank but have the time to do the work themselves. I started off with a grain trailer initially and now I am hiring slurry tankers, rear-discharge dung spreaders, round balers, round bale wrappers and various trailers. There is a range of grain, silage, bale and dump trailers in the ?eet.”
Walking around the yard, I could be forgiven for thinking it was a large contractor’s premises or dealer’s yard except for the absence of tractors apart from his own Case IH which he uses on his beef and tillage farm.
“I have no interest in tractor hire because I want to keep the implements I hire as straightforward and as simple as possible. There are a couple of companies in Ireland already hiring tractors so I’ll leave them at it. I keep the fleet as modern as possible as once a machine goes on hire it needs to work without a problem.
“Neither the farmer nor I can afford to have a machine breaking down. I maintain all the machinery to a very high standard and if it needs a replacement part or a tyre it gets it”.
This brought me on to the issue of damage and insurance.
“All our customers have to have comprehensive insurance on the equipment they hire from me. It’s not a big deal to contact the insurance company and add it to the policy. Before a machine leaves the yard a deposit is taken in the event of damage to the equipment.
“A hire sheet with a full list of terms and conditions is signed which includes mandatory maintenance and servicing required. Both the person hiring and I are then covered. It protects me financially against most things like tyres getting damaged, for example. A new flotation 560mm tyre for one of the trailers cost between €800 and €900.
“For new customers, I normally do background checks with someone locally. I worked in the machinery sales business for a few years so I have a lot of contacts around the country I can call upon. The biggest wearing items I replace on equipment are tyres, PTO shafts and hydraulic-brakes lines. PTO covers are particularly susceptible to damage as they get caught in the tractor’s rear lift arms.
“If there is any risk to the operator of the machine it is immediately repaired or in most cases replaced.”
Hiring costs
I asked John how does he charge and how much.
“All prices are plus VAT. For a 22ft Broughan silage trailer with hydraulic rear door, flotation tyres and air brakes, I charge €300 per week. For the 22ft tri-axle trailer, I’ll charge €250 per week as it doesn’t have the same level of specification as the Broughan.
“I charge the balers out by the bale and bale trailers at €50 per day or €200 per week.”
Interestingly, he only hires his McHale balers for straw, haylage and hay as he has seen all too many times balers getting damaged when baling silage as crops can sometimes be very heavy and wet.
“Slurry tankers are charged out at €80-€100 per day for the smaller tankers like the Belmac 2,250-gallon and the larger tankers are charged at a slightly higher rate. We have a lot of demand for bale trailers which are hired out for €50/day or €200/wk as they’re the kind of items not every farmer has or can afford.
“Most of the equipment I have is new as I am a dealer for Conor and Broughan, which helps. I also buy clean secondhand equipment as buying new and then hiring some machines out simply isn’t justified. The 12m3 Conor rear discharge spreader is charged out at €350 per day.
New business
John said that the economy is slowly having a positive effect on his business.
“I have received phone calls from builders who want to hire low-loaders which is different from what I started out doing. I also have a number of site offices on hire which is good as the likes of these tend to be hired long-term.”
John has equipment all over Ireland going as far as Clare, Kerry, Cork, Meath and throughout the midlands. Alongside the existing business, John has spotted a niche in the market for farmers who may wish to establish cover crops. He has fitted an electrically metered Stocks seeding box to the rear of a 3m Amazone Catros disc cultivator.
“There’s been huge demand for this machine. Loads of farmers may wish to plant cover crops but have no way of doing it. The Catros is great as it’s fast, simple and doesn’t bring up any stones. The metering box is very straightforward, with just one on-off switch. The seed is dropped in lines behind the cultivator and the job is done in one pass.
Future hire
“If there’s sufficient demand from the market for a particular machine and I can make money hiring it I will invest in it. Just this year I have been asked about hiring twin-rotor rakes, diet feeders and straw blowers.”
From speaking to John, it would appear that there is a future in this business as his fleet continues to grow.
The fleet
McHale 5500 and 550 round baler.McHale 991C round baler wrapper.Conor 10m3 rear discharge dung spreader.Richard Western 12m3 rear discharge spreader.2,250-gallon Belmac slurry tank.3,500-gallon Conor slurry tank.4 x NC 18ft and 20ft silage and grain trailers.1 x Smyth 22ft tri-axle silage and grain.1 x Smyth 18ft tandem axle.3 x Broughan 22ft tandem-axle with 560mm tyres, hydraulic back door and air brakes.3 x Broughan 20ft tandem axle.
John Stafford is the owner of a machinery hire company with a difference in Davidstown, Co Wexford. The idea came about from time spent harvesting potatoes in Scotland in 1994.
A fleet of 14 John Deere tractors and Bailey trailers was used for hauling the potatoes from the field. All the equipment was hired as was all the planting and harvesting equipment. The concept worked there, so John thought he would give it a go back home.
Fast forward to 2008 and John decided to set up a similar hire business of his own, starting out with a Thorpe grain trailer which he hired out to local farmers in the area.
John Stafford
“Around me there are a lot of farmers with small farms that can’t justify a second trailer or their own slurry tank but have the time to do the work themselves. I started off with a grain trailer initially and now I am hiring slurry tankers, rear-discharge dung spreaders, round balers, round bale wrappers and various trailers. There is a range of grain, silage, bale and dump trailers in the ?eet.”
Walking around the yard, I could be forgiven for thinking it was a large contractor’s premises or dealer’s yard except for the absence of tractors apart from his own Case IH which he uses on his beef and tillage farm.
“I have no interest in tractor hire because I want to keep the implements I hire as straightforward and as simple as possible. There are a couple of companies in Ireland already hiring tractors so I’ll leave them at it. I keep the fleet as modern as possible as once a machine goes on hire it needs to work without a problem.
“Neither the farmer nor I can afford to have a machine breaking down. I maintain all the machinery to a very high standard and if it needs a replacement part or a tyre it gets it”.
This brought me on to the issue of damage and insurance.
“All our customers have to have comprehensive insurance on the equipment they hire from me. It’s not a big deal to contact the insurance company and add it to the policy. Before a machine leaves the yard a deposit is taken in the event of damage to the equipment.
“A hire sheet with a full list of terms and conditions is signed which includes mandatory maintenance and servicing required. Both the person hiring and I are then covered. It protects me financially against most things like tyres getting damaged, for example. A new flotation 560mm tyre for one of the trailers cost between €800 and €900.
“For new customers, I normally do background checks with someone locally. I worked in the machinery sales business for a few years so I have a lot of contacts around the country I can call upon. The biggest wearing items I replace on equipment are tyres, PTO shafts and hydraulic-brakes lines. PTO covers are particularly susceptible to damage as they get caught in the tractor’s rear lift arms.
“If there is any risk to the operator of the machine it is immediately repaired or in most cases replaced.”
Hiring costs
I asked John how does he charge and how much.
“All prices are plus VAT. For a 22ft Broughan silage trailer with hydraulic rear door, flotation tyres and air brakes, I charge €300 per week. For the 22ft tri-axle trailer, I’ll charge €250 per week as it doesn’t have the same level of specification as the Broughan.
“I charge the balers out by the bale and bale trailers at €50 per day or €200 per week.”
Interestingly, he only hires his McHale balers for straw, haylage and hay as he has seen all too many times balers getting damaged when baling silage as crops can sometimes be very heavy and wet.
“Slurry tankers are charged out at €80-€100 per day for the smaller tankers like the Belmac 2,250-gallon and the larger tankers are charged at a slightly higher rate. We have a lot of demand for bale trailers which are hired out for €50/day or €200/wk as they’re the kind of items not every farmer has or can afford.
“Most of the equipment I have is new as I am a dealer for Conor and Broughan, which helps. I also buy clean secondhand equipment as buying new and then hiring some machines out simply isn’t justified. The 12m3 Conor rear discharge spreader is charged out at €350 per day.
New business
John said that the economy is slowly having a positive effect on his business.
“I have received phone calls from builders who want to hire low-loaders which is different from what I started out doing. I also have a number of site offices on hire which is good as the likes of these tend to be hired long-term.”
John has equipment all over Ireland going as far as Clare, Kerry, Cork, Meath and throughout the midlands. Alongside the existing business, John has spotted a niche in the market for farmers who may wish to establish cover crops. He has fitted an electrically metered Stocks seeding box to the rear of a 3m Amazone Catros disc cultivator.
“There’s been huge demand for this machine. Loads of farmers may wish to plant cover crops but have no way of doing it. The Catros is great as it’s fast, simple and doesn’t bring up any stones. The metering box is very straightforward, with just one on-off switch. The seed is dropped in lines behind the cultivator and the job is done in one pass.
Future hire
“If there’s sufficient demand from the market for a particular machine and I can make money hiring it I will invest in it. Just this year I have been asked about hiring twin-rotor rakes, diet feeders and straw blowers.”
From speaking to John, it would appear that there is a future in this business as his fleet continues to grow.
The fleet
McHale 5500 and 550 round baler.McHale 991C round baler wrapper.Conor 10m3 rear discharge dung spreader.Richard Western 12m3 rear discharge spreader.2,250-gallon Belmac slurry tank.3,500-gallon Conor slurry tank.4 x NC 18ft and 20ft silage and grain trailers.1 x Smyth 22ft tri-axle silage and grain.1 x Smyth 18ft tandem axle.3 x Broughan 22ft tandem-axle with 560mm tyres, hydraulic back door and air brakes.3 x Broughan 20ft tandem axle. 
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