With over 40 years’ experience in metal fabrication, Carroll Engineering, now well known for its timber processing equipment, prides itself as being one of the few manufacturers that can still turn its hand to almost any fabrication project.
We caught up with Ultan Carroll, who set up the business, and his two sons James and Ronan.
Ronan (left), Ultan (middle) and James Carrol (right).
Background
Carroll Engineering is located 13km outside Bailieborough, Co Cavan. It was established in 1978 by Ultan Carroll who had built up experience working for a local engineering company as a welder fabricator.
Ultan said he first started out on his own, manufacturing trailers and carrying out general engineering work for local farmers.
Having had a profound interest in machinery at this point, Ultan purchased a PZ rotary mower in 1979. The intention was to mow for local farmers during the summer and turn to engineering workshop on the wet days and winter months.
In a short number of years, Ultan had progressed from a single-chop harvester to a double-chop and then on to a precision chop harvester in the 1990s.
Part of the workshop at Carroll Engineering.
Over the years, both businesses grew and complemented each other well.
“The men we employed in the workshop would drive tractors for the season when the month of May and June came.
“It suited well for years, as the engineering naturally quietened down during silage time.
“But as both businesses get busier every year, it is becoming more of a challenge to manage all. At the same time, it’s a great break and change of scenery for us all.”
Today, the Carrolls cut in the region of 1,500 acres for pit silage and bale anything up to 15,000 round bales annually.
The fleet includes a Claas 870 and predominantly New Holland tractors. All silage trailers have been built in-house.
New for this season is a Kuhn FB3135 combination baler and a Massey Ferguson RB3130F baler.
Ultan’s sons, James and Ronan, are actively involved in both business and have been from an early age.
A 20ft silage trailer built by Carroll Engineering.
James heads up timber processing equipment and produces the CAD drawings.
Ronan looks after the industrial fabrication projects for a local factory and drives the harvester during the summer.
Ultan remains heavily involved on the production side of things, especially when it comes to sheds and trailers.
Aside from the family team, there are four full-time staff and a number of part-time staff employed throughout the year.
Products
Unlike many of the typical Irish manufacturers offering a dedicated product range, the Carrolls are more traditional in the fact they will turn their hands to manufacture a vast selection of equipment to meet the needs of their customers.
“What we do here is more of a niche now,” James said. “If a customer comes to us with a particular need or wants a bespoke product made, nine times out of 10 we’ll manufacture it.
“Some of our most popular products would be kindling machines, hydraulic power packs, log splitters, pallet dismantlers, power boxes, trailers, buckets and bale splitters.
“We have naturally progressed into a main product line, which we believe boils down to build quality and reputation.”
Spotting an opportunity
“During the downturn in 2008 business was slowing, we had noticed a lot of guys were buying log splitters. A lot of these were builders chopping up pallets and old scaffolding planks. So we set out making log splitters, but to the specification customers wanted. Some wanted splitters that could be towed behind a van and powered by a petrol engine, some wanted large tables and others wanted an auto return function. Providing all these options left us with a competitive advantage.”
“Modern customers tend to have an appetite for optional specification. Now we offer all our log splitters with an optional stainless steel axe and stainless steel platted table for added strength and protection. We also offer a log lifter to lift logs up on to the splitting table.”
Kindling machines by chance have turned out to be one of the business’s best-selling products, James said. “Today, over 60% of our kindling machines are exported to the UK. Instead of fitting a third-party hydraulic power pack in these, we designed our own which gave us an edge. These power packs are great sellers as standalone units. They can be used for a range of purposes with flowrates from 2lpm to 150lpm and come electrically, PTO- or engine-driven”.
Pallet dismantler (left) and kindling machine (right).
Markets
Given the nature of the business, until now 70% of products manufactured are for the Irish market with the remaining 30% destined for the UK. “So far, all our export sales have been on the back of our social media posts and customer recommendations. However, now with Brexit we expect this to decrease but time will tell. At the moment, we sell direct to the customer, considering most of our products are built to customer specification. ” Seven years ago, the firm invested in a plasma cutter, which revolutionised production quality, speed and design, according to James.
Future
“We don’t see ourselves stopping what’re doing anytime soon. We will continue to build a reputation based on quality, this is something we feel passionate about. Although focusing on a narrower product range may be the obvious thing to do, it goes away from the model we built our business on. To a degree it’ll happen naturally and already has with the demand for timber processing equipment.
“A new spray booth is currently being built to speed up and improve the painting process. With the business becoming busier it is getting harder to close the doors during the summer for silage. We want to eventually expand on the engineering side and get to the stage where we can have a team at both jobs and keep the workshop open all year round,” concluded James.
Profile
Business: Carroll Engineering.Established: 1978.Managing director: Ultan Carroll.Employees: seven.Address: Grousehall, Bailieborough, Co Cavan.
With over 40 years’ experience in metal fabrication, Carroll Engineering, now well known for its timber processing equipment, prides itself as being one of the few manufacturers that can still turn its hand to almost any fabrication project.
We caught up with Ultan Carroll, who set up the business, and his two sons James and Ronan.
Ronan (left), Ultan (middle) and James Carrol (right).
Background
Carroll Engineering is located 13km outside Bailieborough, Co Cavan. It was established in 1978 by Ultan Carroll who had built up experience working for a local engineering company as a welder fabricator.
Ultan said he first started out on his own, manufacturing trailers and carrying out general engineering work for local farmers.
Having had a profound interest in machinery at this point, Ultan purchased a PZ rotary mower in 1979. The intention was to mow for local farmers during the summer and turn to engineering workshop on the wet days and winter months.
In a short number of years, Ultan had progressed from a single-chop harvester to a double-chop and then on to a precision chop harvester in the 1990s.
Part of the workshop at Carroll Engineering.
Over the years, both businesses grew and complemented each other well.
“The men we employed in the workshop would drive tractors for the season when the month of May and June came.
“It suited well for years, as the engineering naturally quietened down during silage time.
“But as both businesses get busier every year, it is becoming more of a challenge to manage all. At the same time, it’s a great break and change of scenery for us all.”
Today, the Carrolls cut in the region of 1,500 acres for pit silage and bale anything up to 15,000 round bales annually.
The fleet includes a Claas 870 and predominantly New Holland tractors. All silage trailers have been built in-house.
New for this season is a Kuhn FB3135 combination baler and a Massey Ferguson RB3130F baler.
Ultan’s sons, James and Ronan, are actively involved in both business and have been from an early age.
A 20ft silage trailer built by Carroll Engineering.
James heads up timber processing equipment and produces the CAD drawings.
Ronan looks after the industrial fabrication projects for a local factory and drives the harvester during the summer.
Ultan remains heavily involved on the production side of things, especially when it comes to sheds and trailers.
Aside from the family team, there are four full-time staff and a number of part-time staff employed throughout the year.
Products
Unlike many of the typical Irish manufacturers offering a dedicated product range, the Carrolls are more traditional in the fact they will turn their hands to manufacture a vast selection of equipment to meet the needs of their customers.
“What we do here is more of a niche now,” James said. “If a customer comes to us with a particular need or wants a bespoke product made, nine times out of 10 we’ll manufacture it.
“Some of our most popular products would be kindling machines, hydraulic power packs, log splitters, pallet dismantlers, power boxes, trailers, buckets and bale splitters.
“We have naturally progressed into a main product line, which we believe boils down to build quality and reputation.”
Spotting an opportunity
“During the downturn in 2008 business was slowing, we had noticed a lot of guys were buying log splitters. A lot of these were builders chopping up pallets and old scaffolding planks. So we set out making log splitters, but to the specification customers wanted. Some wanted splitters that could be towed behind a van and powered by a petrol engine, some wanted large tables and others wanted an auto return function. Providing all these options left us with a competitive advantage.”
“Modern customers tend to have an appetite for optional specification. Now we offer all our log splitters with an optional stainless steel axe and stainless steel platted table for added strength and protection. We also offer a log lifter to lift logs up on to the splitting table.”
Kindling machines by chance have turned out to be one of the business’s best-selling products, James said. “Today, over 60% of our kindling machines are exported to the UK. Instead of fitting a third-party hydraulic power pack in these, we designed our own which gave us an edge. These power packs are great sellers as standalone units. They can be used for a range of purposes with flowrates from 2lpm to 150lpm and come electrically, PTO- or engine-driven”.
Pallet dismantler (left) and kindling machine (right).
Markets
Given the nature of the business, until now 70% of products manufactured are for the Irish market with the remaining 30% destined for the UK. “So far, all our export sales have been on the back of our social media posts and customer recommendations. However, now with Brexit we expect this to decrease but time will tell. At the moment, we sell direct to the customer, considering most of our products are built to customer specification. ” Seven years ago, the firm invested in a plasma cutter, which revolutionised production quality, speed and design, according to James.
Future
“We don’t see ourselves stopping what’re doing anytime soon. We will continue to build a reputation based on quality, this is something we feel passionate about. Although focusing on a narrower product range may be the obvious thing to do, it goes away from the model we built our business on. To a degree it’ll happen naturally and already has with the demand for timber processing equipment.
“A new spray booth is currently being built to speed up and improve the painting process. With the business becoming busier it is getting harder to close the doors during the summer for silage. We want to eventually expand on the engineering side and get to the stage where we can have a team at both jobs and keep the workshop open all year round,” concluded James.
Profile
Business: Carroll Engineering.Established: 1978.Managing director: Ultan Carroll.Employees: seven.Address: Grousehall, Bailieborough, Co Cavan. 
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