Lely

Lely grassland range of machines - Contractor Jim Ryan - Ireland

“Money where his mouth is.”

Located in the Clerihan countryside near Clonmel in Co. Tipperary, Jim runs a 700 acre tillage farm. His contracting work includes tedding, raking, baling, drawing silage as well as cutting corn. Jim Ryan believes in putting his “money where his mouth is”, having invested in a wide range of LELY and WELGER machinery over the last 30 years. Providing an excellent service for his customers is a priority for Jim. His extensive range of equipment allows him to meet all of their needs from baling haylage, silage and straw to harvesting grain. “The success of my contracting business is down to the reliability and performance of my LELY rake, LELY tedders and LELY WELGER balers.”

Jims’ fleet is made up of 2 Welger Profi Balers, Lotus 600 and 675 Tedders, Hibiscus 805 Rake, Goweil Bale Handler and a D4050 Big Square Baler. The RP 235 Profi suits Jims’ needs as it is designed for high output and large contractor use having made 57,000 bales trouble free over three seasons. Jim praised the machine’s output saying that it was no problem to make up to 110 bales per hour in good conditions. Density is very important to my customers, especially when you charge by the bale; the appetite of the Profi is massive. “The mechanical tailgate locking system ensures uniform bales with a consistent density.” The Lely Welger balers are performing brilliantly and with their simple design, fewer moving parts makes maintenance easy, which is an important factor for Jim as 80% of service is carried out in-house. Like all contractors silaging is a busy time and all Jim’s customers are happy with the output from the Lely Welger Profi as there is no waste with the Profi’s chopped bales.

The Lotus Tedders and Hibiscus Rake are “top class” and “the strength and build of the machines are outstanding.” The rotor on the Hibiscus Rake is top quality and exceptionally flexible. The unique Lely hook tines on the Lotus Tedder are capable of picking up and tedding huge volumes of grass. “The durable construction of the tedder gives me a reliable machine therefore allowing me to offer a reliable service. I can honestly say that tine breakage is a thing of the past” adds Jim.

Over the past 30 years Jim has built up a great reputation with his valued customers and has noticed a change in the industry; “the number of people working in farming is slackening.” According to Jim area payments have definitely encouraged change in the farming sector with increasing numbers getting out of farming; “therefore in the future we will have fewer farmers with more acres”. Jim has already upgraded his D4050 for a brand new Welger D4060 big square baler. He also plans on purchasing a new 235 Profi Baler in ’08. His policy is to upgrade machinery on a three year cycle. “As you can see I am committed to Lely and Welger machinery!”