John Dan established his contracting business back in 1962 after spending a number of years doing hire work with his uncle. John Dan cut silage in 1962 with a Fordson Major and a JF 52in single-chop harvester for four pounds ten shillings an acre. Since that summer, the business has witnessed significant growth and has gone from strength to strength.

Fleet

It is evident that the O’Hare family take great pride in their machinery and they run a hugely impressive fleet of 49 tractors. Of these, 14 are vintage machines, which is a popular hobby among the family who often participate in vintage events. The working tractor fleet consists of 29 John Deeres, five New Holland/Ford and one recently purchased Massey Ferguson.

The John Deere tractors include nine 10 series, three 20 series, 12 30 series and five of the newer 6M and 6R series. The New Holland/Fords are made up of one T series, two 40 series and two 10 series. The newly purchased Massey Fergusson is a 7718.

When we asked family members what their all-time favourite tractor was they were divided between the Ford 5000 and the John Deere 6810. John Dan informed us that the Ford 5000 was a brilliant tractor for its time, while Danny and Mark felt that the John Deere 6810 was a brilliant all-rounder.

John Dan constantly moved with the times throughout the years. He operated single-chop, double-chop and precision-chop harvesters across a range of makes and models including JF, Tarrup, Kidd, and Mengele.

Presently, the family has seven forage harvesters which they use to cut grass, whole-crop and maize. These consist of four Claas machines: a 970, a 950, an 860 and a 690; two New Hollands, a 2405 and an 1890; and a John Deere 6950.

John Dan said: “We like the Claas forage harvesters. We think they’re the best on the market at the minute. Erwins also provide us with a great backup service which is vital.” We asked John Dan did he ever consider purchasing a silage wagon: “No. There was never any demand for wagon silage in our area.”

The O’Hares currently have four loading shovels – two Volvos, an L90F and an L70H and two JCBs, a 416s and a 412s.

Speaking on the Volvos, the lads said: “They’re not as bulletproof as everyone says but they are a good machine to drive. They have great visibility and a good turn circle with a great diff.”

Plant hire and digger work has always been a huge part of the business since John Dan first started digging work back in 1966 with a mounted digger on the back of a Major tractor. Currently, the family owns five diggers ranging from 15t to 18t. These consist of four JCBs and one Case. Alongside these are two JCB 3CX machines.

Arable farming is a huge aspect of the business, with John Dan purchasing his first combine in 1965. This was a trailed Dania. He went on to purchase his first New Holland in 1969 and stuck with them from there on. The family currently owns nine combine harvesters – two Claas Montana 630s and seven New Hollands: an 8040, 8055, TC56, TX63, CSX7050, CSX7080 and a CS520.

The family tries to carry out as much of the fleet’s maintenance requirements as possible themselves. However, during busy periods and when dealing with the electronic side of things, the local dealers are often called in. The lads have been working on the machines throughout the quiet spells in the winter period and will soon have all the silage equipment ready for the upcoming silage season.

Staff and services

The O’Hare family employ over 20 full-time staff, many of whom have worked in the business for a large number of years. An additional 10 part-time staff are called in during the busy silage cutting season. John Dan spoke highly of the quality of his staff and expressed how lucky he was to have great part-time staff also.

The family provides a broad array of services to its customer base including precision silage harvesting, round baling, combining, arable work, slurry spreading, plant hire, drainage works, digging and hedge-cutting.

Speaking about his customer base, John Dan expressed his gratitude. “We really value all of our customers. We have the same reliable customers each year, many of which we have been looking after for years. We cut silage for clients with 10 to 600 acres and we always try to do our best for all of them.”

The majority of the workload is within 10 miles to 15 miles of the yard. However, John Dan told us that they travel up to 35 miles for work.

When we asked John Dan how he built up such a successful business he informed us that “I could see that the volume of work was there so I kept increasing the fleet. It’s hard work but I really enjoy it.”

Charity

On Friday 30 December 2016, the O’Hare family held an open day showcasing all of their tractors and machinery. The aim of this open day was to raise as much money as possible for Daisy Lodge cancer fund for children. This charity was chosen as Emily, a local girl from the same parish was affected by the disease. The event was a huge success and some 4,000 people were present on the day. The total amount raised was a colossal £18,962.54.

Farming and the future

The family runs an arable farming enterprise alongside the agricultural contracting business where they farm over 300 acres and run some beef cattle.

John Dan spoke of the huge uncertainty in farming and contracting at the minute that Brexit is causing: “No one knows what’s going to happen. If it affects farming then it will affect us. Our business is totally reliant on farming. Brexit has also caused both tractors and machinery to get very expensive recently.”

John Dan and the family are more than happy to continue in the same direction and keep working hard while continuously adding to their already phenomenal fleet of machinery.

John Dan and Bernie have seven sons and three daughters. Joe, Brian, Danny and Mark are currently in full-time employment within the business, while Desmond, Eamonn and Sean help out during the busy periods. Joanne, Mary and Catherine help out in the background by contributing to the book and paperwork. No doubt the future of the business is certainly safe within the next generation.

Before we left, we posed the question to John Dan – what do you find to be the most enjoyable aspect of agricultural contracting?

“I think it has to be combining with the sun beaming down over us in perfect weather conditions.”