Farming in Redrock, Co Armagh, Samuel and Thomas Dickson run a mixed farming and agri-contracting enterprise.
The father-and-son team milk 200 cows in an indoor, year-round calving system, alongside a beef finishing enterprise and a 100,000-bird broiler poultry unit.
After years of manual cubicle scraping, the decision was made in September 2024 to purchase a Plantmec Q-Bed ride-on cubicle sweeper and bedder to reduce labour primarily, but also improve the bedding routine. Previously, an Ag Dispenser bedding bucket was used, but the lads found it difficult to control its output.
“We’d leave enough bedding at the top of the cubicle to do almost a week. Before each milking, the routine then usually involved two people with scrapers, cleaning cubicles and one person pulling the sawdust down to where it was needed. This took about 30 minutes morning and evening and wasted a lot of sawdust too.”
The Dicksons chose the Plantmec Q-Bed 324 due to its strength, fully galvanised hopper and chassis, and simple design. Being Irish-built for local conditions was also a key factor. Now almost 16 months in use, the machine has completed around 250 hours on the farm.
Engine and hydraulics
The Q-Bed machine, is very simple, practically laid out machine. It is powered by a 10hp single-cylinder Hatz diesel engine, which drives a tandem hydraulic pump.
One pump supplies the 3WD hydrostatic transmission, while the second powers the blower, agitator, brush and scraper. The engine is fitted with a pre-cleaner which Thomas noted as a good job, leaving the air filter in need of being cleaned only once a month. Like all 324 models, Dickson’s machine features a constant 3WD drive transmission. However, as of March 2026 when the new 326 model enters production, switchable 1WD and 3WD drive will become standard.
Although, this hasn’t been a major issue for Thomas and Samuel given the way in which their sheds are laid out, but they recognise how 1WD would improve manoeuvrability in confined passages. A dash-mounted lever valve diverts oil to just the rear wheel in 1WD or all three wheels in 3WD.
Cleaning and bedding
Upfront, the 780mm (820mm option) brush moves in and out of working position hydraulically in an arc motion. This movement allows the brush to maintain the set working angle at different cubicle heights. While the brush can be engaged to rotate in either direction, like most, Thomas rotates it clockwise to throw any dirt off the cubicle. 
The brush moves in an arc so that it is always angled right regardless of the cubicle height.
“Even though we were scraping twice a day, the brush leaves a much cleaner job. It lifts the dirt off the mattresses where the handheld scraper tends to smear it,” Thomas pointed out.
As standard, the Q-Bed is fitted with a 1m-wide scraper, with wider 1.15m winged or unwinged options available. Unique to the Q-Bed, the scraper is raised and lowered hydraulically.
The galvanised hopper has a 500-litre capacity, extendable if required, and houses an auger that feeds material to the centrally positioned blower. A manually controlled shutter regulates material flow into the blower. Unlike its competitors, the Q-Bed 324 features a number of added safety features, including large footsteps, an isolator switch, parking brake and a hopper grid, etc.
Controls
“Although myself or dad does almost all the bedding 365 days a year, the simple control layout leaves it an easy machine for anyone to jump up on and operate.
“It just takes a few minutes to get the hang of forward speed and shutter position to apply the right amount of bedding and access corners or that”, Thomas noted.
Forward and reverse of the hydrostatic drive is controlled via a right-hand foot pedal.
Two right-hand levers raise and lower the brush and scraper, while two dash-mounted levers control brush rotation and blower engagement.
“We bed with kiln dried sawdust and a lime product. The Q-Bed does a great job at mixing both products together. Before, we had to mix the sawdust and lime on the floor of the shed with the dispenser bucket, which never worked that well,” Thomas explained.
Verdict
Now almost 250 clock hours in 16 months on the farm, the Dicksons simply wouldn’t part with their Q-Bed. “We bed 200 cubicles twice a day, all year round. On average, it’s burning one tank of diesel per week. Aside from routine servicing, we’ve replaced the brush, but that’s all. Running costs are low and should stay that way once it’s kept well serviced and maintained,” Thomas outlined.
“Bedding has gone from a 30-minute job for three people at each milking to a 10-minute job for one. We’ve went from using between five and six bags of sawdust daily at £5/bag to just four (two am and two pm). This is a £10 daily saving alone, not even putting a price on the labour saved. These savings quickly add up to the repayments of a new machine, leaving it a no-brainer. What’s more, bedding is no long a dreaded job, but a satisfying one instead,” Thomas said.
Q-Bed background
The Q-Bed cubicle bedder is designed and built by Plantmec Ireland, a family-run business just outside Armagh, founded by Melvin and Sandra Crozier and later joined by his son Gareth, who also manages the family farm and agri-contracting business.
In 1998, after working as a welder followed by sales with a local business, NC Engineering, Melvin saw an opportunity to supply road brushes to the municipal sector alongside manufacturing slurry agitators.
After some years, the rights to the Megamix agitator were sold, and in 2008 Plantmec began making bucket brushes for loaders and telehandlers.
Seeking a compact, labour-saving product, Melvin acted on an idea Gareth brought from a neighbouring farm, where a farmer had suggested converting an old ride-on lawnmower into a cubicle cleaning machine. This inspired the purpose-built Q-Bed - short for “Quick Bedder.”
The Q-Bed has since evolved up to the current 324 model, which will be replaced in March 2026 by the updated 326 model. Plantmec builds two-three machines weekly and estimates around 1,400 units have been sold to date.
A Q-Bed 324 chassis and hopper fabricated and ready for galvanising.
Farming in Redrock, Co Armagh, Samuel and Thomas Dickson run a mixed farming and agri-contracting enterprise.
The father-and-son team milk 200 cows in an indoor, year-round calving system, alongside a beef finishing enterprise and a 100,000-bird broiler poultry unit.
After years of manual cubicle scraping, the decision was made in September 2024 to purchase a Plantmec Q-Bed ride-on cubicle sweeper and bedder to reduce labour primarily, but also improve the bedding routine. Previously, an Ag Dispenser bedding bucket was used, but the lads found it difficult to control its output.
“We’d leave enough bedding at the top of the cubicle to do almost a week. Before each milking, the routine then usually involved two people with scrapers, cleaning cubicles and one person pulling the sawdust down to where it was needed. This took about 30 minutes morning and evening and wasted a lot of sawdust too.”
The Dicksons chose the Plantmec Q-Bed 324 due to its strength, fully galvanised hopper and chassis, and simple design. Being Irish-built for local conditions was also a key factor. Now almost 16 months in use, the machine has completed around 250 hours on the farm.
Engine and hydraulics
The Q-Bed machine, is very simple, practically laid out machine. It is powered by a 10hp single-cylinder Hatz diesel engine, which drives a tandem hydraulic pump.
One pump supplies the 3WD hydrostatic transmission, while the second powers the blower, agitator, brush and scraper. The engine is fitted with a pre-cleaner which Thomas noted as a good job, leaving the air filter in need of being cleaned only once a month. Like all 324 models, Dickson’s machine features a constant 3WD drive transmission. However, as of March 2026 when the new 326 model enters production, switchable 1WD and 3WD drive will become standard.
Although, this hasn’t been a major issue for Thomas and Samuel given the way in which their sheds are laid out, but they recognise how 1WD would improve manoeuvrability in confined passages. A dash-mounted lever valve diverts oil to just the rear wheel in 1WD or all three wheels in 3WD.
Cleaning and bedding
Upfront, the 780mm (820mm option) brush moves in and out of working position hydraulically in an arc motion. This movement allows the brush to maintain the set working angle at different cubicle heights. While the brush can be engaged to rotate in either direction, like most, Thomas rotates it clockwise to throw any dirt off the cubicle.
The brush moves in an arc so that it is always angled right regardless of the cubicle height.
“Even though we were scraping twice a day, the brush leaves a much cleaner job. It lifts the dirt off the mattresses where the handheld scraper tends to smear it,” Thomas pointed out.
As standard, the Q-Bed is fitted with a 1m-wide scraper, with wider 1.15m winged or unwinged options available. Unique to the Q-Bed, the scraper is raised and lowered hydraulically.
The galvanised hopper has a 500-litre capacity, extendable if required, and houses an auger that feeds material to the centrally positioned blower. A manually controlled shutter regulates material flow into the blower. Unlike its competitors, the Q-Bed 324 features a number of added safety features, including large footsteps, an isolator switch, parking brake and a hopper grid, etc.
Controls
“Although myself or dad does almost all the bedding 365 days a year, the simple control layout leaves it an easy machine for anyone to jump up on and operate.
“It just takes a few minutes to get the hang of forward speed and shutter position to apply the right amount of bedding and access corners or that”, Thomas noted.
Forward and reverse of the hydrostatic drive is controlled via a right-hand foot pedal.
Two right-hand levers raise and lower the brush and scraper, while two dash-mounted levers control brush rotation and blower engagement.
“We bed with kiln dried sawdust and a lime product. The Q-Bed does a great job at mixing both products together. Before, we had to mix the sawdust and lime on the floor of the shed with the dispenser bucket, which never worked that well,” Thomas explained.
Verdict
Now almost 250 clock hours in 16 months on the farm, the Dicksons simply wouldn’t part with their Q-Bed. “We bed 200 cubicles twice a day, all year round. On average, it’s burning one tank of diesel per week. Aside from routine servicing, we’ve replaced the brush, but that’s all. Running costs are low and should stay that way once it’s kept well serviced and maintained,” Thomas outlined.
“Bedding has gone from a 30-minute job for three people at each milking to a 10-minute job for one. We’ve went from using between five and six bags of sawdust daily at £5/bag to just four (two am and two pm). This is a £10 daily saving alone, not even putting a price on the labour saved. These savings quickly add up to the repayments of a new machine, leaving it a no-brainer. What’s more, bedding is no long a dreaded job, but a satisfying one instead,” Thomas said.
Q-Bed background
The Q-Bed cubicle bedder is designed and built by Plantmec Ireland, a family-run business just outside Armagh, founded by Melvin and Sandra Crozier and later joined by his son Gareth, who also manages the family farm and agri-contracting business.
In 1998, after working as a welder followed by sales with a local business, NC Engineering, Melvin saw an opportunity to supply road brushes to the municipal sector alongside manufacturing slurry agitators.
After some years, the rights to the Megamix agitator were sold, and in 2008 Plantmec began making bucket brushes for loaders and telehandlers.
Seeking a compact, labour-saving product, Melvin acted on an idea Gareth brought from a neighbouring farm, where a farmer had suggested converting an old ride-on lawnmower into a cubicle cleaning machine. This inspired the purpose-built Q-Bed - short for “Quick Bedder.”
The Q-Bed has since evolved up to the current 324 model, which will be replaced in March 2026 by the updated 326 model. Plantmec builds two-three machines weekly and estimates around 1,400 units have been sold to date.
A Q-Bed 324 chassis and hopper fabricated and ready for galvanising.
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