County Mayo has become a hub of Irish engineering and manufacturing, with many firms based there exporting machines worldwide.

Located just outside the small village of Ballyglass near Claremorris, Malone Farm Machinery is a relatively young company, just entering its third decade.

Background

Managing director Mike Malone tells us that after leaving school at the age of 16, he took up a job in the cutting area of McHale’s in the nearby town of Kilmaine. There, Mike worked on the last of the block cutters before moving to the more recently introduced shear grabs and bale wrappers. Mike worked his way into the role of cutting area supervisor.

“I worked in the cutting area in McHale’s for 10 years. I gained hugely valuable experience in my time with the firm. Every morning, the four supervisors met at 7.45am for 15 minutes planning and ensuring everything was on track. It was a great insight into how to run an engineering firm. But at the end of the day, I always wanted to manufacture my own products.”

I always wanted to manufacture my own products

After leaving McHale’s in August of 1999, Mike returned home and began manufacturing log splitters and post drivers in a small shed to the rear of his house. Four months later, Mike moved into a purpose-built premises down the road, soon taking on his first employee. Shortly after, toppers were added to the product offering.

At the time, Mike and his employee were manufacturing six days a week before Mike would head off on the Sunday delivering the products all over the country.

Mike set up the company four months after leaving McHale's in Kilmaine in 1999.

“As I was passing dealers’ yards on Sundays delivering products around the country, I would always be sure to drop off product brochures and leaflets at every gate,” said Mike.

Soon after, REPS was introduced and a grant became available for post drivers. “This was a turning point for the business. It drove production of post drivers to over 800 units per year. This meant we had to employ more staff and expand our premises. It was the post drivers that built up our dealer network; it was a domino effect from there. My brother then joined the firm and became the production manager,” explained Mike.

Diversifying

In the years that followed, he explored the market, looking out for a popular product no other Irish manufacturer was building. He came to the conclusion that a disc mower and forage wagon would be his next ventures. Now manufacturing in excess of 700 mowers per year, Mike said it was the right decision at the time.

To help promote the new range of mowers in the UK, Mike kitted out the back of a Volkswagen Crafter van and visited dealers all over the UK. This was a major success and grew his UK dealer network to 17 dealers.

Malone Farm Machinery manufacture in excess of 700 mowers per year.

After launching the tedder in late 2015, the real boost came when rumours circulated that the Dutch firm Lely had been sold. Mike recalls that many Lely dealers at the time were struggling to get their hands on stock. As a result, Mike picked up a number of dealers across Ireland and the UK in both 2016 and 2017. That same year, the biennial Agritechnica show took place in Germany. It was here that the west of Ireland firm opened doors to a number of new large markets, with the hooked tine tedder leading the way in terms of enquiries.

Export markets

“The UK was our first export market. I posted brochure packs to loads of dealers and advertised in the farming publications. We broke into this market in 2005. Again, it was post drivers that led the way. Surprisingly, the next market we exported to was South Africa. There, we exported mounted mowers, trailed mowers and wagons. Outside of Ireland, America and New Zealand are two markets in particular that we are excited about, they are really beginning to take off.”

America and New Zealand are two markets in particular that we are excited about, they are really beginning to take off

Today, Malone exports to 14 countries including Chile, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Sweden. After recently showcasing at both Agritechnica and Lamma once again, the firm is currently in talks with distributors in a number of other markets such as France, Denmark and Australia.

New products

Not one to rest on its laurels, Malone Farm Machinery has a number of new products in the pipeline. Although Mike remained tight-lipped on some of his innovations, he exclusively revealed to the Irish Farmers Journal that a larger revamped wagon is in its final test stages in the Netherlands.

The firm is hoping to launch the machine later this year. The new larger-capacity wagon will be gearbox-driven. Fitted with Malone’s own design of a camless pick-up reel, the machine will be equipped with 45 knives offering a theoretical chop length of 35mm.

When asked about other products, Mike explained: “We have plenty of other grass-related products in the pipeline.” Before leaving, I asked Mike will we ever see a baler from Malone. He smiled across the table and answered: “We want to offer the full grassline range”.

Mike revealed that a larger revamped wagon is in its final test stages in the Netherlands. The firm is hoping to launch the machine later this year.

Opportunities/threats

“We see huge opportunities for growth in both America and New Zealand. We’re currently expanding and revamping our factory layout which will enable us to increase production by 30% this coming year”.

“Despite the doom and gloom in Ireland before Christmas, the Irish market looks good for the year ahead. I’m looking forward to getting Brexit sorted and out of the way. Enquiries from the UK are remaining very strong, but with new markets opening up for us worldwide we’re not as reliant on it as we once were.”

“We’re lucky with the excellent team of staff that we have. Most of the guys are here a long time. However, I would be afraid that sourcing skilled staff could be an issue in the years to come. The current beef situation in Ireland is worrying. We would like to see the farmers getting a fair price for their produce. The spin-off to the local economy, especially in the west of Ireland, is hugely important.”

Profile

  • Business: Malone Farm Machinery.
  • Established: August 1999.
  • Managing director: Mike Malone.
  • No. of employees: 35.
  • Address: Ballyglass, Co Mayo.
  • Export markets: 14 and growing.