Prodig Attachments was established in Newtown, Co Carlow, back in 2003 by brothers Donny, Eamon and Brian Nolan.

The Nolan brothers have over 20 years’ experience in the structural steel and construction industry in which they are very much still a part of today. They have a well established separate company, Debcon Engineering which is run by Brian, while Donny and Eamon look after Prodig Attachments. Donny is in charge of sales and finance while Eamon is the operations manager.

Prodig Attachments initially focused on manufacturing attachments for the construction industry, supplying teleporter buckets for Manitou dealers across the country.

The business grew from there to incorporate other construction attachments such as block grabs, concrete skips, buckets, pallet forks and personnel safety platforms.

In 2009, Prodig noticed a decline in the demand for its construction products due to the recession. This led to the Nolans developing alternative options for the business, which they decided would be the agricultural attachments range. This product range steadily progressed each year from 2009 to include all types of buckets, pallet forks, sweepers, bale handlers, silage, stone and manure forks, shear grabs and the combination shear grab, bucket and plastic retainer, known as the Shear Genius. The company now employs 25 full-time staff to keep up with growing demands.

The latest product to be released is the folding grass fork, which is mainly aimed at the large contractor who demands a reliable, well-constructed and robust fork that is strong, while also keeping the weight down in order to maximise the productivity and efficiency when in operation. The folding fork is available in four sizes: 12ft, 13ft, 14ft and 16ft, meaning there is a fork to suit all contractors’ operations and loader sizes.

The fork frame and chassis is entirely constructed from fine grain Swedish steel, while the bottom tines (40mm x 70mm) and side tines (50mm x 40mm) are made of Hardox. The bottom tines are fitted into a hardened box section and MIG welded in place for longevity. Underneath the fork, across the entire width, is a replaceable hardened cutting-edge wear plate to help protect the fork frame during operation, while also aiding in strength. Moving across to the pivot points, you will find 60mm pins with replaceable double phosphor bronze bushings, which are entirely greasable to help increase the working life of the fork.

Sides

Folding of the sides is taken care of by two heavy-duty 90mm bore hydraulic rams fitted to a hydraulic system that incorporates a hydraulic accumulator as standard. This encourages smooth operation while also keeping the sides pressurised in the working position in the event of a pressure loss.

There are soft-close rubber buffers fitted on each side of the fork to take the impact away from the hinge point during closing.

When closed in transport position, there is an added safety feature where a pin can be inserted to safely lock the sides.

Optional reflective road transport guards can be fitted over the tines to further increase safety during transport.

All Prodig attachments are fully cleaned down and prepared for paint before being primed and painted with a two-pack epoxy paint in the company’s signature green and battleship grey colours before finally being oven-baked.

Prodig offer numerous optional extras for the folding fork; an extra high spill guard is available for the top of the fork frame which is fully adjustable for working in tight spaces such as sheds. Extra side tines and wheel clamp holders can also be fitted to the fork, if required. The tine spacing can be varied to suit both precision and wagon silage, while a bolt-on maize blade can be supplied. Prodig now offers the novel feature where your company logo can be laser-cut and incorporated into the fork frame, along with an optional lighting kit.

Prices start at €6,200 plus VAT. For more information, contact Brian Roache on 086-780 9888.

To read the full Grass Silage Focus Supplement click here