James Doherty has been in the machinery business for many years now and although well entitled to retire, he still holds fort at the company’s base in Adare, Co. Limerick.
W.W. Doherty & Sons first started selling machinery in 1937 when his father, Walter, opened a garage in Adare village, just down the road from the company’s present site.
The first major agency taken on board was that of International in the early 50s. Since then, a wide variety of brands have been handled, including Vicon, Kuhn, Merlo, Kidd, and Case.
The highlight of the company’s history was holding the New Holland franchise in the 80s, when they became the top European dealer for New Holland’s self-propelled forage harvesters.
This was a huge demand as farmers moved away from the time consuming business of using trailed machines.
Unfortunately, this was ultimately to come to an end with the general shenanigans in the tractor business of the late 80s, and then the eventual takeover of the Ford tractor business by Fiat, who swiftly placed distribution of New Holland products in the hands of its own dealers, leaving Doherty’s out in the cold.
Spare parts aplenty
A similar story unfolded with Case. James would be entitled to feel bitter about the events, but he remains stoical, pointing only to the mountain of spares he was left with in the storeroom, with no compensation or offer to buy it back.
However, the pile is now dwindling a little more rapidly thanks to the internet and all the remaining spares being listed, with a company selling legacy parts online.
One great lesson he took from those years, is that tractor manufactures have little care for the dealer and will take an agency away with no warning – giving just three months notice.
Whether this view applies as much today as manufacturers scrabble around looking for dealers that are able to sell and support an increasingly complex product is open to debate, yet James is not greatly reassuring about the viability of many smaller dealers going forward.
Competition for staff
James is another who points out that staff shortages are proving a growing headache for the industry and is effecting dealer viability, a view that is common to the trade and has been for several years now with no let up in sight.
He adds two further items to the growing list of reasons for this.
The first is particular to Limerick and other cities with technology companies competing for staff to work in modern factories where cleanliness and good working conditions are essential, rather than a rare bonus.
The second is more general and applies to much of the practical side of agriculture as a whole, it is a rejection of the general drudge of farming with the constraints it places on the individual and family.
“Young people will have seen their father as a man who spends seven days a week with their head under a cows belly, and will want a different life,” he said.
Technology
When asked if the march of technology is also putting pressure on dealers in that they need to keep up with the accelerating development of tractors he agrees that yes, a dealer will need the resources to cope and it is only the larger dealers that are likely to survive.
James is not one to decry the technology for he believes that despite what many farmers might say about it, the larger ones are benefitting without actually realising the fact.
This brings him to the subject of tractor productivity which has expanded enormously over the years he has spent in the business.
While others involved in the machinery trade point to the weather, interest rates, poor commodity prices etc for the low sales volume of tractors this year James is believes that the productivity of tractors has brought them to the point where, for the time being, fewer new ones are needed and this has started to show in the sales figures.
A comment often passed about tech laden tractors is that they will not last indefinitely like those of the 60s and 70s onwards which have been exported and are still working away in developing countries.
This, he feels, misses the point that many people in these countries are quite capable of developing work arounds and fixes of their own, they will find a way of doing it.
Doherty and Deutz Fahr
W.W. Doherty and Sons presently hold the Deutz Fahr agency for Clare, Limerick and Kerry.
A large area but James is confident in being able to serve it now there is a second depot at Gortatlea Mart, not far from Tralee.
He holds the brand in high esteem and pegs its market position up there with the best of them.
The transmissions are something he is particularly keen on with the RV Shift, a CVT gearbox that simulates a powershift box with stepped gearing, being popular with all those who have tried it.
The best deals are had just before the main season, as this will give the dealer time to prepare it while selling a new tractor prior to the busiest period.
Another great advantage of Deutz Fahr, is that he finds owners tend to take care of them, they tend not suffer at the hands of those disinterested in machines quite so much as more budget orientated brands.
Keeping a tractor clean and well serviced will result in a better trade in value come the time for replacement, he said.
Baling beefs
Having enjoyed great success in the past with self propelled forage harvesters James is a natural fan of pit silage, and he still enthuses about its benefits.
Bales, he contends, have a fundamental flaw, and that is contractors charge per bale rather than the weight of grass baled.
This has led to the popularity of fixed bale chambers rather than variable bale machines which pack the material from the centre outwards, rather than try to compress it from the outside in.
“Until there is a weighing platform attached to every baler the situations is unlikely to change”, although he does concede that variable chamber types are now creeping on to the market and are being actively promoted by certain manufacturers.