Willie Joe Carroll started off in business in 1974, making this year his 50th anniversary. For 40 of those years, he has been a Landini dealer in South Tipperary, marking another anniversary that is worth celebrating.
He had been working as a welder with a local quarrying business, while servicing and repairing farm machinery in his spare time.
This grew to the extent that he and his wife Sarah, felt confident enough to step out and form their own business.
Along the way, he also created Rossmore Engineering in 1981, which now sits directly alongside the dealership and has successfully carved out a significant slice of the Irish Loader and tanker market.
The first products manufactured were grabs for rear end loaders, before moving on to attachments for front loaders and conversions from trip to hydraulic power versions.
Slurry tankers then followed, with these still remaining a large part of the business today.
W.J. Carroll open day
To celebrate both anniversaries, W.J. Carroll is holding an open/demo day in conjunction with Argo Tractors Ireland on Wednesday May 29, from 10:00a.m to 5:00p.m, with the grass demonstration starting at 12:00p.m.
This working demonstration will feature several new models from the the 5, 6 and 7 series, ranging from the 7-180, rated at 161hp, down to the 5-85.
These tractors will be working with Fendt 4 and 6 rotor tedders and a Fendt 770 tedder, before the silage is finally baled by a Fendt Combi baler.
Visitors will be welcome to test drive the tractors, and Landini representatives will be available on the day to answer questions alongside members of the Carroll family.
There will be a variety of other machines on display which will feature a full range of Rossmore products including loaders & attachments, tankers, fertiliser hoists and agitators.
These will be shown alongside Rauch fertilizer spreaders, NC pump agitators, Hackett and Rakeman grass harrows, plus a variety of new and used disc mowers and tedders.
There will be offers available on a range of Landini parts and oils.