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We met with Graeme Donaldson, Production Site Operation Manager at Shieldmains Mill, part of the Mole Valley Feed Solutions in Coylton (Ayr), an animal feed mill. William Connolly, Area Sales Manager, and Colin Scott, Product Support, hand-delivered the two JCB Agri telescopic handlers he purchased from Hamilton Brothers in Tarbolton, which were put to use straight off the lorry.
William Connolly (left), Colin Scott (right), Graeme Donaldson (fourth from left) with his team
Graeme – My role is Production Site Operation Manager, for Mole Valley Feed Solutions, Scotland. Our mill has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes – we supply the whole of Scotland and the north of England with 6mm dairy, beef, and sheep compound feeds, 12mm rolls and blended and meal products.
Graeme – We bought two JCB Agri 542-70 telescopic telehandlers, complete with 4.2tn lift and 7m reach, 109hp, and a 4.8l Ecomax engine. They feature the brand-new Command Plus cab, 140lpm piston pump, air conditioning, air suspension seat, LED worklights, seat-mounted control pod, BibLoad tyres for longer life, and a rear pick up hitch with hydraulics and electrics.
Graeme – We use them for filling the intake for the compound feed mill, loading the trucks, and loading our blend mixer – they’re pretty much on non-stop all day and night!
William – It’s a 4-ton machine with fast hydraulics, which is due to regenerative hydraulics. When retracted and down, the boom works along with gravity to speed up oil recycling, meaning faster loading and unloading times. Also, the new Command Plus cab makes for a working environment where the operator has more room, better visibility and a quieter space cab to help with a long working day.
“I was looking for a machine that would offer reliability, sturdiness, and longevity.”
Graeme – Well, originally we had four machines from a competitor brand, but they weren’t as “beefy”. I was looking for a machine that would offer reliability, sturdiness, and longevity. They’re pretty much the same model, but they’re JCB design.
I did my research, and I found out that Hamilton Brothers was the local supplier for JCB Agriculture. I phoned them, and I got in contact with William. I had a lot of questions, I didn’t want to just jump in with my two feet, it had to be right for us. We had machines from JCB and another brand for a trial, and the preferred machine was the JCB. After that, we just had to sit down and work out the finance agreements.
We ordered them in the middle of November, and we got them delivered at the start of February. These are my first JCBs, so I got two at the start to get a feel for them and I’m hopeful they will pay off.
Graeme – So far, it’s been good. Choosing a company to buy from for the first time is no small deal, that was a big commitment I was making with volume. It was interesting to know what the support was, and I’ve been assured they’ve got the right people to provide the best service if you encounter any issues. Because, having only four machines, if one’s down, it becomes challenging and slows us down somewhat – we need them to be operational all the time.
Graeme – Currently, we’re doing 121,000 tonnes of compound and blends, but in this financial period we’ve budgeted for a 5% increase, which is quite ambitious. We weren’t affected at all by the pandemic, due to the fact that we’re an essential business, so we’ve been able to sustain our operations all throughout, and now we’re investing in our future.
Get in touch with your local Hamilton Ross Group depot to find out more about our JCB Agri range of machines.
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