Enterprising Trim firm spots gap in snowplough market

The prolonged cold spell has seen one enterprising Trim company design and manufacture a snowplough that can be attached to compact tractors, after spotting a gap in the market. Leinster Turf Equipment, based at the Eamon Duggan Industrial Estate in Trim, had a number of enquiries for snowploughs that could be attached to small tractors as the cold spell hit and when it enquired from UK manufacturers, discovered there was a six to eight-week waiting list for them. Director Derek Inglis said that rather than wait that long to source them, they decided to fabricate and make the ploughs themselves after seeing the opening in the market. He explained that they took a tractor and worked with steel to come up with a prototype. Their first snowplough is currently being used by Trim Town Council to clear footpaths in the area. They have also provided another to Peamount Hospital in Dublin, and the enquiries keep coming. Leinster Turf Equipment can manufacture either an offset blade which pushes the snow to one side or a straight, dozer blade that pushes it straight ahead. The blades can be attached to compact tractor that is between 18 and 40 horsepower and could also be attached to a quad bike. Mr Inglis said that, with their first plough, it took about a day to come up with the design as they worked to establish the optimum angles. “It was a case of trial and error with the first one and then it took about three days of welding to manufacture. Once we mastered the design, now we can have a snowplough ready in two to three days,†added Mr Inglis. He added they now use laser profiling company Turmec from Rath Chairn which speeded up the process. As well as snow, the plough can also be used to clear loose debris or could be attached to a quad to move horse manure, for example. Mr Inglis said a company in Tipperary makes larger snow ploughs for fitting to lorries but that Leinster Turf Equipment is the first he knows of which can manufacture the blades for compact tractors and quads. The equipment is aimed mostly at local authorities, stud farms, golf courses, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals and such. There have also been enquiries from the owners of small shopping centres for clearing car parks. Leinster Turf Equipment supplies golf course and landscape machinery, as well as domestic gardening equipment such as lawnmowers and hedge cutters. The company has been in business for seven years and was originally based in Summerhill, but relocated to Trim almost five years ago.