Ned Millea – HARDI NK

HARDI by name HARDI by nature”

“Over the 30 years I have had it the only part that it ever needed was a pump diaphragm”

Kilkenny man Ned Millea farms 60 acres of prime agricultural land just outside the city of Kilkenny. On the farm Ned grows a combination of spring barley and grass all of which he sells locally, “I have been farming all my life for longer than I care to remember, in the 1980s and early 90s I would have been heavily involved in tillage, taking up to 150 acres of rented ground on top of my own 60 acres which back then was a lot of work. Unfortunately in the early 90s the prices went down and the costs went up so we downscaled to just our own land. Today I farm with my son John where we grow both barley and grass all of which we sell in the local area where the farm is situated which has a lot of equestrian industry. We sell the straw, grain and all our grass in the form of haylage to this market which works well for us”.

Then dealing with the equestrian market it is of vital importance that the crops are right, to keep weeds and pests under control Ned employs the help of a HARDI NK sprayer which is no less than 30 years old.

“I purchased the HARDI sprayer back in the 1980s off IAM in Kilkenny, I had seen them working around and was very impressed by how simple they were and how good a job they done, couple that with the fact that I had a local backup service for parts which in reality I didn`t need, it was really an easy decision in the end and I have never looked back since”.

Ned opted for a 600 litre model NK sprayer with 12m booms which was coupled to a 70hp Leyland 272 which it still works on today. “I chose the NK model with 12m booms as it was a simple machine yet done everything I wanted it to, the 12m suited standard tramlines and it had hydraulic height control and a great pump that was really fast when filling”.

Back in the bulk of the tillage days the sprayer was responsible for covering up to 600 acres in the year which it tackled with ease.

Today the sprayer looks after Neds 60 acres as well as that of 6 neighbours, spraying on average 250-300 acres a year.

“I cannot fault the HARDI machine, over the 30 years I have had it the only part that it ever needed was a pump diaphragm and that was just to get it pasted for the sprayer certification. They are very well designed and engineered machines with features such as hydraulic height adjustment and side steps which we not available on competitor machines of the same era”.

“The HARDI has stood the test of time for me always producing good results in the crops. To be honest if I was ever changing the sprayer I wouldn’t buy anything else”.