With 30 years of site clearance and tree care work under his belt, Noel Kelleher of Noel Kelleher Plant Hire has become one of the leading providers of Tree Services over the south, south-west and up into the south midlands of Ireland.

Recently, two new machines have joined the fleet; a Sennebogen 718E tree handler, with matching attachments, and a Volvo EC140E L excavator.

Noel began his involvement in site clearance and tree care work, due to a growing demand for such work, back in 1994 and originally offered hedge cutting services as a supplementary activity to his livestock farming interests. Working close to his base near Macroom, County Cork, he was eager to pursue other avenues of work, and with this increasing demand he saw huge potential.

Initially working on a modest scale with minimal equipment, Noel needed to advance and expand due to his increasing workload while also endeavouring to offer a more comprehensive service. This included building up a team of experienced staff with Noel's son Evan also joining the operation, who today maintains a key role in the company's on-site activities.

As Noel focused specifically on clearance and tree care work, he purchased a jenz HEM 360 terrain chipper back in 2009 which was matched with a Valua T191 forestry spec tractor, which featured a roof mounted Botex crane for chipper feeding operations. Incredibly, this chipper still remains at the centre of the business 15 years later and is now propelled by a more recent Valtra T193, purchased new in 2015 from local dealership Paudy Buckley Tractor Sales. Based on the success story of his initial Valtra tractors, the decision was taken in 2022 to add a second dedicated forestry spec tractor from the Finnish manufacturer which led to the purchase of a T255 with Versu transmission.

Noel said, "The T255 was chosen based on the equipment I had planned to add to the operation which has included a high-capacity stump grinder and an FAE forestry tiller which has been successfully used to reinstate Christmas Tree farms, nursenies and other areas back to agricultural land."

More new kit arrived in 2023, as Noel bought a Sennebogen 718E tree handler.

The machine has incredible working capabilities with its level of reach. accessibility, working flexibility and its

compatibility with different attachments.

Whilst others in similar sectors are increasingly pursuing the route of utilising machine-based solutions for tree removal over the use of tree climbers, Noel saw a number of important benefits of using the Sennebogen 718E which are absent from other machines. He said, "There are a range of different options when it comes to choosing a dedicated machine for taking down trees. These include mounting a grapple saw on a large rotary telescopic loader, a crane or an off-road truck, but  having looked at all these different choices, a dedicated tree handler like the Sennebogen 718E was a far more versatile solution. It is purpose built for the task which means it has clear advantages and, in the end, it was the only machine worth considering.