Grain-fed success for Moylan Silos with IVECO

In-depth

13 Nov

Two family generations and three generations of IVECO trucks, have worked hard to build Western Australia’s Moylan Silos into the state’s largest manufacturer of grain silos, stock feeders and field bins.

Based in the wheatbelt town of Kellerberrin, around 200 kilometres east of Perth, the company was started by Mick Moylan, a tradesman who 53 years ago transitioned from plumbing to fabricating water tanks, before pivoting the business to focus on the manufacture of grain silos.

While Mick is still involved in the company, these days the operation is predominantly overseen by son, Corey, and his wife Gemma, who in more recent times have grown and further diversified the business to produce stock fielders and field bins.

Along with family members, Moylan Silos’ team comprises 25 full-time employees plus seasonal casuals; together they bring a range of trades and expertise to the business covering sheet metal work, boilermaking, mechanical, labourers and of course, truck drivers. All of Moylan Silos’ product lines are manufactured in house using mostly Australian materials, offering a genuine homegrown range to customers.

“Dad was a plumber by trade and after a while he learned that he didn’t like working for others, so began the business. He was always clever with engineering and good with his hands,” Corey explained.

“Taking what he learnt with the water tanks he applied it to silo manufacturing, and it remains our core product today.”

From Kellerberrin, the company transports its products all over WA and that’s where its fleet of 11 IVECOs plays a role.

“A 2,000 kilometre round trip is pretty normal during deliveries but we’ve been as far as Kununurra and Broome (over 3,000 kms and 2,000 kms one way),” Corey said.

The company started using IVECO trucks around 20 years ago, when a North American brand was replaced by a Eurotech, and IVECO has continued to be the vehicle of choice ever since with the fleet now consisting of Stralis and X-Way prime movers as well as two new S-Way 550 AS 6x4 prime movers.

“We’ve found the IVECOs to be durable and reliable, the last Eurotech was traded in showing well over a million kilometres and two of the older Stralis models have also exceeded that mark – we never have any trouble with them,” Corey said.

The trucks are coupled to custom-made drop deck trailers that Moylan Silos designed and manufactured in house, allowing the company to transport two silos (up to 8.5m high and 4.5m in diameter) per load. The trailers feature hydraulic arms to lift and lower the silos, with the process normally taking between 30 and 45 minutes for two team members.

While these larger silos only weigh around three tonnes each, their oversize dimensions means they catch a lot of wind, according to Corey, making the S-Way’s 550hp and 2500Nm of torque ideal.

“The loads might not be that heavy but the trucks still have to work to push through the wind, it pegs us back, that’s why we like to have higher horsepower trucks,” Corey said.

“Another thing we’ve enjoyed about all the IVECO trucks we’ve had – and it’s particularly noticeable in the S-Ways – is the comfort and quietness of the cabins; they’re very very quiet and spot on for comfort. We often drive them over very poor roads and the steering and suspension handle the conditions well, they’re excellent over the corrugations. Really, they’re a perfect truck for what we’re doing.”

Moylan Silos’ IVECO fleet is maintained in house with the business also calling on Perth Dealership, AV Truck Services, when required. Ease of maintenance was another important reason why Corey has remained loyal to the brand for over two decades.

“Parts availability is good and servicing the trucks is straight forward, we can do most of the upkeep ourselves,” he said.