Flexibility is the key to success at Richard Western

It was back in the mid sixties when Richard Western started to design and fabricate agricultural equipment for the family farm. From such small beginnings he was soon making equipment for neighbouring farmers. The big breakthrough came when he built a dumper trailer for his brother Gerald. Such was the success of the dumper trailer that he was soon making them for sale and such was the design a success that it achieved a Gold Medal for Innovation from the RASE. Since that time the company has developed a wide range of trailers, dumper trailers, manure spreaders, vacuum tankers, fuel and water bowsers, forage box feeders, harvest chaser bins, drill fillers and meal/pellet feeders.

Today the thriving business has a turnover approaching £5m and has production facilities in the UK in Framlingham Suffolk where 45 people are employed and in Lithuania where production is geared at the Scandinavian and Baltic markets.

Managing director Richard Western believes there is a good future for top quality equipment but points out that as the years go by trailers and spreaders will become ever bigger to cope with the increasing cost of fuel by reducing the number of journeys. However, like many companies involved in agriculture staffing has been a problem. To overcome the local shortage of trained engineers the company has been investing in young people providing them with apprenticeships involving on site training and the opportunity for day release to the local college. Middle managers within the company are encouraged to take NVQ in business techniques.

The success of the company both in the UK and overseas is put down to researching exactly what equipment is expected to do and then building them to the highest quality standards which are visibly evident when touring the shop floor. Operations director Angus Western explained, "every detail has been considered and put to the test before going into production".

Richard Western products are sold through the agricultural dealer trade and promoted at major agricultural events such as the Lamma show at Grantham and the Grassland and Muck events. Customers and dealers are backed up by the parts department which more than often can despatch goods on the same day as the order is received.


One of the mainstays of the company is the range of Suffolk trailers which can cope with between 13-25 cu.m of grain or 23- 40 cu.m of silage. Standard features of the trailers include a monocoque tapered body, road lights, 1.83m axle track, hydraulic brakes, inspection ladders and chassis shock absorption pads. A wide range of optional extras is available to meet almost every specific requirement of the farmer. Based on the Suffolk trailer design a series of low line root-crop trailers are produced to facilitate damage free root crop harvesting. In addition heavy duty Wellington trailers are produced. Completing the range are bale, pallet, low loader trailers and agricultural dumper trailers.

Meeting the demands of modern agriculture the Delilah manure spreader has been designed to handle all types of manure. The unique design rotor and blade pattern allows all types of manures to be spread without the trouble and fuss of changing spreader decks. Capacity of the Delilah spreaders varies from 7- 18 cubic metres. In addition side discharge slurry/manure spreaders are also produced with capacities of up to 10,896 litres.

Vacuum fill pressure discharge slurry tankers with capacities of up to 3,000 gallons are produced using 6mm rolled steel. All tankers are fitted with internal baffles to reduce liquid movement during transport.

Although the standard design product range is well accepted the company believe that they have the flexibility in manufacturing to meet any specific requirement. This is just one reason why for each product produced a wide range of optional extra equipment is available.

Full details of Richard Western Ltd products are posted on the company web site www.richard-western.co.uk .