40 years and 100 tractors – Gavins celebrates it all
A special month for Gavins – The celebration of their 100th tractor.
Taupiri company Gavins celebrated 40 years of service this month by purchasing their 100th tractor.
The company, a leading agricultural, stockfeed, earthworks, and transport company, decided to celebrate the purchase of their 99th, 100th, and 101st tractors.
Company founder Ian Gavin said the company had been so busy focusing on the future they had not been aware of their achievements,
“Forty years and 100 tractors. I was just blown away when they said we are going to have a bit of a celebration to make the moment. Hundred tractors, surely not!
“It’s very much a milestone.”
Equipment manager, Ron Voschezang, said it all started when the company decided to stop using contractors, a decision he says initiated the growth of the business,
“We started out and we had to use contractors. Then the opportunity came to have our own gear. Once you do the first outside job, then everything just grows from there.”
Voschezang also made mention of the 750,000 tractor hours and 21 million litres of diesel the company has consumed to show staff the hard work that has gone into creating the business.
It was 1975 when the company purchased their first tractor for $20,000 – a 1977 international 574, which sported a 67hp diesel engine.
This week, the company purchased two John Deere 6195rs, which feature a 6-cylinder diesel producing 195hp, and one John Deere 6215r, which features a 6-cylinder diesel producing 215hp.
All three tractors cost the company an estimated $650,000.
The 6215r, the 100th tractor, was also fortunate enough to receive a special number plate that spells T100 to reiterate its significance to the company.
The company has since been passed down to Ian’s son, James Gavin, who plans to pass it down to his son, Caleb.
