I remember when I
first met David Beak I was sweeping the floor in my father’s workshop in
Orroroo. It was after school and this sharply dressed young man driving a Mk
Three Zephyr was extolling the virtues of carrying at least one new tractor in
stock. Not being privy to the negotiations, I do remember tractors arriving and
going to farms but not in the same numbers as the Chamberlains from my uncle’s
business down the street.
David
was polite and did his best to enthuse my somewhat cautious father to make more
sales. For him it was a tough gig but he persevered with us and Fordsons waved
a blue flag among the sea of orange spreading through the district.
Our paths would cross many times in the
future. David has taught many machinery reps the value of perseverance and hard
work during tough times. An ally of small and large dealers while remaining a
loyal company man is a difficult task but one he managed admirably.
Here is David's
story:
Born 1940 in
Birkdale, 21 Kms from Brisbane, I grew up in the Brisbane “Salad Bowl” small
crop farming area, working on farms for pocket money. Life was one great fun time. I wanted to be a
RAAF fighter pilot, but this was scuttled after being told I was hopeless at
maths.
By default, I then attended Gatton Agricultural College 1956-58
doing an Ag.Diploma. It was during 1958
my future was locked and loaded, travel being the objective.
A Ford Motor Company demo team of five guys, two semis, two tractors
and implements and, a pink, blue and white Customline sedan visited the
college. This was the Australia wide
travel job for me! The demo team- Harvey
Coombe, Les Glover, Les Graham, Peter Neuman and boss Frank Carr – painted a
glowing account of the Australia-wide, all expenses paid job. Sadly, the demo team did not operate the
following year, however, in 1961 Ford were again hiring demonstrators. At that time I worked for the Bureau of Sugar
Experiment Station in Mackay where I started on a salary of nine hundred and
sixty nine pounds per annum and paid ten pounds per week board. I quickly utilized the inside running, viz.
Ford tractor boss, Norm Logie, grew up opposite my grandparents in Greenslopes,
so meetings were quickly arranged and I won one of the five positions being
offered. After six months with trainer,
Lindsay Lamb, at a farm near Geelong, we five demonstrators could make Fordson
Dexta and Major tractors virtually talk.
After that my travel involved all Queensland, central and southern New
South Wales and western Victoria.
I then did an administrative stint at Broadmeadows plant, then Shell
House in Melbourne, under Luke Lazarides, until mid 1962. At that point each demonstrator was issued
with an F250 truck, low loader trailer, Dexta tractor and several implements,
to allow mobile on-farm demos. My post
was to South Australia to conduct demos over the following twelve months.
Then I was appointed Admin Assistant to John Blyth at the old Largs
Bay plant and subsequently King William Street office in Adelaide. Living in Area Manager Robyn Sexton’s half
built house, nick named “Afghan Flat,” was an experience and a half.
In 1964 I was promoted to S.A. Product Trainer and launched
(red-faced) the Ford 6000 (or Greyhound as it was called because it had no
guts!). Talk about being flogged by
Chamberlain Countryman!!! Other
introductions were the Ford USA hay range and Horwood Bagshaw sourced “Blue
Line” broad acre implements. I was
instructed to tell Gordon Abbott of Streaky Bay to choose – John Shearer or the
Ford/Blue Line franchise. Gordon’s instant
reply was “Shearer” needless to say we capitulated.
1967 saw me transferred to north Queensland, replacing the Area
Manager who was terminated for holding numerous champagne parties and bouncing
cheques on a regular basis. Lionel List
was a tough but good boss and rode me mercilessly to sell Ford 2000 offset
tractors (at twice a competitive price).
When the price was cut in almost half, Mareeba salesman, Neil Harry, and
I sold fourteen of them to Italian tobacco farmers in two weeks. We were almost drunk daily due to “drinking to the trac” with the new
owners.
North Queensland was great but short lived with a transfer to
Brisbane in 1968. It was then that I
earned the dubious title “the Red Line Rep” due to having to catch tourist
buses on territory as a result of a one month licence loss for a traffic
infringement.
1974 saw me back with John Blyth on advertising, and I enjoyed
busting the myth that those who appeared in product brochures left Ford. I appeared in every 7A Range tractor
catalogue and on a worldwide Ford Tractor calendar.
In 1976, I was promoted to Market Rep and Business Management
Manager. I recall having one assigned
and one leased vehicle and eating in the inner sanctum dining room with the
Ford Australia elite as a career high point.
One function of this job was Director Secretary of the only Ford Tractor
Dealer Development Dealer at Dandenong.
This involved an annual financial audit as per Ford Australia
requirements. In 1978 Ford, on my
recommendation, sold Dandenong to operator Geoff Thacker at an agreed
discounted price to enable the dealership to compete better financially. The dealership prospered.
In 1980 there was a promotion to Southern District Sales Manager,
and I stayed in this role until 1984 when the higher grade marketing manager
position became available. I applied
for this job but missed out and decided that was the end of promotion
opportunities so I accepted a job as Sales Manager with the Geoff
Fowler/Russell Skerman Brisbane-based Ford tractor dealership, Agquip
Metro. For the 1985-year we won the top
dealer sales for Australia.
I was then promoted to Agquip Metro General Manager in 1986 but that
did not work out, so I went on the labour market that year. I then spent 8 months managing the Dwyer
Group Mackay Branch and in the tough year of 1986/87 brought the branch from a
loss into profit before returning to Brisbane.
Then I wrote to over 20 agricultural companies applying for a
job. Only 3 replied and Massey Ferguson
Australia offered me a job as Branch Manager starting in July 1987. Unfortunately, due to industry problems
(drought etc), and AGCO operating policies, the job was gradually down graded
to what would become area manager, so I took redundancy in November 2002 and
have lived the good life of retirement and overseas travel with my wife Pam
since then. That included 7 years
part-time with Rob Wruck at North Pine Motors in Petrie doing the advertising.
In all the 41 years in the business I consider the Fendt Vario range
of tractors, acquired by ACGO in 2001, to be an amazing advance in technology,
providing huge forward steps in efficiency and quality engineering. Pat Baird and I launched the 960 Vario model
throughout north Queensland doing 50 kph demos throughout from Cairns to
Mackay. I’ll never forget the look on
the faces of the farmers we took as passengers, when I told them I was going to
change into reverse direction at 50kph with a flick of the joystick. North Queensland
dry cleaners must have made a fortune during the programme.
The Australian travel afforded by both Ford and M.F. was worth
hundreds of thousands of dollars and provided an untold variety of farm and
business contacts.
Every one of the companies I have worked for involved good times,
great staff and some amazing characters and their activities. I consider I could not have run a more
satisfying race. If there was a downside
to the travel it was time away from home, so the support of a great family made
it all possible.
There will always be an Ag Machinery industry, but I feel the types and
numbers of opportunities will sadly diminish in Australia as time goes by. However, top men will hold top jobs as usual.
Finally, an interesting statistic, in almost 24 years as a Ford
Australia employee, I had 53 assigned vehicles and 11 leased vehicles – total
64. The models and number plates of all
64 vehicles are recorded for posterity
Hi,i worked at Dandenong Ford Tractors ,bennet st,in the late 80s early 90s.Geoff Thacker was my boss and a very nice guy to boot.Unfortunately Geoff was too nice and trusting and at tax time in 1990 Geoff found out that his book-keeper\secretary had neglected to pay any taxes due for the last couple of years.Dandenong Ford Tractors was placed into recievership(u r right the business was prospering)but unfortunately the tax and fines associated were over a million dollars(huge for a small business back then) and we all lost our jobs.Poor Geoff who should have been retired ended up having to go back into the workforce in his 70,s.Very sad story as he really was a gentleman.It was good to see his lifes work mentioned in your post it brought back some really good memories,cheers Mark Savage
ReplyDeletehanks for the memory Mike, love to get in touch and talk about the people and places we may have known. What about your own story, reckon I might be able to help you tell yours too.
DeleteHi, I started work at Dandenong Ford Tractors in 1980 as a 15 year old office junior, I was there for 5 years, worked with some great guys, found Mr Thacker very intimidating and the bookkeeper who came in once a week or fortnight to do pays was a disgusting person, she would sit opposite me chain smoking all day. I was one of the first people that I know of to work on computers there in the early 80's, I learnt a lot in that job and always wondered what happened to it, not surprised about the bookkeeper, she didn't seem to bright then and I was only 15. Fond memories of Keith Waterhouse, spare parts manager
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, I'm currently researching for a biography of one of the icons of the tractor industry and would love to hear some of your recollections of the eighties and nineties.
ReplyDelete