When kiwifruit first became a commercial crop in Te Puke in the 1960s it triggered a revolution in technology and equipment; including the development of the world’s first orchardised tractors.

Ninety-year-old Stan Hainge of Mount Maunganui was involved in the modification of standard David Brown tractors when he was employed as mechanic and salesman for the Te Puke agents Central Bay Motors.

“There was a need for lowered tractors which could drive under the vines, but no one was making them in the late-1970s-early-1980s,” says Stan.

Ed Barker, owner of Central Bay Motors, and representatives of the New Zealand importers of David Brown Tractors, Todd Motors, went to the factory in Meltham England in 1979 to arrange for tractors suitable for modification to be exported to New Zealand.

“The tractors arrived by rail to Te Puke in wooden crates. We used to go to the rail siding, offload the crates, open them up, reassemble the tractors and drive them to the workshop for modification. “Later, when we were ordering more tractors, they came by truck to the workshop,” Stan recalls.

Front lowered

“They didn’t need a lot of modification. The front axle kingpin housings were cut off, and rewelded so the front was lowered. The eight bolts on each side, which held the final drive, were moved three holes to lower the rear end. We put on smaller 1020 wheels at the front and 20 inch wheels at the rear.

“The mudguards had to be replaced so we bought the steel from Auckland and had it rolled into shape by a firm in Greerton. They were stronger than the original ones.”

The exhaust was repositioned under the tractor and the suspension for the seat removed to position the driver even lower under the orchard canopy, meaning the ride was not that comfy.

Te Puke orchardist Roland Cleaver, who interviewed Stan in 2013, described more of the modification process in an article he wrote. “The stabiliser bracket on the final drive had to be moved because it was no longer opposite the lift arm front pin. To put that right, a bracket was made to fit on the final drive and the original bracket was attached so that it all lined up again.”

This plus all the other changes “made for a very good orchard tractor,” wrote Roland, who was one of Stan’s early Te Puke customers, buying a tractor and later cars from Stan.

Market advantage

Taking the initiative to modify the tractors for the new kiwifruit industry gave Central Bay Motors a significant market advantage in the region, and also nationwide with sales as far away as New Plymouth and Wanganui and to Kerikeri in Northland. Such was the company’s success it opened a branch in Katikati, which Stan managed.

“Our company’s record year for sales, which would have been either the late-1970s or early-1980s was 79 new and used tractors, and most of them were orchard tractors,” says Stan.

Born and educated in Rotorua, Stan began his mechanic’s apprenticeship with Gough, Gough and Hamer in Rotorua in 1945 on a wage of 10 shillings. In March 1947 Stan drove a new Caterpillar Grader three days from Auckland to Te Puia, north of Gisborne, for delivery to a local council.

“Ron Williamson and Doug Smallbone from Goughs came to pick me up and when we reached a bridge near Te Puia Springs we were warned not to cross because a tsunami had hit the coast – but we drove across anyway, with water flooding over the bridge.”

Once he finished his apprenticeship, by working overtime to complete 8700 hours as quickly as possible, Stan worked for Ray Whitehouse maintaining forestry equipment and machinery breaking in land around the Central Plateau for farming.

His next job was as a mechanic for George Giltrap in Rotorua. At the time imports of new machinery were few, so George bought ex-Army vehicles and council heavy trucks and machinery which Stan repaired or rebuilt for sale.

Rehab farms

As well as servicing tractors, Stan also began selling them too. “Returning World War II vets were getting ballot farms and funding to buy tractors. Reporoa contractor and Stan’s brother-in-law Donny Martelli was buying tractors from us and often recommended farmers do the same.

“Competition among salesmen was tough so sometimes I’d park a brand-new tractor on the farm of someone who hadn’t yet decided which tractor to buy, so the salesman from another company would drive passed without trying to make a sale.”

Stan continued to work for the company after Giltrap Motors was sold and renamed White and Allen Motors but in 1965 he and wife Bett bought a small lifestyle block of land in Cameron Rd, Te Puke. In 1966 Stan joined Barraud Motors as a tractor mechanic and salesman, on a salary of 15 pound a week, with 20 pound commission on every tractor he sold. The company later became Central Bay Motors.

Stan retired at 60, after working for Adams Motors in Katikati selling Massey Ferguson tractors. “I got a bit of stick when I took that job as I’d been known as a loyal David Brown man,” Stan laughs.

Stan’s career, from his early days with Gough, Gough and Hamer, to his time rebuilding used tractors and machinery for George Giltrap, prepared him well for the task of helping create specialised orchard tractors which in turn revolutionised efficiencies in the kiwifruit industry. It’s possible some of those tractors Stan worked on are still to be found on orchards today.