Seen It All

Bart Geeson is the owner of Peachester Field Services and as the name suggests, he services machinery in the Peachester area near the Glass House Mountains in Queensland. He has been operating in the field for over 50 years and in that time has seen it all.

"I did my apprenticeship in the UK where we worked in iron ore mines. I developed my skills as a motor technician, diesel fitter and welder. I worked on all kinds of machines from Caterpillar D7 and D8 dozers, scrapers, graders, through to diesel electric locomotives for carting the iron ore. I particularly remember the locos as they were powered by Rolls Royce engines" explained Bart.

Bart and his wife Eileen immigrated to Australia in 1967. In that time he continued to work on even more machines in all kinds of conditions. "I started off working for Main Roads in Port Hedland Western Australia. Machines I worked on everyday included road rollers, graders and plenty of dozers." said Bart.

A few years later Bart and family headed off to the Ord River, Kununurra Western Australia in search of more adventure and better money. "It was known as the food bowl of the world when I was there and agriculture was happening everywhere. I worked on cotton pickers of all things."

"I also spent time in Utah coal mine in Moranbah central Qld. We worked on some big machines with even bigger budgets. The maintenance budget at Utah was $12 million a month and that was 20 years ago. Probably the most impressive machine I have worked on was a dragline boom. It is like a cross between a crane and a giant excavator. It is used to move the overburden - the ground dug up to access the coal. The operator sits 10m above ground level and it can cut into pits up to 70 metres below ground. Machines like this can move as much as 50 tonnes in a single pass and have over 7000 horse power pulling at the bucket" said Bart.

Bart is now well and truly settled in Peachester. He has a 20 acre farm where he has 2000 Macadamia trees and a few head of cattle. "I have a couple of tractors and understand hobby farmers needs very well as I am one myself! Nowadays the service I do is mainly on smaller machines but I still enjoy the diversity. In the last week I have worked on excavators, bobcats, forklifts and even a sawmill."

Bart's service experience now includes a few East Wind Tractors in the Peachester area. "When one of the locals first asked me to work on a Chinese made dozer I must confess I was a little sceptical. I expected to see something that was poorly made and thought I would have no hope of getting spare parts. But I must say I have been pleasantly surprised. I have serviced an East Wind Dozer in Witta that has done over 250 hours. The owner Darel Sommer operates it in very hilly country and gives it a pretty good work out clearing scrub. I have got to say the machine looks great and is surprisingly well made. It is very simple to work on. It has grease nipples in all the right places, the safety warning signs are all there and easy to understand. Your average farmer wouldn't care much about the safety warning signs but it shows the manufacturer is serious about getting this product right. I have also taken it for a test drive and it is easy to operate and manoeuvres well in tight spaces." continued Bart

"I have also worked on a few East Wind wheeled tractors in the area and I have always been able to get spare parts and at very reasonable prices too. At the end of the day they are a pretty basic machine without any frills but this makes them ideal for what your average hobby farmer needs and it is amazing what you can get for the money." Bart concluded.