Hartington Equipment Getting Ready To Grow Again

Jeff Green | Nov 16, 2022

Many, many Frontenac County residents travel regularly up and down Road 38. And in recent months, that trip has included a gaze over to the east side of the road when passing a field that used to be part of the Stewart farm just south of Hartington.

Back in late August, the ground was being cleared, then in September the foundation was being put in for a large building. The shell of a building, which will be 23,000 square feet when completed, went up in a couple of days last week.

But what was going on? Who is behind this big project? A big-time developer from Toronto, putting in a factory, a senior's home, a hotel, or a spa?

The truth is found a lot closer to home than that. The building and grounds will be the new home of Hartington Equipment. The jumble of buildings and large sheds, surrounded by hundreds of small and large orange tractors, skid steers and excavators,(which is located just south of the building site) which have been the home of Hartington Equipment, for decades, will be vacated. Building a brand-new headquarters is an idea being brought to reality by Dustin Pritchard.

Dustin took over the business from his father, Rod, and Rod took it over from his parents, Ron and Marg, who opened the business almost 65 years ago, in 1958.

This is not the first new building that Dustin has built since taking over in 2014.

In 2015 he put up a 7700 sq foot shop, tacked on to the back of the main building, so we could improve our ability to service larger machines.

But the business kept growing, and last year he realised that he needed some more space.

“I was going to put in a new showroom, a standalone building, just off the highway,” he said, from his office last week. “Then, I heard that the Stewarts were prepared to sell off 33 acres, and after thinking a little bit about it, I decided to take the plunge and build the facility that we really need, to handle all of the business we have, and be able to have a proper showroom and service all of the equipment that we sell, and build in capacity for more growth."

Building the 23,000 square foot facility that Hartington Equipment needs is an expensive endeavour, and to make it possible, the relationship that Rod Pritchard entered into with Kubota Equipment in 1975 has been crucial.

“When I first went to the Kubota Canada Headquarters in 1975, it was in a unit in a strip that was about the size of the Gimour's mall here in Harrowsmith,” said Rod Pritchard. “They had just come to Canada, had two tractor models available, and we took them on. We were selling mostly Case products at the time, and Kubota had smaller machines, so we gave them a try.”

Kubota recently opened a 650,000 square foot facility in Pickering. Federal and provincial and municipal government officials were on hand for the grand opening. So were the Pritchard's.

“From the start, Kubota Canada has had a Canadian president. It has always been run as a family type operation. Working with them is a completely different experience than working with other manufacturers,” said Rod Pritchard.

The popularity of the Kubota range of tractors and other machines has been key to Hartington Equipment’s growth over the years. There are Kubota dealers in Belleville and Ottawa. Hartington Equipment's loosely defined territory is mainly Frontenac and Lennox and Addington, as well as Lanark, which is mainly served by Hartington Equipment in Perth, which was opened by Rod in 1992.

The penetration of Kubota products, sold and serviced by Hartington Equipment, is deep and long standing, and it has made them one of the largest Kubota dealerships east of Toronto

“We had a really good year in 2019,” said Dustin, “we won the top retail sales award for all of Eastern Ontario.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, sales slowed down for a few months, but then they picked up in the summer of 2020, and with new people coming into the region during the pandemic-fueled real estate boom, Hartington Equipment has gone from strength to strength.

“The new site will allow us to hire at least two new mechanics, and we will then be able to provide the kind of service that we want to provide. We are doing ok now, but not as good as we would like, and that limits our growth. You can always sell a piece of equipment, but it is being able to service it over its life cycle that creates a loyal customer who will come back for an upgraded machine or a replacement. That's where having mechanics on the road, having a shop where we can work on machines, having a full parts department, all come in,” he said.

There are currently just over 20 employees at Hartington Equipment, and Dustin expects to be hiring 3 or 4 more when the new facility opens, in the fall of next year, with more to follow.

In addition to Kubota, Hartington Equipment carries larger equipment made by Doosan.

“The two lines complement each other. Basically, we start with Doosan when someone needs something that is larger than the largest machine that Kubota makes.

When completed, the new facility will include a large showroom with a full range of accessories from Kubota on the shelves, as well as a large parts department. The glass covered building will have a striking presence in the rural landscape. But one thing that will not change, is the sea of orange on the new lot.

“We like to carry a lot of inventory. It allows people to come to our location and see everything that is available. Other dealers might have less machinery on show, relying more on ordering from Kubota for delivery, but that has never been our way, and we will keep it that way when we move.” he said.

And while Kubota equipment is diesel powered, electric machines are under development by the company.

The existing Hartington Equipment facility is close to being sold, “to a local company” Dustin said, which will help finance the new build and will also result in more local employment.

Asked whether he thinks Dustin is taking too much of a risk with the expansion, Rod offered only a rueful smile.

“It's his company, his decision,” Rod said, “but I took some risks too, over the years, and here we are.”