Dave’s Tractor Earns Industry’s Top Honor
This six-year-old California dealership is the inaugural recipient of the industry’s top honor for serving the retail needs of the rural lifestyle market.
Dave Kanicki, Executive Editor D
ave Siemens sometimes describes his early success in starting up a new business selling small tractors to northern California rural lifestylers as a matter of good timing and dumb luck. But considering how far this dealership has come in its first 6 years in busi- ness, that would be a half-truth. Going from zero sales to selling hundreds of small tractors annually by 2005 can’t be done with luck and timing alone. There’s no doubt that his timing was good, but dumb luck isn’t what led his dealership to earning Rural Lifestyle
Dealer’s top industry recognition for 2007. When Dave’s Tractor (Red Bluff, Calif.) debuted as a new tractor dealer in 2001, the rapid growth in compact tractors was just beginning to demon- strate its longer-term endurance. In that year, dealers retailed some 96,000 small tractors — units under 40 hp — double that sold just 6 years earlier. By 2004, total sales of compact units surpassed 140,000. By then, even the major equipment manufacturers began jumping on the bandwagon. What makes the story of Dave’s
Tractor even more impressive was not just that Siemens started up a new tractor dealership from scratch.
Dave’s Tractor, Red Bluff, Calif.
Founded: 2001 Locations: 1 Lines: Mahindra, Branson, Gearmore, Worksaver, Pegasus and Koyker Employees: 6 full-time, 3 part-time,
1-5 seasonal workers 4-Year Sales Figures: 2003: $1.8 million; 2004: $2.6 million; 2005: $3.5 million; 2006: $3.5 million
He also launched it with two tractors — Mahindra and Branson — that had little or no brand recognition in the U.S. at the time, and certainly not in northern California. “Had I really thought about it before I did it, I don’t know,” recalls Siemens. “We were fortunate to start out in a time when there was a bit of a vacuum. People around here needed tractors and this allowed us to get rolling. It would be hard to repeat what we did nowadays.” Almost from day one, Dave’s Tractor made it work — going from $1.5 million in sales in 2003 to $3.5 million in 2005 and 2006 — almost entirely from whole- goods sales. As new as the dealership is, parts and service has yet to contribute much to the dealer’s bottom line. Despite the solid performance, Siemens says he still has much to learn when it comes to selling tractors and operating a successful equipment deal- ership. But what he’s learned so far about serving his rural lifestyle clien- tele can provide valuable lessons for other dealers who are also looking to capture a piece of this growing market for compact farm machinery.
Part of the Dave’s Tractor crew include (l-r) Jeff McFarlen, Rob McFarlen, Dave Siemens, Carla Siemens, Laurel Siemens, Lee Siemens and Jason Myers
Getting Off the Ground It may be tempting to look at what Dave’s Tractor has accomplished in 6 years as something of a rags to riches
DEALERSHIP OF THE YEAR SPECIAL REPORT JUNE 2013 RURAL LIFESTYLE DEALER 23
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