TITAN Engineering principal Peter Harvey, Kondinin, has enjoyed outstanding efforts as a WA manufacturer spanning 30 years in a very competitive market.
Starting out in 1989 making hay rakes for local farmer Trevor Wilkins, he has progressed to overseeing 11 full-time staffers and two apprentices, all involved in building his ACCUSpray boomsprayers and Chase MEE chaser bins.
Recalling his career in a recent sit-down with Torque, Peter said he came to Kondinin after honing his welding skills as a boat builder in Perth.
“I had a relative in Kondinin who was the local cop and he encouraged me to come to the town to set up a welding business,” Peter said.
“But the game-changer was a meeting with Trevor who talked to me about the Wilkins Stubble Rake.
“I had no idea what he was talking about, but he asked me whether I could make them.
“We ended up making one which we took to Dowerin (field days) and we got four orders.
“So I started building them out in the open and we progressed from there to building a shed because by the mid nineties we had expanded into making chaser bins.
“As demand for the rakes dropped off, mainly because of no-till, the chaser bins became my mainstay for more than 10 years.”
His business took another turn in 2008 when Corrigin manufacturer Brett McMiles decided to sell his boomsprayer business and approached Peter to take it over.
Since then Peter has developed markets for the ACCUSpray throughout WA and South Australia, with a range of models with tanks sizes from 5000 litres to 10,000L and boom widths up to 45.5 metres.
Word of mouth and anecdotal performances of his Accuspray models continue to swell his market base.
“I was basically a six-month-a-year manufacturer,” he said.
“Now our production is year-round and it’s testimony to the reliability and performance of the sprayers.
“It has been slow organic growth but that was my choice to make sure we got things right.”
Peter has introduced two new models into the market this year.
The first is a 10,000L-capacity model with a 36.6m boom, featuring an air section switch which includes boom purging, meaning the boom’s section are controlled by air solenoids, so all 14 sections can be switched off allowing a boom purge to take place back to the main tank.
Seven by seven sections at 250 millimetres nozzle spacings is offered, meaning that depending on which controller the customer requests, the sprayer can be operated as a dual line up to a three-tiered spray mode.
The other model is an ‘entry level’ 5000L, 30m (100ft) boom configuration.
“This model has all the features of its bigger brother but is more adept in tight spraying areas,” Peter said.
He still maintains a personal delivery of boomsprayers for first-time owners, preferring to be with them to explain all the features and he is regularly on the phone with other customers helping to problem solve, along with his workshop manager Vaughan Andrews and his brother and service technician Wayne Andrews.
“It’s still a people game so we place a lot of importance on customer relationships,” Peter said.
From a customer viewpoint, a key factor is the experienced staff from receptionist Rose Eaton, who has been with the company for 22 years, to Vaughan (23 years) and Wayne (12 years).
If you’re in the market for a top boomsprayer, give Peter a buzz on 9889 1200.
