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Company already has reputation for excellence
First published in South East Farmer Magazine April 2010, words and pictures by Malcolm Triggs.
The old adage that "people buy people" is especially true of the farming community, where
relationships, loyalty and trust
are at least as important as cost
when it comes to making buying
decisions.
The fact that those qualities tend to be
developed over a number of years is why so
many of the more successful names in the
world of agriculture have been around for
decades and refer proudly to their long tradition
of serving the local community.
Such longevity, though, is not essential.
Sometimes the ‘new boy’ makes such an
impression that the company joins the
ranks of the trusted and the well established
almost immediately.
East Grinstead-based Yeowart Agricultural
Ltd is just such a dealer, having risen
rapidly to the top of the tree by virtue of its
quality service and first-class people.
In less than two years Yeowart has become
a well-known dealer with the kind of reputation
for excellence in sales, parts supply
and service that usually takes many years
to develop.
It’s fair to say that the company had a head
start, inheriting some top name dealerships
and a loyal customer base from the original
E O Culverwell Ltd set up, and the dealership
of Rod Gaskin Ltd, but it has been
quick to build on that firm foundation.
Many of the names, too – like that of sales
manager Dave Gasson – were already well
known among the farming communities of
East and West Sussex, and it helps when you
are selling possibly the best known brand of
tractor in the world.
It was Massey Ferguson’s new range that
took pride of place at Yeowart Agricultural’s
open day, held at Plumpton College to promote the dealership’s wide range of groundscare,
estate, equestrian, sport and amenity
machinery and equipment.
Alongside all those bright red tractors
and other bits of Massey kit, Yeowart was
also keen to show off its other big names,
including the likes of Merlo, Teagle, Kawasaki,
Fleming, McConnel, Reco, Amazone,
Twose, Warwick, Iseki, Martin Lishman,
Great Dane and Lloyds.
"It was a really successful day with a
pleasing number of customers taking the
opportunity to see the new products we
hope will make life easier for them in 2010,"
said Massey Ferguson dealer principal and
company director David Yeowart.
David, whose wife Kay and son Lewis
are fellow directors, used to own Crawley based
Yeowart Steel, a company started by
his parents Brian and Vera Yeowart.
They sold the steel stockholding and
processing business to Parker Steel in Canterbury,
Kent, but retained the warehouses
and switched their business interests into
property development and letting out
industrial and office space in Sussex and
Hampshire.
Meanwhile, when E O Culverwell began
slimming down its agricultural dealerships
and moved out of Haywards Heath and
Lewes, it left a hole in Massey Ferguson’s
coverage of West Sussex.
That hole was filled in the short term by
agricultural engineers Rod Gaskin Ltd.,
based in Alton, Hampshire, who then sold
the East Grinstead operation to the Yeowart
family, which took over in May 2008.
Dave Gasson, who joined Culverwell in
1964 and has been selling tractors in the
area since 1969, is just one of the people
who make up the continual thread that has
run through the Culverwell/Gaskin/Yeowart
sequence.
Another is Lewis Yeowart, who studied
land-based technology and agricultural machinery. He trained for a year with Culverwell
and worked for Rod Gaskin before
joining the family business when it took on
the site in 2008.

Yeowart is now the Massey main dealer for East and West Sussex and part
of Surrey, providing the triple
triangle marque to farmers,
landowners and others who
need the kind of quality that
goes with the famous name.
While David Yeowart has
come from outside the industry,
he has a strong business background
and admits to being "a bit of a farming enthusiast"
at his home with farmland
attached in North Chailey.
He comes from a mechanical
engineering background,
served a full apprenticeship and
describes running an agricultural
dealership as "not totally
alien to what I am used to. I’m
just selling a finished product
rather than stock material or
semi-finished parts." Running a business is pretty
much the same for people in
most walks of life; it takes hard
work and dedication along with
the right staff."
Yeowart has doubled the workforce
at East Grinstead since
taking over, with the result that
there are now 12 people on site,
including six service technicians,
Lewis included.
Dave Gasson, one of Massey
Ferguson’s top UK salesmen, is
well supported by service manager
Graham Bellingham, who
has 25 years’ experience with
the business, and parts manager
Trevor Temple.
Steve Everton further strengthened
the sales team when
he joined in 2009. He is well
known in West Sussex, where
he has been selling tractors and
machinery for many years.
Yeowart beat the recession by
increasing turnover in 2009,
helped by the strength of the
company’s big-name product
range, headed up by Massey Ferguson. "Although the exchange
rate has increased the cost of the
imported products we sell, we
are countering this by buying
very carefully and in sufficient
quantities to be able to offer our
customers competitive prices.
We think 2010 will be another
good year," said David.
"Service is the most important
part of what we do," he added.
"Farmers want a good deal but
they also want to know that they
will be looked after quickly and
efficiently if something needs
fixing."
David, who has two Massey
Fergusons at home and whose
father bought his first grey Ferguson
tractor in the 1960s, is
particularly excited by the company’s
current range, which he
described as its "best ever".
He sees cab suspension on
the 5400 range as being a particularly
useful innovation, providing extra comfort for
relatively little extra cost. "It’s a
great option for less than £1,000
and we think it will put the
5400 range even further ahead
of its rivals," he commented.
It was the chance to take on the
Massey franchise that helped
persuade the company to take
on the dealership. "We have had
Massey Ferguson in our blood
for many years and I wouldn’t
have jumped at this opportunity
quite so quickly if it had
not been for this franchise and
the fact that Culverwells and
then Rod Gaskin had been so
highly regarded," he said.
Local farmers knew the Yeowart
name from the steel business
and were persuaded that
the family was serious about
the dealership when they saw
the investment in new jobs. Last
year’s open day at the South of
England Showground at Ardingly,
when Yeowart Agricultural
filled an astonishing
18,000 square feet of covered
space with product, was further
evidence that the new dealer
meant business.
More investment is on the
cards, with plans to extend the
East Grinstead workshops and
improve the yard area to allow
the company to provide a better
and consistent service.
Massey area sales manager
David Broad said that while
Yeowart was relatively new to
the manufacturer’s dealer network,
the company had a huge
amount of experience within its
ranks and had lots of faces that
were well known to both customers
and to Massey Ferguson.
He said the company’s catchment
area meant it had a good
market for the whole of the
range, from compact tractors
through to 200bhp-plus agricultural
machines. In 2009 Yeowart
sold around one tractor
every week – a record number
– and had a 30 per cent market
share across the whole area,
which David described as "an
outstanding performance".
The open day saw considerable
interest in the new MF1500
series of compact tractors which
run from 20 to 46bhp.
"We have introduced four new
models that build on the success
of the existing range but have new features that make
them even better suited to the
job they are designed to do and
more comfortable to drive and
operate," said David.
Those new models are the
1520A, which is the agricultural
variant, the 1525H, which is the
hydrostatic machine with a CVT
(continually variable transmission)
gearbox and the 1529 and
1532MA manual models.
"These are all multi-application
tractors that are good for
small holding's, golf courses
schools and equestrian centres,"
said David. "With the
entry model available for about
£12,000, it provides red tractor
quality at an affordable price."
David Yeowart added: "The
open day was a great success
and we were delighted with the
hospitality shown by Plumpton
College and by the support we
received from all our suppliers."
Selling tractors
for 40 years
First published in South East Farmer Magazine April 2010, words and pictures by Malcolm Triggs.
If you’ve ever bought a tractor
from Yeowart Agricultural or,
before that, from E O Culverwell,
it’s a fair bet that Dave
Gasson sold it to you.
Dave, now sales manager
for the East Grinstead-based
Massey Ferguson dealer, has
been selling tractors for 40
years, and despite celebrating
his 65th birthday recently has
no plans to stop now.
"This isn’t a job – like farming
it’s a way of life," said Dave,
who is also a familiar face
and regular prize winner – at
ploughing matches across
Surrey and Sussex.
Dave began work in 1964 as a
fitter at EO Culverwell in West
Sussex before graduating to
sales in 1969, selling machinery
at Haywards Heath until 2004,
and at one point selling 89 tractors
in a year.
Dave became a valued part of
the Yeowart Agricultural team
in 2008, when he was again
one of the year’s top salesmen
in the UK.
He puts much of his
success down to the support
of Yeowart service manager Graham Bellingham and the rest of the company’s strong back-up
team.
Dave also enjoys water colour painting, watching brass bands
and gardening, but with retirement not currently an option they
all continue to take second place behind selling tractors.
Not only big machines
First published in South East Farmer Magazine April 2010, words and pictures by Malcolm Triggs.
The parts department at
Yeowart prides itself on going
beyond simply supplying an
extensive range of products
from a choice of manufacturers.
The team places great importance on after-sales backup, making
sure that customers have the support they need to get the best out
of the equipment they have purchased.

Alongside the big name suppliers such as Massey Ferguson,
McConnel and Krone, Yeowart stocks auxiliary products
including Alto pressure washers, Draper tools, Gallagher electric
fencing, Sparex accessories and SIP compressors and welders.
Batteries, antifreeze, oil, filters, grease and baler twine are also
on offer, along with a good selection of gifts from toy pedal tractors
to models, caps, clothing and books.
Wide choice of quality equipment for all tasks
First published in South East Farmer Magazine April 2010, words and pictures by Malcolm Triggs.
While Massey Ferguson is one of the
world’s most famous brands, Yeowart Agricultural
also offers work compact tractors
from Iseki which are seen as complementary
to the red machines.

"Iseki has a first class product range and
we are especially pleased to be selling the
SX Garden range of affordable diesel ride-on mowers that is available with direct,
power-operated rear collectors," explained
director David Yeowart.
"There is also a comprehensive range
of out-front rotary mowers for the professional
user. Another favourite is the TXG23
sub-compact tractor that is available with a
multitude of options."
The additional range of Iseki tractors
reflects the Yeowart philosophy of providing
a wide customer choice as well as
responding to the dealership’s catchment
area. The area around the distributor’s
East Grinstead base includes plenty of
well-heeled but non-farming landowners,
equestrian enthusiasts and others who
simply need something to keep several
acres of smallholding or a large garden
under control.
"We have a wide range of customers, and
while farmers are our mainstay we also
look after a lot of country landowners as
well as golf courses, councils, country
houses and grounds-care professionals,"
said David.
The tractor, of course, is only part of the
story. Unless its only task is to transport
the farmer from farmyard to field, it needs
to be fitted with the right piece of equipment
for the task in hand.
That could be one of the Utility or Technic
loaders manufactured specifically for the
Massey range by Chillton. The Technic
is the more advanced loader designed for
larger farmers and agribusinesses, while
the Utility is built to the same high standards
but is simpler to operate.
Chillton also offers a range of attachments
such as buckets and forks for both
the ranges, as well as a compact range for
smaller tractors that could prove useful to
Yeowart Agricultural’s growing numbers
of smallholders, equestrian enthusiasts
and wealthier domestic customers who are
keen to get their hands on Massey’s new
1500 series.
There is wide-ranging interest, too, in
Kawasaki all-terrain vehicles, but while
they have a ‘fun’ image they are undoubtedly
a vital tool in the armoury of many
professional farmers who need to be able
to travel quickly and easily across difficult
ground.
They are rugged, relatively cheap and
very adaptable, with the KVF 360 on display
at the open day fitted with a frontmounted
Martin Lishman mini-sprayer.
The KVF 360, a solidly-built four by four
with sealed rear brake and swingarm rear
suspension providing 180mm of rear wheel
travel, can carry a combined load of 110 kg, on front and rear racks, transforming it
from a means of simply getting from A to B
quickly to a mobile work platform.
Visitors to the open day were also able to
see equipment by Fleming Agri-Products,
now the largest manufacturer and supplier
of land rollers in the UK and Ireland.
Fleming began making tractor-drawn
land rollers more than 50 years ago and
there are now thousands of the company’s
units in regular use. The company is continuing
to develop its range of ground care
products to maintain farming pasture and
counteract a climate that showed just how
wet it could get this winter.
The new End-Tow Roller, a user-friendly
12ft x 36” x ½” model, has easy, swing
round drawbars and drop in pin security
for easy changeover between transport and
working positions.
The new product will allow easy transport
along narrow country roads and entrances
and gives the advantage of greater cost efficiency
per acre rolled.
Its heavy-duty structural frame with twin
hydraulic cylinders allows the drums to be
raised to allow good ground clearance and
the roller can be transported when fully
ballasted with water.
The Fleming Land roller range is suitable for all rolling jobs including parkland,
sports fields, grassland, cereals and much
more. The range runs from 4ft to 20ft and
can be supplied with an optional scraper
blade.
Krone is another popular manufacturer
in the Yeowart stable and another reason
why David Yeowart feels privileged to be
working with some of the top names in the
industry.
"We are very lucky to be able to supply
our customers with equipment f rom
nothing but premium ranges, and Krone is certainly up there with the best," he commented.
German-built Krone equipment covers a
massive range, from disc mowers to rotary
rakes, tedders, round and square balers,
combi and forage wagons and even a selfpropelled
forage harvester.
David has just returned from a visit to the
Krone factory in Spelle, where he saw the
facility that has been producing some of
the best hay and forage equipment there is
for more than 100 years.
The company prides itself on working
alongside its customers, making sure that new equipment reflects what farmers want
and backing up state-of-the-art computerised
design technology with rigorous and
extensive field trials.

As its sales literature points out, Krone’s
quality and customer-orientated corporate
philosophy means that it is "the right combination
of ingenuity, proximity to customers
and competence that is responsible
for the company’s long-lasting success."
Another top brand on offer at Yeowart is
McConnel, described by David
as the company behind what is
"simply the best hedge-cutter
in the world". Linking the manufacturer
with brands such as
Merlo and Kawasaki, he added: "You could wait years to pick
up some of these dealerships,
so we feel very privileged to be
offering them to our customers.
"Not only are they each the
best in their range, but the back
up and the support from the
companies is also excellent.
"It’s very much the case in
this industry that if you do well
by your dealerships they will
do well by you. We have been
very lucky and we are proud of
the partnerships that we have
built up."
McConnel, set up in the early
thirties by Freddie W McConnel
to produce apple-grading
machines and trailers, played
a major part in the war effort
after being asked by the government
in 1939 to manufacture
trailers for moving tanks
and heavy machinery.
Now better known as the manufacturer
of the world’s first
tractor-mounted hedgecutter,
McConnel was at the open
day to display its Power Arm
53, which has a reach of 5.3
metres. Also on display was the
McConnel Pasturator, a lowmaintenance
model designed
to relieve soil compaction and
improve drainage.
Twose, founded in 1830 as
Twose Of Tiverton, was originally
a blacksmith producing
a small number of horse drawn
agricultural product s f rom
premises in Halberton.
One hundred and eighty years
later the company has moved three miles up the road to Tiverton but has
developed into a world-leading agricultural
company selling a wide range of agricultural
equipment, from hedgecutters and
rakes to rollers and flex wing mowers.
Twose is a range that David Yeowart offers
with the same level of confidence he has
in the company’s other top-notch dealerships.
"Twose is another strong brand that
covers an impressive range of equipment,"
he commented. "New products are on the
cards and our customers always know that
Twose means quality."
Also on display at the open day was a
Major MT22 flailmower, a robust machine
designed to clear brush and heavy grass in
amenity areas and on highway verges, and
a finishing mower that Yeowart has found
to be especially popular.
The mower is just one of many well designed pieces of equipment produced by
Major, which offers a full range of grounds
maintenance products including the TDR
range of roller mowers and the Major 490
Eagle Wing Topper.
The County Mayo-based company also
of fers a range of forest ry equipment,
including log splitters, saws and wood
chippers, as well as agricultural, environmental
and groundscare products.
David Yeowart’s pride in stocking product
from the best-known names extends to its
links with Merlo, which claims to be the
world leader in handler design.

Merlo currently offers more than 70 telehandler
models, which makes the familyowned
company the third largest telehandler
manufacturer in Europe.
On display at the open day – and pressed
into service to display the Yeowart advertising board high in the air – was a P28.8
Plus Panoramic.
The P28.8 is a compact 2m wide with a
maximum lift height of 8.2metres and a
load capacity of 1200 kg at maximum lift
height, making for a highly compact, lightweight
and manoeuvrable handler.
Also avai lable f rom Yeowar t is the
Amazone range of centrifugal mounted,
self-propelled and trailed bulk material
spreaders. The range offers an impressive
choice of working widths and tank sizes
from 900 to 6,600 litres.
Amazone also offers compact disc harrows, cultivators, cultivator-disc-harrow
combinations, rotary cultivators, rotary
har rows and land rollers as wel l as
mechanical seed drills for solo operation
or in combination with a rotary cultivator
or rotary harrow.
Pneumatic seed drills can be combined
with active or passive soil tillage technology
and pneumatic precision air seeders
equipped with between four and 12 seeder
units can handle working widths from
three to nine metres.
Another Yeowart supplier is Warwick
Brothers, a company with half a century’s
experience in manufacturing agricultural,
car and Landrover trailers for both the UK
and overseas markets.
Now headed by Chris Jones, Managing
Director of the Ceejay Systems Group of
Companies, Warwick Trailers combines the
latest computer aided design technology
with sound engineering experience.
The 60-strong team at Warwick produces
a high quality range that includes compact,
dropside and three-way hydraulic
tip variants as well as trailers designed
specifically for root crops, bales and pallets.
The Massey Ferguson Grounds Care Roadshow
The Massey Ferguson Grounds Care Roadshow, hosted by Yeowart Agricultural Ltd at Plumpton College, East Sussex, attracted many visitors, staff and students at the event on 17th March 2010. The event was held in the college’s brand-new machinery and engineering workshops.
This event was only one of four, at various sites within the UK and involved the first public demonstration of MF 1500 Series compact tractors and implement ranges across the complete spectrum. The open day featured Groundscare, Estate, Equestrian, Sports and Amenity equipment. They included ride-on mowers, ATVs, hedgecutters, harrows, rollers and flail cutters. In addition to MF 1500 Series of compact tractors, there were also models from the MF 3600 and MF 5400 tractor ranges.
Mike Gurney, Head of Engineering and Machinery, Plumpton College said, "David and Lewis Yeowart were generous hosts for the day and keen to help all visitors to the event, giving them valuable information and advice. This partnership is one area which is beneficial to us all and one which we hope will continue. We are excited by the new Engineering and Machinery facilities now on-site, they are attracting a wide range of students and this roadshow event helped to boost their working knowledge skills."

Photo: l to r:
David Yeowart, Managing Director, Yeowart Agriculture Ltd;
Mike Gurney, Head of Engineering and Machinery, Plumpton College
Yeowart Agricultural Ltd Groundscare, Estate , Equestrian, Sports & Amenity Open Day
Wednesday 17th March Plumpton College, Nr Lewes, East Sussex BN7 3AE - 9am to 5pm
In conjunction with the Opening of the new Machinery & Metalsmithing Workshops.
Great opportunity to meet our major suppliers view and try a comprehensive range of MF tractors, compact tractors, ride on mowers, ATV's. Machinery will include hedgecutters, flail mowers, toppers, rollers, harrows & haymaking equipment etc. Refreshments. View the wonderful new buildings.

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