The Rural Voice, 2019-07, Page 32 Fawcett’s was established in 1977
on a former pig farm.
“My grandfather started the
business as a way to combat
declining swine prices,” said Liz
Fawcett, the third generation of the
family working at the business
located on the original farm site.
Keith Fawcett had approached the
bank about borrowing some money
to expand and improve his pig
business. When he was refused a
loan he decided to supplement his
farm income by starting his own
business in the farm workshop –
salvaging tractors.
That shop has expanded several
times under Liz’s parents, Jeff and
Donna Fawcett, to become the largest
tractor salvage operation in eastern
Canada, employing 31 people. The
barn that was once full of pigs is now
full of tractor parts.
Tavares, Liz’s brother-in-law,
described the tractor salvage
business as currently being in a
time of transition. Younger farmers
more familiar with electronics are
gaining the confidence to fix the
complex guidance and computer
controlled functions.
“You will have young farmers not
afraid to plug the tractor into their lap
top,” suggested Tavares of those
trouble-shooting diagnoses.
He suggested there was also a
cautious transition for the farmers
who bought their very first tractor
after switching from horses to
horsepower. They, too, had to
become familiar with the machine’s
operation before taking it apart and
putting it back together.
The difference in those two vastly
different eras is the shelf life of spare
parts for late model tractors. While
tractor manufacturers once carried
parts for tractors 20 or 30 years or
more, 10 years is the standard length
of time now for carrying replacement
parts by tractor manufacturers.
“That is not very long in the
useful life of a tractor,” said Tavares.
This basically reflects the shorter
shelf-life characteristic of all
electronics as part of a throw-away
rather than repair manufacturing
philosophy.
The electronic control units
(ECU) on newer tractors have to
function or the tractor is disabled. If
it is not repairable the owner may
simply decide to replace the ECU,
especially if it is a higher-priced
model.
However that unit may have to
come from France as tractor
manufacturing is now an integrated
process spread round the world.
“The tractor owner might have a
thousand acres of crop to put in and
doesn’t want to wait three days for a
part,” said Tavares.
If Fawcett can immediately supply
the needed ECU it will shorten the
time for the farmer and that has a
value, said Fawcett.
The price applied to salvaged
parts is actually based on age and
availability. The rarer the part the
higher the price.
Eight out of 10 customers for
parts are private individuals, said
Tavares adding, “Usually we can
come to some price agreement.”
While farms have grown much
bigger and far fewer, there is still a
ready supply of salvageable tractors
available.
28 The Rural Voice
Top: Three
generations Of
Fawcetts run the
tractor parts business.
They are (left to right)
Keith and Barb
Fawcett, Jeff and
Donna Fawcett, Micah
and Audrey (Fawcett)
Tavares, Liz Fawcett.
Right: Micah Tavares,
sales manager, and
Liz Fawcett are the
third generation of the
Fawcett family
involved with the
businesss standing
with some of the used
gears salvaged from
tractors.