Professionals Tamborine Mountain 
There are few businesses with as rich a history as Dover and Sons—boasting a 121-year history as it was started as a Farmers’ Exchange in 1900. Murray Dover has run the Beaudesert branch of his family business for 33 years, and he shares with us today the wisdom that such history can bring.
by Kyle Hitchmough
For those who might not know, what is it that Dover and Sons offers?
Agricultural machinery and irrigation, mowers and brush cutters, with brands like Stihl and Toro… we cover the full range. I’d like to think our building will eventually be like the Bunnings for the ag industry— come here and get everything agricultural. We’ve probably got four different types of tractors. We are the oldest Case IH dealer in Australia, I think we started with those in 1932. We’ve got a tractor we sold in that era that we traded back, plus a few old tractors, to encourage the history.
History is a major focus for your branding, isn’t it?
History is great to talk about. You’re only as good as you are today, but it certainly helps when people who are buying from us know that we’ve been here for 121 years, and hopefully we’ll provide them with good service.
How do you feel your business has adapted to the changes in the agricultural industry over the years?
The reason we have a number of different products is to cater to everyone’s needs. If we just sold tractors 100 horsepower and over, then we would have nothing to sell to the smaller farmers. The idea is that we relate to all aspects of farming and lawn care.
You’re very heavily involved on the community with sponsorships for local events? Can you tell us more about that?
We really like to support the local community. They support us and we support them back. We assist a lot of sporting clubs, whether it’s golf or football. I’m a great believer that youth sporting facilities just save the day. Youth are not wandering the streets; they are part of a sporting family. If I can help that, I will.
There was a significant fire that destroyed a large portion of your business some years ago. Do you feel you’ve recovered from that event?
That was December ’14. We were pretty devastated. We lost a lot of parts, a lot of history. We were very lucky that our Boonah branch carried us through. We worked out of containers. A lot of people supported us. At the time, I did an interview where I said we’ll come back bigger and better, and I’m glad we have.
What’s the most popular item that you sell?
Everything from irrigation, centre pivots and small irrigation systems for clubs and farms, to our buggies and Toro zero-turn mowers, to tractors… We do market a lot of Munro post drivers, which instead of a shovel and a crowbar, you drill a hole and thump a post in. They go very quickly, and we sell a lot of them. They’re very popular at the moment.
What goes into an average day of work here for you?
I like to be involved in selling as I like to be at the front talking to the customers and listening to any complaints that they may have. I think that’s where we need to be, seeing that the customers are looked after.
Are there any particular trends in your clientele?
We have the farmers that have been on their properties for a hundred years, and we have people who want to move out and have a farm who aren’t very conversed with farming, so we can help them set up and give them advice in that regard. We have 65 staff between our three locations, and some of them have been with us 30 or 40 years. There’s a lot of professionalism there and a lot of knowledge.
You’re a Mount Tamborine local. What’s your opinion on the mountain area and community?
Yeah, I live on Mount Tamborine. I was born in Boonah, which is a lovely little town, and Tamborine still has that rural lifestyle, which is what I like about it. You can do deals on a handshake. People interact with each other, they help each other. Unlike some areas in the city where you don’t know who your neighbours are.
What do you feel Dover and Sons really provides to the area?
We provide spare parts and workshop facilities to help people with parts and breakdowns, for anyone on the land who has a breakdown or needs assistance. We’re an agricultural and lifestyle company, and we won’t be changing. Things like the Stihl chainsaws and brush-cutters and the Toro mowers and the gear like that are for people who have small acreage, any way we can assist.
What’s your favourite thing about doing this?
Probably interacting with country-minded people. We sell a lot of gear out west to the Northern Territory, Canungra, Long Reach, St. George, so we’re in touch with the heart of Australia. A lot of people think nobody lives west of the Great Divide. The other thing I’ve always been very vocal about is the deregulation of the dairy industry and the Coles dollar litre milk. That really devastated an industry. There are still people who will buy Cole’s milk instead of the branded milk, and that’s one of the most upsetting things in the agricultural industry in Australia. The dairy farmers have been leaving in droves and it’s one of the most buoyant industries that we have.
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