Pierce Irrigation Distributor Australia

Geraldton’s McIntosh & Son Branch Links With Upton Engineering For Upton & Pierce Irrigation Products Throughout The WA Northwest

Recognising that the Pilbara, the Kimberley and north west regions of Western Australia hold significant potential for the development of irrigation under centre pivot or lateral move equipment Upton Engineering the Corowa NSW based manufacturer has appointed the Geraldton based branch of long established agricultural machinery and services group McIntosh & Son as a full line distributor responsible for sales, installation, servicing and with a stock of all consumable parts.

McIntosh’s Geraldton branch manager Brad Forrester says he sought out the appointment from Upton Engineering for their full range of the Australian made Upton aluminium and the US Pierce range of galvanized steel centre pivot and lateral move irrigators.

“In fact we have recently completed the installation for grazier Brent Smoothy at Eneabba of four Upton seven tower centre pivots each watering 40 hectares of pasture,

“The irrigators have been supplied by Upton Irrigation to be used as part of a value adding cattle fattening and finishing operation” Brad Forrester says.

Upton Irrigation and the McIntosh & Son Geraldton branch will also be working together for a further installation at Wallal Station north of Port Hedland including two Pierce centre pivots each watering forty seven hectares.

This installation will be completed in coming weeks.

Brad Forrester says that Upton Engineering as a second and third generation family owned company is one of the best known and longest established manufacturers and suppliers of high technology irrigation.

Founded in Corowa in 1944 the Upton record shows towards 600 irrigators installed and managing director Paul Upton says that his company has succeeded from a focus on high design inputs, advanced state of the art manufacturing and an emphasis on customer service.

Brad Forester adds “our Geraldton staff that will specialise in irrigation have recently completed a technical induction course and a visit to the Upton headquarters in Corowa NSW.

“We see significant potential for both Upton and Pierce machines throughout the north west of WA as station property owners in particular see the potential for finishing their stock on irrigated grass pastures.

“There is also significant scope for irrigated crops to take advantage of the available water resources and McIntosh & Son consider irrigated agriculture will be a significant growth opportunity for the future.

“Like Upton’s McIntosh & Son is a long established WA agricultural machinery and services business having recently recorded our sixtieth year of operation.

“We have eight retail stores in WA, another in Queensland with long established relationship with leading brands like New Holland and Geraldton is our most northern branch in WA.

“It is uniquely placed to service the anticipated expansion of centre pivot and lateral move irrigation in the north west of WA”.

McIntosh & Son has appointed Glen Mackin with irrigation sales responsibility throughout the north west while Scott Hughes will head up service, parts and technical support from the Geraldton branch.

Upton Engineering manufactures its own branded range of aluminium centre pivot and is also the Australia stocking distributor for the Pierce range.

With head office in Oregon USA and active around the world the Pierce pivot and lateral move range of irrigators offers galvanized steel or poly lined pipe work making these machine an ideal choice for applications where poorer water quality may be an issue.

For More Information: contact Brad Forrester at McIntosh & Son Geraldton on 0428 215 003 or 089921 5000 or Paul Upton, Upton Engineering Corowa NSW on 02 6033 1844 or 0417 459 180.

 

 

Brad Forrester Branch Manager of McIntosh & Son Geraldton WA and his support staff have recently completed a technical and product induction on Upton and Pierce centre pivot and lateral move irrigation products at the Upton Engineering headquarters at Corowa NSW. McIntosh & Son has completed their first installation and commissioning of four Upton centre pivots each watering 40 hectares at Brent Smoothy’s cattle finishing operation at Eneabba. This project is to be followed by two more Pierce centre pivot s to be installed at Wallal Station north of Port Hedland. The McIntosh & Son Geraldton Branch will supply, install and service the Upton and Pierce irrigation ranges throughout the north west of WA.

A long working life with Upton

Upton Engineering has made a long term commitment to building the best irrigation equipment that it possibly can using high design inputs, state of the art manufacturing and a customer service focus, says the company’s chief executive Paul Upton.

Today the business has hundreds of centre pivot and lateral move irrigators to water areas up to 80 hectares.

Mr Upton said irrigator choices on offer also included the Pierce equipment range from America, for which Upton Engineering was the Australian distributor.

However, with the falling Australian dollar and rising US dollar, the purchase cost of a lot of imported irrigation equipment was starting to “significantly” increase.

“The Pierce centre pivot and lateral move range offers galvanised steel and also poly lined pipework, making these machines an appropriate choice for applications where aggressive water quality may be a factor,” Mr Upton said.

“The locally designed and fabricated Upton centre pivot or lateral range is built from marine grade aluminium pipework which overcomes the corrosion issues.

“Our philosophy is to offer machines with a potential working life of 30 years. “We believe the corrosion resistance of marine grade aluminium, together with the stainless steel pipe- work, control boxes and other fitting that we use provides this assurance.” Mr Upton said the company had even upgraded its gasket material from rubber to the more expensive urethane to provide a longer reliable working life.
“This is what our farmer clients tell us they prefer,” he said. Mr Upton said the order book for the Corowa-based production centre was pretty full with irrigators going to clients across Australia including a number that are repeat orders from local farmers and producers.

“A number of Upton centre pivots in the Riverina are in fact farming operations with multiple numbers of our irrigators most with an individual centre pivot coverage of 60ha being quite common.

“A lot of our current orders are in fact additional new centre pivots – and replacements for older rusted machines – for established farming operations.”

Upton Engineering also provides an Australia-wide delivery and erection service for its centre pivot and lateral move irrigators as well as a complete service back up. Mr Upton said the company worked with its clients to design, build and install site specific centre pivot or lateral move irrigation systems.