THE STORY...
THE STORY...
It's 2004... and a keen and gifted schoolboy is experiencing work at Vanderfield, Australia's largest John Deere Dealer Group. That schoolboy stands at the threshold of a training that will shape not only his own destiny, but that of that of Ag Services in Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. That schoolboy work experience student is Doug Gibson and by his own admission, stands on the shoulders of so many giants!
This is also the ungerminated seeds of Gibson Field Service (GFS)... a very inspirational & productive synergy of:
partners ~ proteges ~ productivity
In January 2006, Doug is offered the apprenticeship of his dreams and over the ensuing four years he works hard to forge a highly respected skillset as a John Deere Technician, specialising in Cotton Pickers and headers. Over time Doug achieved the coveted John Deere Master Technician Status and continued to mature a skillset and respect of the industry.
So respected is his skillset that Vanderfield not only gave him a field service ute, in 2008 he achieved his pilots licence and became a flying trouble shooter technician. This allowed him to arrive on even the most remote of sites the same day.
One such event was a particularly troublesome intermittent electrical fault that caused a 1.5 million dollar picker to just shut down anywhere, anytime. Others had tried to diagnose the fault but without success. Frustration reigned supreme.
Doug flew over 1000km to the machine and within the first day was able to diagnose the issue and fix it, much to the satisfaction of client and manufacturer alike. That work and subsequent relationships was to be pivotal to the next chapter in Dougs short but impressive career... more about that later!
But even whilst working days with Vanderfield, Doug was undertaking night and weekend operations, mechanical services and driving cattle floats from Toowoomba, Warwick and surrounds to works in Brisbane.
In early 2020 he purchased and restored his own truck. And such was the birth of a contracting operation that is growing rapidly into one of inspiration. But all those events are dwarfed by the arrival of a certain young lady into Dougs life.
​
Cat brought much to Doug's life, but for the purposes of this website, it must be noticed that she was a certified practising accountant and so began the partnership that is so much more than that
Oh and back to that earlier success on that intermittent electrical fault. Today, that client is one of G.F.S. most engaged contracts. A large corporate enterprise with properties across Doug's area of operation who partners with G.F.S. in a significant number of initiatives.
Partners:
This was the birth of Gibson Field Service... and today it operates several bulk ag-commodity trailer combinations, headers and pickers and all the associated plant to make it all work, for its many clients.
Proteges:
Doug has assembled a team that has mastered that elusive trifecta... don't hurt yourself, don't hurt anything else and make it look easy and pretty.
Dougs small but impressive team work hard over long days and nights to create win / win / win outcomes.
In the off seasons they meticulously strip, inspect and service all components of their machines according to the time / life / by component algorithm.
Every component has a predictable 'mean time before failure' value and therefore every season starts with an 'as new' machine.
This skills up the operators who now understand the most intimate details of their machine but it also grows their confidence and value to the team and operation.
​
Productivity:
From Emerald in the north, to Griffith in the south... and all points in between, depending on the season, they have the machines and the skilled team to make it work and keep it working, day and night if necessary.
​
​
​