Retirement beckons for loyal mainstays
Published by Farm Weekly 2nd July 2026.
McIntosh & Son director Cameron McIntosh (left), with general manager northern branches Anthony Ryan, retiring staff members Kym Thomas and David Trindall and McIntosh & Son directors Hamish and Stuart McIntosh.
McIntosh & Son Wongan Hills, last week farewelled two of its longest serving employees with the retirements of sales manager David Trindall, after 45 years in the industry and former parts manager and parts interpreter Kym Thomas, who clocked up 22 years.
Customers, staff and industry associates turned out in force at the company’s Wongan Hills office and workshop, the site of such a big part of both men’s, and by association their families’, lives. McIntosh & Son general manager northern branches, Anthony Ryan, reflected on two “similar but different” employees whose outstanding contributions would be difficult to replicate.
“This business is about people and you two epitomise that strength,” Mr Ryan said.
“Kym, your focus and attention to detail is second to none and you always go above and beyond for your customers.
“Your care factor only comes second to your knowledge and understanding of the machinery you look after.
“Trindy (David Trindall), you also are a great one for attention to detail and professionalism in all that you do.
“And when it comes to car cleanliness, you certainly set the gold standard.
“I always thought my car looked pretty good until I saw yours.”
Mr Ryan said the pair had been constants in his career at McIntosh & Son, which began in 2010, constantly turning up and getting the job done, constantly involved ensuring things were done properly and for the right reasons and constantly going above and beyond.
“Thank you for your dedication and commitment, but most of all your friendship”.
David Trindall
For Mr Trindall, retirement has opened the door for a full circle moment which will see him return to working part-time on his former family farm at Cadoux, now in the hands of long-time McIntosh & Son clients, the Macnamara family.
“My dad died when I was 10 years old, the oldest of four boys, and mum sharefarmed the property for a while before deciding to sell,” Mr Trindall said.
In 1976, as a 16-year-old, he moved to Perth and completed a heavy diesel mechanic apprenticeship with Perth City Council, but yearned to get back to the bush.
“Mum was working in the office at McIntosh’s in Wongan, so I asked if there were any jobs for mechanics,” he said.
“I roared down in my red Monaro sportscar and Ian McIntosh showed me through the workshop.
“I started in January 1980, just after harvest.”
This photo of “the three stooges”, former McIntosh & Son employees Dave Thorne (left) and Greg Verburg, with David Trindall was taken in 1997. They recreated it at Mr Trindall’s retirement farewell at the Wongan Hills branch last week.
Sporting a mullet that would have made Bon Scott of AC/DC fame proud, he remembers his first meeting with business founder and Ian’s father Les McIntosh who said, so you are Joan’s girl then.
“I knew he wasn’t blind so I figured it was time to get a haircut.”
Mr Trindall said it was all Massey Ferguson tractors in those days and 150-200hp was a big two wheel drive (2WD) model.
At seeding, most people were towing 24 or 28-run combines or sometimes two with a twin hitch, while at harvest there were a lot of tractor drawn PTO harvesters.
The ‘80s proved an exciting time of expansion with the move to Steiger tractors, John Shearer combines and Deutz front wheel assist tractors.
“One day, 11 Steigers turned up on the train and Ian rounded up all us blokes leaving only Coral (Hewson) at the office and we drove them down the main street in convoy to the workshop.
“Not long after, we had about 20 three tonne John Shearer aircarts arrive on the train from Adelaide and three of us took the old 90hp Massey yard tractor down and one by one we set up the draw bar, hitched it to a cart and I had to tow it back to the workshop, while the other two guys got the next cart ready.
“It took us two days to complete the job.
“I was going out with a hairdresser at the time and every time I went past the salon I gave her a wave.
“When we caught up at the end of the week, she asked why I had been towing that green and white thing around town for two days.”
This photo, recreated from 1997, was taken last week.
Mr Trindall said with the demise of Steiger tractors in the late 1980s, Ian McIntosh took on the Ford New Holland franchise which included Ford and Versatile tractors, New Holland combines and hay equipment, something which would shape his career.
“I was later offered and decided to take up (in consultation with wife Ann-Maree) the role of State service rep looking after 18 to 19 FNH dealerships, which is where my 40-year association with former CNH State manager Ed Johnson, who is here tonight, started.
“I wanted to tell Ian personally I was leaving, which I thought would be straight forward but was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
“We arranged to visit he and his wife Christina in Perth and she put on a beautiful afternoon tea for us, then asked so what have you come to tell us.
“Our son Rhys, who was nearly two, was destroying the house and I thought this is not going well.
“Luckily Ian asked if I would like to go outside with him, we had a good chat and he shook my hand and wished me well.
“His parting words, which I never forgot were don’t be too proud not to come back.”
The Trindalls moved to Perth in 1990 and two years later Mr Trindall was offered a relocation to North Queensland to service an 800km stretch from Mackay to Cairns,looking after sales and service for nine dealers, predominantly in the sugar cane belt.
The region accounted for sales of about 1000 tractors per annum of all colours and makes. It was a successful period boosted by a sugar price peak in 1994, the release of the Genesis tractor and the popularity of the Ford PowerStar tractor, but following changes that came with Fiat’s purchase of FNH, Mr Trindall wanted to get back to broadacre farming.
Remembering Ian McIntosh’s words, he spoke to Brian Donnelan (branch manager) about rejoining McIntosh in a sales role and walked back through the doors of the business in January 1997. One month later Dave Thorne started as a sales rep and it was the start of a formidable 24-year working partnership.
McIntosh & Son sales manager Wongan Hills, David Trindall, said he would be sad to leave the agricultural machinery industry after 45 years, but it was time to hang up the boots.
“I remember in the first two years the seasons were a bit ordinary and not much was happening but minimum till was taking off so Thorney and I disappeared for six weeks with a Morris seeding rig and an old 935 Versatile tractor doing demos all around the district,” Mr Trindall said.
“Things took off and in 2004 we sold 54 serial numbers of tillage between us.
“With that came a lot of trades which we managed to sell mostly into South Australia – it was a big year.”
That was an exciting decade because it was also the start of autosteer and fitting Farmlap Guidance Systems. Mr Trindall said he had seen many changes in his 46 years, including the move to higher horsepower machinery, variable rate and section control, but pointed to minimum till as having had potentially the greatest impact on cropping outcomes.
Just last week he dealt with the fourth generation of one family. One of the hardest things for him to rationalise is the current huge prices paid for machinery.
“When I started, a tractor might have cost $25,000 to $30,000, now we are up to well over $1 million for a big quadtrac,” he said.
“McIntosh has grown too, from that first branch in Wongan Hills with Ford cars as well, to Moora, Geraldton and now 13 branches, plus Australian distributorships.
“I remember the McIntosh boys roaring into the workshop on their bikes so I could pump up their tyres – look at them now running this business.
“As a family the McIntosh’s have been so supportive of me and my family.
“You were never told to do something, you were asked would you mind to do it.
“With the recent retirement of Coral and Thorney and now Kym and I, that’s a combined total of 135 years, which I think says a lot about this company.
“Sincere thanks to every one of you here tonight, to all the customers, colleagues, company reps and everyone I have worked with and dealt with along this incredible journey.”
Kym Thomas
Considered a parts encyclopedia, Mr Thomas brought his farming background to the McIntosh & Son business, enabling a unique understanding of what his customers were going through, what they needed and the expediency with which they needed it.
His knowledge of products and parts recollection was built up over years of experience, boosted by an outstanding memory and fuelled by a “sticky beak” curiosity and genuine desire to understand how machines work.
“I’d like to think my time on the other side of the counter helped me understand their pain, their frustration and their urgency,” Mr Thomas said.
“It definitely assisted in pacifying a customer or two at times.”
That pre-McIntosh experience included running his own farm in partnership with his father, and working with his in-laws (his wife Sonya is a Chick) on farms at Northampton. When the family farm was sold, he moved to Wongan Hills to work as a farmhand with Don and Chris Sadler for 13 years and he credits them with giving him great insight into modern machinery and farming methods ahead of his McIntosh & Son role.
“I can’t believe how fast 22 years has gone,” he said.
“I’ve seen a few changes since I started at McIntosh’s on February 2, 2004, but some things haven’t changed – I couldn’t spell then and still can’t now and I’m terrible at remembering names,” Mr Thomas said.
Parts interpreter Kym Thomas, Wongan Hills, who retired last week after 22 years working at McIntosh & Son.
“When I started there were two of us in parts, Dacky (Kevin Dack) and I, now there are four in the office and four in the workshop and warehouse and our mechanics are our biggest parts customers.”
Mr Thomas said there were many career highlights working at McIntosh & Son, Wongan Hills, none more so than the great staff and customers he has met.
“I love trouble-shooting and trying to work out what the hell farmers are talking about when they are trying to describe a fault or a part to me,” he said.
“The mobile phone has been one of the biggest benefits in that, where they can send a photo instead of the old, long-winded spiels.
“I made plenty of cheat sheets over the years and added descriptions on parts in our computer system which I believe helped many other staff and I’m honoured ERP uses most of the Wongan Hills parts descriptions now.
“And I know we won some customers over from other brands because of our parts inventory and service.”
Big changes have included computerisation, the number of machines, brands and models in the asset mix and the number of individual parts now held in inventory.
Before video team meetings, Mr Thomas enjoyed trips over east and overseas for company and product updates.
This included to Sydney with other parts managers and New Holland’s Ed Johnson for parts brainstorming sessions, Kuala Lumpur in the days when they sold Fuchs oils where on one occasion they took in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Fiji for parts sales and Chicago, USA, for GPS training.
Another highlight was travelling down south with Anthony Ryan and other managers to get ideas for the building of the new McIntosh & Son, Wongan Hills showroom and workshop, opened 10 years ago.
“Working for McIntoshes has been awesome, you really were treated as part of the family, especially in the early days when Ian (director Ian McIntosh) regularly came to the branch and he would personally go around and speak to everyone and shake their hand,” Mr Thomas said.
“It’s a lot busier now of course, but there is still that respect.”
Mr Thomas said he would be staying in Wongan Hills in retirement, but hoped to go caravanning, to see more of WA with Sonya and more of their “four beautiful daughters and five grandies”.
So, if you see the grandpop number plate on a vehicle in your travels, probably on an outback road, give Kym a wave.