Te Awamutu Courier - Centenary Edition - April 18th, 2011

8 Te Awamutu Courier, Monday, April 18, 2011 Centennial Edition
Blast From
Our Past
1914
THE EUROPEAN WAR
WIRELESS STATION IN DANGER
UNITED STATES MOBILISING
IMPORTANT COMMANDS ASSIGNED
(By Telegram — Special to POST.)
Received this day 10-10 a.m.
It has been officially announced that Great Britain is
at war with Germany.
The high commands in the Home fleets have been
assigned. Vice-Admiral Sir John Rushworth Jelicoe has
assumed command of the Home fleets, with Rear-Admiral
Charles Madden as chief of staff.
Britain stands for the defence of the northern coast of
France, and for the neutrality of Belgium, in spite of
definite Belgian protests, made British intervention
inevitable.
The third army of 150,000 men has been mobilised to
Belgium to defend the neutrality.
It is stated on diplomatic authority from London that
the German high sea fleet has passed from the Baltic
through the Kiel canal, and is steaming westward.
FOR THE FRONT
Te Awamutu Men.
About thirty-five people assembled at the Te Awamutu
Hotel on Tuesday last for the purpose of bidding farewell
to the first batch of troopers to go from this district to join
New Zealand’s expeditionary force...
On this occasion, as in the past, he (Mr H. Y. Collins)
was sure that the boys would acquit themselves with
credit. (Applause).
MR MR FARMER FARMER
IncreDIBBLE
Dibbles changed landscape
Prior to 1953, all of the
fertiliser spreading done
on farms in the Waikato
was carried out by the farmers
working from bags emptied into
drills and towed behind their
tractors.
The bags were transported
mainly from Auckland on general
flat deck trucks, usually
Commers and Dodges —
loaded and unloaded everywhere
by hand.
All of that changed in 1953
when Eric and Colin Dibble
decided that bulk hauling and
spreading could be done and
would be quicker and cheaper.
But there wasn’t a bulk spreader
available anywhere in New Zealand
so the brothers set about
building their own design and
set up the operation in a building
in Te Mawhai south of Te
Awamutu.
They had to convince the
local farmers that their idea was
better than bag handling and
were told that, in order to gain
access to any farm, they had to
use the bags already held in
stock by the farmers.
Then there was the problem
of getting the bulk supplies from
Auckland, with the distance
licensing still in existence at the
time, adding to their problems
until they gained a dispensation
from the Government.
Sales tax on trucks was also
a problem but they found a away
around that. Tax on farm
vehicles was greatly reduced
compared to road-going trucks
so Dibbles put fertiliser spreading
bins on the new trucks to
gain a reduction in tax. After two
years they removed the bins
and converted the trucks to bulk
haulers for fertiliser transport
from Auckland to their depot.
Eric and Colin were always
looking for a better performing
vehicle to cope with the farm
paddock difficulties. They began
designing and manufacturing
specialist spreading trucks.
One particularly notable
truck was an all wheel drive
Commer fitted with a semi trailer
with a power driven axle. The
front steerers were fitted with
dual swamp tyres and the two
rear axles fitted with three
swamp tyres on each side of
each axle.
This truck would go just
about everywhere until it
encountered axle deep mud.
For the next 20 years Dibble
Bros Ltd continued to haul and
spread bulk fertiliser throughout
the central Waikato. The business
had built up considerably
and their depot moved to Te
Awamutu in 1963.
The next step was the move
to running bulk truck and trailer
units hauling other products not
related to fertiliser and not
specifically for their own operation.
They had been
approached on many occasions
to haul other products for customers
and could see that this
new direction was going to be of
benefit to the overall success of
their company.
In 1979, Dibble Bros. sold
the spreading side of their business
to concentrate on bulk
hauling, running an increasing
fleet of mainly Macks until 1980
when Eric and Colin decided to
retire.
An opportunity arose for an
internal buy-out by five staff
members. The company was
renamed Dibble Independent
Transport with the five working
as owners/directors.
A further change in ownership
came in 1997 when three
staff members, Barry Stamp,
Geoff Dibble and Derek Smith
purchased the entire business,
including the buildings and property
acquired by the company
over the years and renamed it
Dibble Transport (1997) Ltd. It
still runs under that name today.
Subsequent share sales
have resulted in Barry Stamp
now being the sole owner of
Dibbles, still operating from the
same depot in Te Awamutu.
They operate their own bulk
store, workshop, operation
BULK HAULAGE
Proudly servicing Te Awamutu since 1953
DIBBLE TRANSPORT
(1997) LIMITED
OUR EFFICIENCY IS YOUR ECONOMY!
which has been developed
through necessity over the
years and currently run 14 truck
and trailer combinations out of
their depot.
Nod Chandler, general
manager, made his first contact
with the Dibble name in 1972
when he started driving a
spreader for the company. He
subsequently purchased it and
continued his contact until he
moved to Osbornes Transport to
run the general freight side of
the business. He returned to
Dibbles in 1989 and has
remained with the company
ever since.
‘‘Dibbles has been a progressive
company and, even
through some very tough times
in the national economy, has
remained a stable operation,’’
he says.
At its peak, Dibble Bros was
running 52 vehicles and over 70
staff, but through changes over
the years, Dibbles Transport
now have 14 trucks and around
20 staff in the transport and
related businesses operated by
the company.