2021 Australian John Deere Construction & Forestry Service Technician of the Year, Brendan Wilkinson, says there is no better feeling than when a customer shakes your hand at the end of the day and thanks you for keeping them up and running.
Based at John Deere dealership, RDO, in Melbourne, Mr Wilkinson has been dedicated to upskilling himself to provide rapid and exceptional backup support to the branch's construction and forestry customers.
"There is huge diversity in the role of a Construction & Forestry Technician, which keeps the job interesting," Mr Wilkinson said.
"For instance, recently I had a week where I spent one day changing a bucket on a loader, then the next day I finished a two-thousand-hour service on a grader while completing remote diagnostics for other customers in between."
While Mr Wilkinson can troubleshoot and repair issues remotely from his laptop at the dealership, he enjoys seeing customers face-to-face at the broad range of construction and forestry sites he services.
"Our customers vary from owner-operators who run one machine, to large-scale contractors with full John Deere fleets," he said.
"Regardless of the size of the customer's business I know how vital maximising machinery up-time is to them, and I do all I can to ensure their equipment is operating at peak capacity all year round."
Mr Wilkinson said young people interested in machinery and technology should think about a career as a technician with John Deere.
"I think anyone who enjoys a job that's both challenging and rewarding should give it a go," he said.