A dealer of farming equipment and repairs in New Brunswick, Hall Bros. Enterprises dates back over three-quarters of a century. It all started with a team of two working in a small garage and has grown to 15 employees with a showroom featuring about a dozen brands of agricultural equipment. Now operated by the third generation, the family aims to uphold the values on which the business was built.

Planting seed

Clarence Warren (C.W. or “Ted”) Hall was the founder of the family business. After years of working for others as a mechanic, chopping wood and shovelling snow, Hall pursued something of his own. In the mid-1930s, he built Central Garage next to his family’s home in Norton, New Brunswick, where he fixed cars and sold Texaco gas. After about a decade of operation and growth, in 1948, he accepted an opportunity to take over an Irving garage location.

He continued his usual business and expanded operations in 1949, finding a new niche in agricultural supplies. He became a dealer for Oliver and Gehl brands and sold their farming equipment from his new garage. By Easter of the same year, Hall’s son Gordon joined him and his mechanic Russell Robertson at the garage to learn the trade. This was the beginning of Hall Bros. as it’s known today.

Growing strong

In 1955, Hall built a new home just up the road from his Irving garage and later expanded upon it, adding a sales and repair shop. Along with his son Gordon, he began working from this location using the name C.W. Hall & Son. Together, they established partnerships with other farming equipment brands, and C.W.’s son Ralph later joined the business.

In 1977, C.W. decided it was time to retire. However, instead of passing his business down to the second generation, he sold it to Tom Lask. In November of the same year, Gordon left the business and set up a repair shop in his own two-car garage. He was soon joined by his sons, Wesley and Russell, and together they sold and repaired farm equipment as Gordon Hall & Sons.

Gordon’s brother Ralph later joined operations, and in 1980, they incorporated as Hall Bros. Enterprises. Over the next two decades, the business grew. The family established partnerships with new brands and added to their team. They also moved and expanded their shop, including building a new space from scratch in 1988.

In 1994, Gordon and Ralph retired and left operations to Gordon’s sons, Wesley and Russell.

Still ploughing

Today, Hall Bros. Enterprises is solely owned and operated by Russell Hall, representing the third generation of the family business. The company continues to service and sell new and pre-owned farming equipment, now working with a team of over 15 in an even larger space after rebuilding in recent years.

Commenting on the company’s longevity, Hall says: “Family built our business on honesty and trust while supplying quality customer service and equipment, and decades later we’re still running things the same way.” Still having fun at work, Hall says plans are in place for the fourth generation to take over someday, with his daughter Jocelyn and son Shawn already involved in the business today.

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