A FENCING REVOLUTION IN NEW ZEALAND!
There’s a revolution taking place in New Zealand with White Fencing in the vanguard!
Tony and Debbie White’s fencing business is located on the rural fringe south of Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city situated on the North Island.
For the past 35 years Tony has focused on rural fencing, constantly streamlining systems and adding value to jobs. While he started the business with secondhand machinery, his natural focus on efficiency has led him to add machinery to the fleet and design machines that enable more than just fencing.
Debbie explained: “Having our own transporter truck, 14 ton Case Excavator, 2 ton excavator, both with drilling rigs, Kubota skid steers, 4WD New Holland tractors, Revolution rotational post drivers, rock spike and auger kits, Revolution’s netting and fence winding machines, Stockade posting and stapling guns and a proliferation of tools and equipment means we are well placed to deal with any eventuality out in the field.
“We transport our own machinery and fencing materials and are involved with pulling down and clearing existing fence lines and bench farm tracks. We also carry out drainage work, build retaining walls, culverts, bridges, water systems for stock and cut down trees,” added Debbie.
Tony commented: “What could be a simple 200 metre job can turn into quite a significant project in some cases and our clients seem to like the fact that we can deliver the overall package rather than having to deal with different companies/contractors.”
Machinery and systems aside, Tony’s other focus is on delivering high levels of consistent quality which has resulted in White Fencing gaining a good reputation in the areas that they fence.
Tony went on: “While it’s not easy and there’s always competitors that we price against, we do receive quite a bit of feedback about our quality. We learnt lessons after the global recession back in 2010 to try and plan for the economic cycles but, like many, our business growth can be hampered by labour shortages.
“Over the past 8 years White Fencing has developed a horticultural division that focuses on kiwifruit orchards and nurseries. We carry out assembly work, construct artificial wind shelters as well as overhead canopies and crop covers.
“We have a strong focus on supplying quality fencing materials and a yard designed for storing purchased bulk materials as well as pre drying rail and battens,” added Tony.
Tony took up competitive fencing in his mid 40s which has only added to his knowledge.
“Fencing competitions in New Zealand are a great learning curve and it makes for a vibrant networking environment. You’re constantly testing and bettering yourself and learning that eye for detail that helps set your business apart,” added Tony who has been a finalist in the prestigious Golden Pliers competition organized by Wiremark.
Debbie is on the New Zealand Fencing Competitions (NZFC) committee and does a lot of background support work with planning and marketing. Alongside Nick Liefting, Debbie is working on behalf of NZFC towards a Global Doubles Championship at Fieldays.
Debbie is also on the Fencing Contractors Association NZ (FCANZ) Board, having been Vice President for the past 4 years and previously served as editor and founder of the excellent FCANZ WIRED magazine.
Debbie conceptualizes various events with the most recent being a FCANZ 4WD trip in the South Island. She also arranges fencing tours through her ‘All about Fencing NZ’ business and, in late 2023, organised a tour across New Zealand for a party of Swiss and German Fencers.
Tony has been a Certified Fencing Contractor with FCANZ since 2007 and helps out and has demonstrated at FCANZ Best Practice Days as well as the National Fencing Field Day.
Debbie went on “We invest in our workers with good progressive pay rates, provision of vehicles and the latest tools. We take health and safety and the wellbeing of our employees very seriously and deliver an inhouse training program.
“We have recently introduced a profit share scheme for long-term workers.
“Tony designed his Revolution range of post drivers over 20 years ago. As the name suggests, they are quite revolutionary with their telescopic mast, rotational movement and build quality,” she added.
Tony added: “Whilst working with conventional post drivers, I started thinking if only I could reach here or there and this drove my thinking process. Being a fencer and working in steep hill country, I knew the importance of balance and maneuverability to reach up banks, down banks and transition the weight to the top side from the tractor seat and how to fence with less tractor movements.
“Revolution offers rotational, side mounted and rear mounted models.
“Whilst 4WD tractors are widely used in NZ for fencing, I made the shift to a remote-controlled Kubota skid steer with the Revolution Swing a about five years ago. Quick machinery changes between post driver, bucket, blade, forks, netting machine and fence winder make it a very versatile addition,” concluded Tony.
With their constant desire to improve performance and efficiency, it seems that this husband and wife team really are driving changes in fencing across Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand). Revolutionaries indeed!
