The Company
The modest business frontage of Toowoomba based Gyral Implements Pty Ltd disguises one of Australia’s prominent engineering success stories.
From humble beginnings in the mid 50’s it is now in the enviable position of being universally recognised as the developer of the modern day air seeder – pioneering innovation that has taken it to a position of international recognition.
North American cropping farmers, for example, probably have no idea that equipment purchased from the Great Plains Manufacturing Co of Kansas was patented from the drawing boards located at Gyral’s Queensland Head Office or that Australian farmers from Western Australia to Queensland who have purchased Gason, Horwood Bagshaw, Shearer, Napier Grasslands or Simplicity are using equipment that is or has used Gyral’s Air Seeding concepts.
Just how a family owned and managed company made the quantum leap from a relatively small Darling Downs equipment manufacturer to one which still sees royalties for its air seeder patents being honoured from all around the world make fascinating reading.
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The History
The catalyst that nurtured and grew the company from its humble beginnings was undoubtedly Albert Fuss – a visionary farmer/engineer who spent most of his working life in South Australia. After a lifetime spent in the harsh environment of the Eyre Peninsula he eventually chose to retire in Dalby, Queensland where the family had a farming property. But at age 68 retirement did not suit him well and he soon was developing a revolutionary seeding concept.
"This was mainly in response to the extraordinary wet and difficult year experienced by the farming community in 1956" commented Roy Fuss, youngest of Albert Fuss’s four sons and daughter.
"Farmers everywhere were having difficulty planting with combine drills that simply could not cope with the tight, compacted soil and the large amounts of surface trash", he said. "My father came up with a lightweight air seeder which could be mounted on to a chisel plough, plus it had the added bonus of handling all types of cereals".
The rest as they say, is history. A proto-type was built in Dalby and evaluated on the family’s property "Uralla". The family then applied for a provisional patent in 1956 for the first commercial broadacre Air Seeder in the world.
The name Gyral originated from the prototype. With the seed feeding into a horizontal spinning impellor, the "gyroscopic" action spun and blew the seed out and down the hose to the tyne. Hence the name came from this gyroscopic motion.
Upon the success of the prototype, a partnership was formed, made up of the Fuss family and the engineering business Cramer Brothers in Dalby and was known as the Gyral Syndicate. Cramer Brothers were to make the production version of the prototype.
Gyral Implements Pty Ltd was incorporated in 1957 with the members of the syndicate as its shareholders. Late in the 50’s Cramer Brothers sold their interest in the company back to the Fuss family, leaving them to purchase a block of land and build a factory in Dalby. Gyral remained at this factory until 1977 where upon they relocated to the present site in Toowoomba.
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The Family
Gyral’s founder, Albert Fuss passed away in 1963 aged 73, just five years after the formation of the business. "He was a man with a lot of natural ability, plus the talent to make almost anything that was required for the farm", recalls Roy Fuss.
There’s no doubt that Albert’s four sons Keith, Jarvis, Eric and Roy, who were all farmers, played their own crucial roles establishing Gyral as the foremost tillage and seeding company in Australia. Keith, Jarvis and Roy played an important part in the management, marketing and servicing aspects of the business. But it was Eric who played the leading role in the development of Gyral’s highly successful range of products from the late 60’s to the early 80’s. This included development of the modern pneumatic seeder as it is recognised today by all farmers from around the world. Collectively, this equally industrious second generation of the Fuss family dedicated almost eighty years of their working lives to the company.
Today a third generation of the Fuss family is hard at work building on the early success of their predecessors. The present day management of Roger and Haydn Fuss plus Greg Short (the son-in-law of Jarvis), while conscious of the pivotal role their grandfather played in establishing the business, have a firm eye on securing its place well into the millennium.
Product Range
Today’s product range is a legacy of over 40 years of experience in seeding technology. From the early beginnings of the platform seeder (the production version of the original air seeder) through to today’s STR Air Seeder, the focus has been on "getting the crop out of the ground". This focus naturally led to the development of a line of tilthers to complement the air seeder range. Gyral’s tilther range includes the Ag-Boss, Penetrator and Sure-Strike models. Have a look at the Product Range page on the website for more Gyral products.
The Future
Control traffic, Direct Drill, Double Chute, Deep Banding and Raised Beds are some of the new concepts used by today’s farmers. The development of highly specialised tillage and seeding equipment continues to be the challenge facing the company today.
The advent of precision farming technology is also just the sort of challenge that Gyral is looking for as it strives to develop "leading edge" tillage and seeding equipment for the 21st century.
Gyral has forged an alliance with an electronics specialist, believing that by pooling the expertise it will be better placed to offer farmers state of the art equipment in the years ahead. The latest in electronic grain monitoring technology is now available from this partnership starting with basic monitors all the way up to fully integrated variable drive GPS systems.
Gyral is rightly proud of its rural heritage, believing it has the necessary local expertise to take on even the multi-national equipment manufacturers in the specialised field of tillage and seeding. Their belief is founded in their ability to listen to farmer’s needs and in their ability to respond quickly to the ever changing environment in which they operate. It is also founded in their commitment to provide unrivalled levels of service to both farmers and their dealer network.
Farming For The Future ...
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