人兽性交

When he told his parents, Ruth and Ward O鈥橦ara, the idea of opening their own dealership dominated the family鈥檚 dinner table conversations.

As a local farmer, Ward was already familiar with the equipment, and Ruth was an accountant by trade.

The seeds were planted for what would sprout into O'Hara Machinery in Aurelius.

But what Lloyd couldn't have foreseen was that not only would the dealership still be around 60 years later, but it'd be selling tractors with quadruple the output of the 70-horsepower ones of that time.聽

'The sales will automatically come鈥�

Even before picking up a job at the dealership, Lloyd was always around farming. He was just 8 when Ward told him to rake hay with his family鈥檚 gray and red Ford 8N tractor.

Lloyd quickly learned not to take the tractor for granted. When his father was growing up, horses were used to plow fields 鈥� and that taught Lloyd how much easier the machines made their work.聽

Ward was also a collector of farm equipment, a passion that would eventually lead him and Ruth to found the Ward W. O鈥橦ara Agricultural & Country Living Museum at Emerson Park in 1975.聽

Lloyd told 人兽性交 his childhood exposure to farming鈥檚 history and equipment gave him a deep understanding of tractors, but more importantly of the farmers who used them.聽

鈥淢y father always promoted the idea that if you give good service and have good parts for repairs, the sales will automatically come,鈥� Lloyd told 人兽性交.

That understanding is one reason O'Hara Machinery has always been located at 1289 Chamberlain Road in Aurelius 鈥� and mostly kept its operations there.

鈥榃e were losing money鈥�

The business started off well, Llyod said. But some of the hardest days came quickly, in February 1970.聽

鈥淪omething caught on fire during the night and the whole (shop) burned to the ground,鈥� he said. "There was just a chimney left standing.鈥澛�

Lloyd said all the repair parts, some tractors and his father鈥檚 1919 Ford Model-T were lost to the flames.聽

However, business didn't slow for long, as O'Hara temporarily set up shop across the street.聽

鈥淚t only took about a month to get a replacement back up,鈥澛燣loyd said.

The business continued steadily through the rest of the 1970s.

But when the 1980s came around, over-farming and a subsequent surplus led to an agricultural market crash, giving farmers less money to expand and driving many into debt.聽

鈥淥ne little myth of the business was that when things slowed down and people weren't buying equipment, they were (instead) buying parts for repairs,鈥� Lloyd said. "But we didn't find that to be true.鈥�

O鈥橦ara wasn鈥檛 spared from those trends 鈥� but how the dealership reacted set it apart, Lloyd said.

鈥淲e were losing money at the time for a couple of years, but when everything slowed down we would take the time to expand the business,鈥� he said.

鈥淎 lot of other dealers were scaling back, but we would ramp up.鈥澛�

鈥榃e expanded鈥�

O鈥橦ara鈥檚 decision to expand in the midst of an economic downturn gave the dealership a chance to get a leg up on its competition.聽

As the industry bounced back, Lloyd was well ahead, having expanded to about 30,000 square feet and opened a second parts shop at 1044 Route 34 in Genoa that has since been sold.

But with that expansion, Lloyd reflected, also came a shortcoming.

鈥淚 noticed that we were kind of losing the personal touch for the customers,鈥� he said.

In response, Lloyd installed more repair areas in the shop and increased his staff, hoping to ensure that at least one of them would be familiar with each customer as they came in.聽

鈥淎ll that so (the technicians) could get to know the farmers and their equipment better,鈥� he said.聽

In the 1990s, Lloyd said, farm equipment became even bigger, forcing him to install larger garage doors.

Additionally, that equipment featured modern computer systems for the first time, which prompted him to invest in agricultural technology college programs.聽

While recalling his successes, he joked that not every idea worked. He once implemented a fast food-style drive-thru for repair parts.聽

鈥淚t wasn't too popular, so we had to discontinue it,鈥� he said. "The running joke was, 鈥楧o you want fries with that?鈥欌��

鈥榃hy they like dealing with us鈥�

It鈥檚 been about 15 years since Lloyd, now 76, passed his business on to the next generation.聽

Now, O鈥橦ara Machinery is run by Lloyd鈥檚 niece Annie Ockenfels, who handles the finances, and Jacob Coulson, who was one of the first college-trained technicians Lloyd hired.聽

鈥淚 just had to laugh, when I first went back to visit my old office, my desk had been moved,鈥� Lloyd said. 鈥淣ext, I came in and it was outside the office. A few weeks later it was gone.鈥�

Lloyd said the future of the business is entirely up to them, and where they take it excites him.聽

However, after a final reflection, Lloyd slowly shared one key piece of advice.聽

鈥淚t has been a challenge over the years, but it seems to have been successful,鈥� he said.

鈥淧eople just don't get as much personal attention with chain stores. That鈥檚 why they like dealing with a single-store operation. That鈥檚 why they like dealing with us.鈥澛�