dwbackhoe.com

DW Backhoe Services came into existence in 1992, after Dave purchased a backhoe, truck and trailer from his father Ernest.  Ernest had been in the backhoe business since the mid 60's and had operated under the name E. Westfall & Sons, from his home near New Norway, AB.

FAMILY BUSINESS

Ernest had a great reputation for a job well done (although he was known to be slow to show up with the bill in hand - sometimes stopping in 6 months later to collect!), and most of his work was for local farmers and local municipalities such as the Village of New Norway and Village of Edberg.  He did more and more contract work for the oilfield, road building, etc. in the last few years he was operating, but I suspect it wasn't his 'cup of tea' as he was a fairly social being and preferred the one on one when doing business with a person rather than a company.  I don't believe he ever traveled out of the area, he was quite busy as he was not only operating the thriving backhoe service but farming full time as well. Ernest was forced to slow down and semi-retire upon learning he had cancer in the late 1980's.  Dave was blessed to have his presence and expert guidance until 2000 when Ernie passed on after one last short battle with cancer.

Dave learned at an early age how to operate the backhoe in a variety of situations, and with his father's guidance in the few years prior to purchasing the equipment, he soon learned the tips, tricks and all the ins & outs of operating safely and efficiently.  Through this time he was employed off and on by his father.  The rest of the time he was employed in all manner of road building, from start of the road base to finish paving work.

Dave would have you know his father was an excellent teacher, always impressing upon him the importance of safety first and pacing himself.  One of the biggest lessons he had to learn was patience - Ernie was a very patient man, never one to get too excited at the drop of a hat