Bill Patterson’s contributions to the history of agriculture in Canada began on a small Dutton farm.
Born and raised on a modest 100-acre farm in the 1930s, Mr. Patterson, now 94, parlayed a high school education and a knack for mechanics into a career as a homespun innovator and salesman that eventually earned him an audience with Queen Elizabeth II.
His father, William, and mother, Hazel, raised eight children while operating a mixed farm. They raised cows and chickens, selling milk and cream at the end of their driveway and eggs in town.
“There was a dribble of money coming in all the time,” Mr. Patterson said in a recent interview, “But with a family of eight, we grew a super big garden. We were never hungry. We were never without clothes, but they were handed down.”
From an early age, Bill learned to fix what the family could not afford to replace.
“You know, the great part was that I overhauled my first engine at age 12 because we couldn’t afford to take it to get fixed,” he said. The engine was a small ‘putt-putt’ gas engine in the basement that ran a line shaft, pumped water to a tank in the attic and connected to the stove. “So we had hot and cold running water in the house by gravity.”
He had no formal training, but, “I worked at it and studied it,” he said.
Before long, he was not only fixing his parents’ farm equipment, but neighbours’ tractors as well.
A dealership opportunity
“I had been fixing tractors for a lot of people,” said Mr. Patterson.
By the time Bill finished high school in 1948, it seemed a natural for his family to buy a Cockshutt tractor dealership after the Dutton owner retired. They moved the business to the family farm and operated William A. Patterson and Sons until 1960.
Bill went straight from high school into the service bays at the dealership. “I just loved mechanic work and I’m still pushing wrenches at 94.”
His motivation, he said, is simple: “To make something work better than before I started.”
A turning point
When he was 25 years old, Bill acquired a Sheppard diesel tractor that changed the course of his life.
“I found out that it (the Sheppard) was a piece of junk, and I tried to get parts. I went all over looking, and somebody sent me to 1550 O’Connor Drive, in Toronto,” he recalled.
The address turned out to be a gear company. “They’d never heard of a Sheppard tractor,” he said. “But they introduced me to David Brown Tractors.”
David Brown was an agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in West Yorkshire, England, and active from 1936 to 1988. The company brought its gear and tractor divisions to Toronto in the 1950s.
“We were a big family and a small business,” Mr. Patterson said. “I got really excited. We took on the line and I worked night and day.”
Soon he was doing more than selling tractors.
“They had a power steering problem that I solved,” he said. “The problem was nothing more than two compression springs that were bottoming out.”
The discovery came late one night. “At three in the morning I found that problem. I went to the dealer, then to Toronto, and they brought people in from England,” he added.
“It was a major problem they were having in England and all over.”
Mr. Patterson also developed specialized tractor wheel rims that allowed operators to change rear wheel spacing without manually removing and reversing the wheels.
A life-threatening illness
Just as his career was gaining momentum, Mr. Patterson contracted hepatitis at age 27. Doctors said he would never work again.
“That pretty near got me,” he said. “I was hospitalized 17 times. My liver was down to one-third.”
Eventually he sought treatment at the Lahey Clinic in Boston, where doctors discovered coffee was aggravating his condition. “They told me a cup of coffee was as hard on my liver as a bottle of whisky would be on another person.”
At the time he was drinking several cups a day, “So of course I quit drinking coffee.”
His health gradually improved.
“The last time I had a liver function test, my liver was back to three quarters. That was 10 years ago,” he said. “ I’m very blessed.”
Selling tractors across Ontario
In 1960 Mr. Patterson was healthy enough to attend the London Farm Show, where he coincidentally encountered Fred Stroback of David Brown Tractors. Bill was immediately hired as a territory sales representative and given a company car, a $4,500 annual salary, and $5 a day for expenses.
His country charm helped to sell tractors across Ontario.
When company owner David Brown was knighted in 1968 (in recognition for his contributions to the industry and to England’s post-war economic recovery), Mr. Patterson was invited to attend the ceremony at the Queen’s Guild Hall.
From 1961 to 1973, more than 10,000 David Brown tractors were sold in Ontario.
Mr. Patterson left the company in 1973 when the firm was sold.
A new business idea
Later in life, Mr. Patterson and his wife Marjorie travelled across Western Canada in a small motorhome.
“Each night in the campgrounds, I’d be going for a walk—and I enjoy people, I enjoy fixing—so if somebody couldn’t get their water heater lit, somebody had a leak, somebody had a problem, I got fixing these problems,” he said.
The experience led to an insight. “When I was fixing tractors, farmers would say, ‘I’ll pay you in the fall when I sell the beans.’ Or they’d say, ‘Is that the best you can do? That’s quite a bit of money.’”
Motorhome owners were different. “I did it just to help them out, but they went right into their pockets and come out with some money.”
“On the way home, I said to Marjorie, I’m done fixing for farmers. I’m going to fix for recreation people. This is going to be fun.”
The Pattersons soon began selling luxury motorhomes (some in the $750,000 range) manufactured by the Newmar Corporation of Indiana. Newmar was acquired by Winnebago Industries in 2019.
“It was a great business. Fun, fun, fun,” he said. And, “It was very successful.”
“The greatest part was that I knew those motorhomes from the front to the back. People would come in and wanted to know what to do. Marjorie and I were campers—so it just worked.”
Another invention
Mr. Patterson’s inventive streak surfaced again when a new independent front-suspension system from Spartan RV Chassis caused motorhomes to ride so rough that furniture was thrown around inside. For those motorhomes, “North America was shut down because Spartan didn’t have a chassis.”
After studying the problem, he designed a parts kit that raised the rear suspension to match the front, eliminating the rocking motion.
When he notified the manufacturer, two Spartan engineers from California and Indiana flew on separate Learjets to London and rented GMC Hummers to visit Mr. Patterson’s Dutton farm and verify his fix.
After a test drive, one engineer had a dramatic reaction.
“He came up beside me while I was driving, put his arm around me, and said: ‘You have put North America—and the RV business—back in business.’”
Mr. Patterson smiled when asked if he was rewarded for the innovation. “I’m just a little country boy,” he said.
“I shouldn’t really be telling you that. It’s kind of bragging,” he added. “That was a very exciting and rewarding day for me.”
A collection grows
Today Mr. Patterson still spends his days in the shop on his farm.
Over time he has assembled a collection of about 50 rare tractors and pieces of equipment, including roughly 40 fully restored David Brown tractors. “I’d fix the tractor so it looked pretty, and we’d get another one.”
“I love the old stuff,” he said.
Eventually, he built a 50-by-140-foot building to house them. “One should have been enough, but people admired it and looked at it, and then I got a second one, and a third one… It just happened. People find out that you have them.” Visitors still arrive from across Ontario and beyond.
“People come and do this tour because they like to see the countryside where they haven’t been before. They like to see the farmyards, how you keep them—and the tractors,” he said. “The people come; they ask different questions. It depends on what they’re interested in.”
He reflected on how he spent his time, “I could be an alcoholic, I could be running around, I could be doing lots of things, but I enjoy the tractors and Marjorie is a people lover and we have people come from all over.”
Even now, retirement holds little appeal, though he has pared back a little.
He has stopped trucking his tractors to different shows and no longer brings vehicles out to his driveway for visitors. Mr. Patterson now caters only to unofficial tour groups, collectors who connect by word of mouth and via social media.
“I’m busy every day,” he said. “I’m working on a David Brown 1200 right now that a friend of mine had, but he left it outside and it got water in the transmission and froze the pump.”
The tractor had been headed for scrap, but, “I’ll get it up and running because I have fun doing it, and I’ll make a few dollars. This one I’ll fix up for somebody to use. I’m not going to paint it up pretty. This will be usable, for some young fellow who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money.”
Inside Bill Patterson’s tractor collection
Visitors who make their way to Bill Patterson’s farm near Dutton find more than just a shed full of old equipment.
Over decades, the longtime mechanic and tractor salesman has assembled one of the region’s most unusual private collections of agricultural machinery.
Highlights of the collection include:
• About 50 tractors and pieces of equipment
• Roughly 40 restored David Brown tractors
• Several uncommon models and machines rebuilt from scrap
• Tractors that have been returned to working condition
The machines are stored in a 50-by-140-foot building on the farm.
Mr. Patterson once hauled the tractors to shows but now prefers smaller visits arranged by word of mouth or through social media.
“People come to see the countryside,” he said.
“They like to see how the farmyards are kept and how the tractors were built.”
Even at 94, the collection continues to grow, often starting with a machine headed for the scrap yard.
“I just love to see things running again,” he said.
By Joe Konecny, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Mar 18, 2026 at 09:11
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